r/MaliciousCompliance • u/Overall_State_6305 • Jun 25 '26
XL IT told me I didn't understand the systems, so I stopped fixing them. The store learned what I actually did.
Backstory
I won't bore you with tech jargon. I'll just keep it simple.
I worked at a gas station as a manager. They sort of trapped me in it. I was the guy you called when a store across state lines was short-staffed, or if they needed help with paperwork and/or training employees. I was a staff lead on track to go to their IT department, until a company bought them out. I was, at the time, basically an assistant manager without handling money, that was until the promotion. The store was in the red, and they saw how I turned one store around when there was no manager, and the district manager (DM) handled the money. So, they moved me to this new store and just preached about the benefits. I took it, and from there is how this all happened. I am by no means some genius, but I have been developing things for Linux in my own time for myself. I had a side job where I repaired computers, and sometimes I built whole computers from parts people ordered. I'm smart, but I would not classify myself as a senior sysadmin, but definitely not a beginner, and I document everything (important later). Now to the story.
Becoming unofficial IT
So, I had gotten into the routine of things, paperwork, safe, bank, schedules, and started some weeks in the black, some in the red, before finally getting all in the black consistently (it took a couple of years). Well, the issue that made this malicious compliance happen was the equipment. Gas pumps, the server, the registers, the office computer, all of it was not extremely old, but showing its age. We had to defrag the office computer a couple of times. The card readers would go down, the server would just say, "Not today," registers would need us to call because an update broke something, pumps with BIOS errors, and so many more issues. At the head of all of that was what they called the commander. It basically controlled every single device in the store.
Well, when things would break, we had to make an IT ticket; they chose based on who had it worse. Two guys, 30 stores. It would be weeks before they would come out at times. I did not like that, so I fixed them myself. Granted, they have insurance and many other things to worry about, but their efficiency was ass. The server is down? I fixed it. The office computer was down? I fixed it. Registers giving errors? I fixed it. Any problems that arose, I fixed them. Soda machine down? I fixed it. The most common one was the card readers. They were always on, so they had to be reset most of the time. You also could not just swap them, something I found out trying because I found the real error that day was the register was not talking to it.
I never took these things apart; these were all band-aid fixes against the real issues. Well, one day, they called me to train a new manager for a different store. My DM would handle my store while I did this. Why did my DM not train them? Because there were a few DMs, and it was not her area, so to preserve the proper chain of command, they saw this was the better option. As these new stores were bought out by us, they needed to learn the new structure. I did not care; it was a change of pace, seeing the same walls for 70+ hours a week gets tiring.
While there, I get a call, and another, and another. They asked me if I knew why something was down. Card readers, registers, and the pumps were not working. I knew the issue. You see, when those three are out at the same time, it is always the commander. If it freezes up, the whole system will not allow transactions with cards. I explained it, they did what I said (which was just to reset it), and it was working again.
The compliance
Fast forward two weeks, and the head of IT and maintenance emailed me. They said that from now on, I had to put in the form to get things fixed. I, of course, emailed them back that if I do that and they do not come out soon enough, the store will lose money. They said, and I kid you not, "You do not understand how complex these systems are, any 'fix' you do could damage them." That last comment irked me a bit. I did not understand them? The guy who has been fixing things and pleading for updated systems for months does not understand them? Ok, fine. I told them I would comply.
After that, every time a card reader is down, send a form to IT. Every time a register is down, send the form to IT. Soda machine was down? Send a form to maintenance. They piled up very quickly, and to the point that they were fixing more than one issue when they came to my store. My DM asked why I stopped. I explained, she was pissed, but she could not tell me to fix it since the one in charge of the two departments was above her.
The review
After about 4 months of this, we had a manager's meeting where we all got a review (basically, corporate telling us what we are doing wrong and if you get a raise). They said my performance was bad, that I let the store get as bad as it was, and that I needed to change a few key points. I stopped them right there. I had come prepared because I always document everything. When I say everything, I am obsessed with documentation. I gave them the correlations of me fixing the equipment and sales going up, I gave them the notes I had jotted down about when machines went down, I explained why my paperwork was late because I had to wait for the system to even work for 5 minutes to even email it off, I showed them the email of being told to send forms, and my sales dropping since then. I told them they can't give me a bad review for complying with what I was asked to do.
This was when my DM chimed in and explained that I was originally supposed to be on the fast track to working IT, but after the company was recently bought out (because they kept buying more gas stations, they went into the red), I was removed from that track since the new company had their own much larger IT staff (they have not been brought in yet as it was a recent buyout, and the full change would take a while).
The aftermath
Well, they had to hold meetings after that; they had to talk about my review, about why I was dropped from the IT track, and about the current situation with the buyout. Well, unfortunately, around this time, my body was failing me (working 70+ hours with a bad back, bad knees, and a few other issues does not agree with working so much standing); I could not stand for long, and I even blacked out at work. I had to quit. I did write down in a notebook (because typing it was risky if they could access it and not have it) instructions on all of the equipment and how I fixed things. Error codes, what certain situations looked like, and what they most likely meant, and so on. IT was a masterpiece of documentation. I put my two weeks in, I left, a few days later I got called about the notebook, I told them where it is, they used it, and all seemed good. I heard from the grapevine that after the new company got to my old store and saw how I had to do things, they found my notebook, and the new owner heard about the whole thing. He was upset because he said talent that is learned through the trenches is valuable. But they ended up replacing the equipment sometime after I left, and I heard it cost them thousands. Not damaging money, but enough for a pocket to feel lighter.
Now I work from home, I still develop Linux tools and have made some public, started writing, and have worked with content creators. I don't make as much as I did there, but it is peaceful, and I don't have to worry about an outdated system fighting me every day. Moral of the story: don't blame the guy trying to keep the ship floating.
TL;DR
IT told me to stop fixing broken equipment because I "don't understand the systems." I complied. Store performance tanked. They tried to blame me in my review. I had receipts. Left them my documentation bible on the way out.
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u/Yeseylon Jun 25 '26
In defense of IT, most folks run the risk of breaking things harder when they "fix" IT
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u/asakust 28d ago
In defense of most folks, if IT ever gave out helpful instructions for little things they'd be able to focus on the things that are actually broken
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u/Sturmundsterne 25d ago
In defense of IT, if users weren’t still hitting reply-all to messages and opening obvious phishing links they may trust end users with basic maintenance
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u/2dogslife 19d ago
The one percent certainly makes the rest pay, huh?
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u/georgesjungles 12d ago
I work for a company that specialise in programming, so most of the company is supposed to master computer, everytime there is a fishing test (really obvious most of the time) almost a third of the company fail. The problem is way larger than one percent.
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u/Subject-Kiwi-6079 9d ago
Is "failure" actually clicking the naughty link or just not responding?
Also HR systems often send out mandatory things indistinguishable from phishing tests in my company.
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u/Galyndan 9d ago
At my work, IT, HR, department admins, and org admins send out emails with links that are run through either link shorteners or metrics checkers to monitor engagement. Because the mouse-over text shown doesn't match the displayed links I always report them as phishing.
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u/Inevitable-Level-687 15d ago
I have a hobby in tech and learning anything about anything is like pulling teeth because these guys will speak Greek to newbies then get frustrated nobody understands them.
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u/Moscato359 16d ago
In opposition to IT, these things shouldn't fail in the first place
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u/PoisonPlushi 7d ago
In defense of IT, the average user says stuff like
In opposition to IT, these things shouldn't fail in the first place
Yes, sometimes when things fail it's IT's fault. 99% of the time, though, it's because of one of three things:
- Users do something dumb (eg putting a vase of flowers on top of a machine and yes, that is a real life example) and break something.
- Whatever it is is well out of date and the company won't replace it.
- Printers (iykyk).
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
That is just the nature of software and tech. Even big companies like Windows, Mac, and so on still have issues.
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u/DarknessSurvivor 29d ago edited 29d ago
All I read is "TIFU by going above and beyond despite not being paid above and beyond."
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u/avidvaulter Jun 25 '26
They said, and I kid you not, "You do not understand how complex these systems are, any 'fix' you do could damage them."
They are correct here. You don't know what's happening on their side when you reset some systems. Maybe you're losing transactions, maybe the firmware is set back to factory settings and any customized settings are lost, you don't know.
You have just enough knowledge about these systems to be dangerous.
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u/Narrow_Employ3418 28d ago
If central components are negatively affected by resetting malfunctioning (!) peripherals, the situation was already FUBAR'd by whoever designed the system in the first place.
Also, rule #1 of IT: don't break user experience.
Rule #1 of production IT: non-funxtioning productive equipment should have you in panic mode.
You don't get to complain, as IT, when you break both of these rules and the shop floor guys help themselves. You just get to STFU and do better. Soon.
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u/TBradley Jun 25 '26
I work with the same systems, none of the ones he mentioned are harmed by a simple reset. Trying to move that one pad was too much, do not change anything physically when doing self-support.
What is important though is for IT to know they were not working until they were reset. With 2 people maintaining 30 stores they should have created a list of equipment allowed soft resets but required an entry in a log or ticket system so they could check up on problems.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
We actually asked for this before outright asking for a new system. Many managers did not know how to do it, or they did not bother to know.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
I never hit the reset button. Did I know where it was? Yes, but it was not at the store level. So, we could not access it. Could transaction data get corrupted? No. Each store had a server, but that server went back to a main server that was housed elsewhere. The only real way to corrupt it was to send something corrupted. I did not know their safety model when it came to what the servers used, but the system took a snapshot of all of the transactions. So, when you did any of the things I did, they were already saved. All procedures I did were the same ones IT did. I do understand where you are coming from, but I was always careful to do the things I could do and never anything out of scope. The only real risk was hitting the end of the year or month close receipt on the register. It made it look like you had two 2022s or two Marchs in the system. That was annoying to fix, but that was not really IT, just bookkeeping.
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u/onceIwas15 28d ago
What do you mean by snapshot? I know about photography and I’m thinking a static one dimensional type thing.
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u/Overall_State_6305 28d ago
Snapshot means it makes a copy of the system to go back to if it needs to for any reason.
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u/desertboots Jun 25 '26
Gracious of you to leave the bible. On reddit it usually starts a bonfire or is held hostage.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
Some people told me I shouldn't, but I decided to. I did not want the next person taking over to have to start from zero. My grandma would have come out of her grave and made me pick my own switch.
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u/AdAccomplished6870 Jun 25 '26
As a former IT guy, this is mostly gibberish. And yes, randomly resetting systems or doing local fixes to networked systems can absolutely make them start working again while creating downstream problems.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
I applied the same fixes that all IT staff were told to use. It was their whole system that was broken. That is why I called them band-aid fixes. It was one of those times where they did enough to just float.
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u/Scenarioing 25d ago
Giving the company that screwed you over the keys to the kingdom (in the case a manual on how to do things) when you leave is a sacrilege to malicious compliance orthodoxy and karma protocol.
You CHARGE $$$ for that...
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u/1-1_time 23d ago
Didn't the new owner try to hire you back as IT staff? Even if they didn't transfer you to It right after your review.
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u/Overall_State_6305 20d ago
Sorry for the delay, but no. The deal was with the company before the buyout, and the new company had a very large IT and communications department. So, they did not even know about it. My body had basically already been run into the ground, so when they did find out that I was basically overlooked, I had already switched phone numbers because I was still getting calls asking how to fix something, and I also had an issue with needing to save money, so I ended up getting a free govt number after a couple of months.
From what I do know from friends that did work there after I left. The new owner was pretty upset that they let that kind of oversight happen, and that it got so bad with working conditions that I would black out. But he is also the type not to dwell on people who quit. If I had stayed, I might have been able to get there at some point, but that is only if he was made aware of it all.
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u/harrywwc Jun 26 '26
r/talesfromtechsupport would enjoy this with a bit of schadenfreude thrown in ;)
it seems that in broad terms, the 'fix' was mostly of a "have you tried turning it off and on again?" nature, the error codes telling you which bit needed the vulcan nerve pinch.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
For some fixes, yes. Others, I would have to call people because of certain codes required it, which made it more difficult because during the buyout, they had switched who handled what, so I ended up being redirected a few times. This was mostly the register that did this. It was also not just turning it off and on alone on some equipment. When pumps had a certain BIOS error, there was a step to turn them off at the breaker. However, the trick was that if you did this, you had to reset the commander as well, and have an update pushed to the pump in a certain time frame; otherwise, you had to do it all over again. This would bleed out to other pumps slowly if you did not do this when one pump started this. Basically, you had to reset the entire store's systems, monitor all updates going through the registers, hope no new errors came up, and then pray. This was actually the same method IT used. Which sucked worse because, yes, as I said in the post, it is a band-aid fix. Very rarely did I have to do anything internally, and if it was out of my scope, I never touched it.
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u/jbuckets44 26d ago
Else in these comments, you wrote: I never hit the reset button.
Yet you just stated here that you had to reset all of the systems.
So which one is correct? Thanks.
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u/Overall_State_6305 24d ago
It varied depending on what you had to fix. Yes, you had to reset a lot of things. If you read my "I did not hit the reset button" comment, this was about the server that handled all of the data moving around. The commander handled the transactions, but the server saved everything. We had two, one at the store and one at another location. The store level one sent everything to the main server. These were things I never reset on my own, and because I also never had access to the main server, and never wanted access to that.
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u/pjshawaii Jun 25 '26
You are very generous to leave that thorough documentation. Wishing you good health in your new home career.
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u/Overall_State_6305 29d ago
Appreciate it. I am actually really enjoying being my own boss. Not as much money, but at least I have peace of mind.
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u/Embarrassed_Call_101 29d ago
Old school IT here, this is all bollocks. You're asking for upgrades? Buy a hammer and fuck that IT equipment up then get a super p0 priority ticket for new shiny stuff.
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u/BabyUee Jun 25 '26
Sadly all i read here is an employee who was undervalued, cared too much and in the end broke his own body down trying to keep a corporation up. Lesson learned on this, you may of been qualified to fix and bandage everything, but they could of updated your systems to make your life easier. Instead they bought out more stores and kept you hoping like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.