‘I’d never felt this powerful before.’ They Hired An Engineer For A Specialized Job But Refused To Pay, So He “Fixed” The Machine So Only He Could Install It

News flash: engineers are smart people.

Like, really smart.

So that’s why you should never, under any circumstances, MESS WITH THEM.

But some people just need to learn lessons the hard way in life.

An engineer posted a story on Reddit’s “Pro Revenge” page and they laid out what happened below.

It all started with a customer named Jake…

“I worked for a company that provides specialised equipment used in manufacturing. (To protect my anonymity I’ll have to be vague about what exactly this machine does.) During my time working in this field I got to know many clients who would need these machines installed and serviced.

One of these customers we’ll call Jake. I later left the company to for a different job, but Jake apparently kept my number.

One afternoon I got a call from Jake that they wanted a new unit installed and another unit needed maintenance and wanted to know if I was available. I let him know that I left the company but that I could pass him on to someone who could help.

Jake didn’t seem to want to take NO for an answer…

He tells me he’ll pay 2x my current rate to install the unit over the weekend. He lets me know that the company has increased the rates for installation and the company just can’t afford it. The instructions they sent over just aren’t clear enough and their engineers are scratching their heads trying to figure it out. He begs me to consider it and I agree.

For more context, installing this unit can take a good few hours, or up to a day on your own. The company gives you two options. You can either pay for an engineer to come and install it, or you can save money and they will send instructions so the customers own engineers can install it.

The instructions aren’t easy to follow and its company policy that if someone has started to install the equipment, the supplier wouldn’t get involved since they couldn’t verify that any of the pieces were broken.

This will be important later.

And then Jake dropped a bombshell on them.

I drive down on the weekend and they show me the boxes of equipment. I set to work and I make good progress installing the unit.

Around 6 hours in and I’m stopped by Jake who greets me. I let him know I’m nearly finished and he tells me, “Sorry but they just don’t have the budget to pay you.” He understands my frustration but his engineers can take it from here.

To say I was frustrated was and understatement. I wanted revenge.

So they decided to take things into their own hands and throw things out of whack.

There’s a small button inside the unit that changes the unit into test mode. This is done to perform maintain on the unit but it’s impossible to configure the unit with this button pressed.

It’s only possible to reach this button using a pin so it’s not easily pressed during installation. Because of this, the installation instructions don’t mention it. There’s no real way of telling the equipment is in test mode, it just won’t work normally.

I think you can guess where this is going.

And Jake wasn’t happy with what had transpired.

I click the button, collect my things and leave.

Monday morning I get a call from Jake. I declined. I knew my old company wouldn’t get involved since I already started installing the unit. I knew his engineers would never figure it out. I just had to let him stew.

A few days later with many missed calls, I finally pick up. Jake is furious. He asks me where the hell I’ve been and why I haven’t been picking up the phone. He tells me they can’t figure it out how to configure the machine and they need my help.

I tell him, “why is this my problem? You won’t pay me.” He told me he was sorry and they would work something out if I could get there as soon as possible.

I told him “oh no, you’re going to pay me £7000 upfront before I do anything.”

I’d never felt this powerful before.

And, wouldn’t you know it, it seems like Jake might have actually learned a lesson because of this.

Well, what do you know?!?!

He screamed at me for a bit and hung up. He called back a day later after saying he’s sorry for how he acted and said that if I could come fix it he would pay me, in a totally defeated tone. He tried to fight it saying he’ll pay when I was done but I was having non of it. After a bit of back and forth, he agrees to pay me. The money hit my account and I came in the next day.

The look of confusion over his face when I took out a pin and changed the unit from test mode was priceless. It was even more priceless seeing his reaction to me packing up my tools and leaving after only 20 minutes of configuring. Easiest £7000 I’d ever made.

Don’t try to mess with a professional problem solver.”

Here’s what people had to say.

One person shared a story about a builder trying to screw people over.

This Reddit user thinks the construction industry is pretty sketchy.

Another individual said his dad got a major hook-up because of his expertise.

This reader had some interesting thoughts on the subject.

And one Reddit user gave everyone a history lesson about Thomas Edison.

Did you learn a lesson today?

Get it? Got it?

Good!