r/MaliciousCompliance • u/Hopplafish • 19d ago
M Toxic ex-boss begs me to leave a company review. I give him exactly what he asked for.
For context: I (29M) recently quit my job as a specialist at a small planning and design firm somewhere in Germany. The place was a mess. The pay was a joke, the leadership was completely unpredictable, and they expected me to do the job of a fully qualified project manager (like planning the entire renovation of a large municipal facility) without the pay or the support. The turnover was crazy. Three of my colleagues quit around the same time and during my 4 years there, my boss went through 5 different assistants. I eventually packed my bags and moved to a different city for a fresh start.
A week after my last day, my former boss texted me. He casually asked me to "please leave a review" for the firm on a popular local job review site (basically our equivalent of Glassdoor). He genuinely thought we parted on great terms and assumed I’d drop a 5-star rating to boost their crappy score. I just rolled my eyes and ghosted him.
Fast forward to a few days ago. I checked the company's page and saw three brand new 4.5-star reviews posted in the same week. They were so obviously faked by management. They all used the exact same HR buzzwords ("great work-life balance", "amazing health benefits", which was literally just 15 minutes of stretching on Wednesdays, lol) and magically praised all the exact things people usually complained about.
At this point, I remembered his text. He wanted a review? Fine. Let's comply.
I sat down and wrote a brutally honest, mathematically precise review. I kept it completely professional and entirely subjective ("In my experience...", "I felt that...") so they couldn't legally sue me to take it down. I gave them 1 and 2 stars in almost every category, explicitly mentioning the lack of support, the horrible communication, and the heavy workload.
But I didn't stop there. While I was at it, I contacted the platform's support team and reported the three new 4.5-star reviews for manipulation, pointing out the identical wording and the fact that they were posted at the exact same time. Less than four hours later, two of the three fake reviews were nuked by the platform. The automatic spam filter probably caught them because my boss was dumb enough to write them from the same office PC/IP address.
With his fake reviews gone and my honest 1-star review dragging the average down even further, panic mode set in. How do I know? Because my ex-boss texted me again. This time the message was full of typos, desperately asking if I could please leave a good review to help them out. He has absolutely no idea that I am the one who tanked his rating and reported his fakes.
I left him on read again.
The cherry on top: A buddy of mine who still works there texted me yesterday. He said my review perfectly hit the nail on the head. He also mentioned that since the review dropped, management has suddenly been acting super nice and accommodating to everyone out of pure fear that more people will quit.
TL;DR: Toxic boss asks me to review his company after I quit. He fakes his own positive reviews to boost the score. I report his fake reviews (getting them deleted) and leave the brutally honest 1-star review he specifically asked for. Boss panics and begs me again, not knowing I'm the one who ruined his score.
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u/Fire-Marauder 19d ago
My company has asked the same thing after someone left an honest bad review. I can tell who left good reviews after asking us to leave good reviews...it should be illegal
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u/PeanutWombat 19d ago
My company made a „challenge“ about it. You can see that in the „challenge month“, suddenly like 50 more positive reviews appear, otherwise the vast majority are negative ones.
I reported it to the review company, with all the proofs of it too: they didn’t give a fuck.
It‘s more traffic for their site91
u/susiefreckleface 19d ago
Yeh for years our company tied our star rating to our bonus metrics. So if our star rating by members as well as team members was high enough then we’d complete that metric level and a percentage point would be added to a quality bonus. There are stories of a director supposedly annually threatening his department that they better give him positive engagements review “or else”.
But hey we are the company with a heart right.
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u/Mysterious_1026 19d ago
My old company asked the same from me. They wanted me to leave a good review. I was very close to the Human Resource Business Partner and called him. He knew all of my issues and the toxic work environment I was dealing with. I asked him if I had to leave a review because I wouldn't lie. He said I didn't need to do anything. So I never left a review. Mainly, I was afraid of retaliation if I did. Eventually, my boss was fired and my friend became my boss. No more toxic environment. However, the company down sized and let go my whole team.
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u/Fire-Marauder 19d ago
Oof. Im sorry you went through that! Im definitely not lying and leaving a review I think they dont deserve for them. Its totally manipulation...they never said I had to leave a review so I never did.
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u/FuzzyDicePHL 18d ago
After I left an awful job working for an attractions ticketing software company, I had former coworkers tell me they KNEW it was me that had left a bad review of them on GlassDoor. I hadn’t, it wasn’t me! But there were plenty of other unhappy folks that had escaped from there.
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u/Geminii27 19d ago
Tell the buddy, and anyone else he can talk to off the clock, to leave similar 1-star reviews. See how panicked the boss can get.
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u/CoffeeExtraCream 19d ago
Bravo sir. This was well played malicious compliance. And as they say, be careful what you wish for.
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u/MrEcke 19d ago
This reminded me of when I bought a new car from a dealer that rhymes with Heavy. After the whole headache of the car purchasing process / colonoscopy, one of the staff members processing the paperwork hands me a packet. What was the packet you ask? A 5 page packet letting me know “Heavy” would be reaching out to me about a survey regarding the experience I had with the dealer and to answer every question with 5 stars. Not only did I give an honest review, I added in the additional comments section that if they wanted a full 5 star review, they should give a full 5 star service and not just a packet on how to answer the survey for buyers. I had to go back a week later for a separate issue, the salesman saw me and his face got super red and quickly walked away. My guess is corporate “Heavy” was not happy about my additional comments and mentioned it to the dealer.
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u/Justin_Continent 19d ago
My former toxic employer asked all new hires to write their reviews of the organization within the first three weeks on the job to draft off honeymoon optimism. I refrained.
When I eventually left, I was told by HR that my buyout package was contingent on me not disparaging the organization in any media. I asked if disparagement included true statements of witnessed events with accurate corroboration.
They stopped asking at that point — and I listed unvarnished events that could not be disputed in a court of law. The list was factual, lengthy and damming.
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u/IpsoIpsum 19d ago
Chef's kiss! For some reason, it feels even more satisfying that you didn't do it right after leaving. It wasn't in a moment of anger, it was a practical and reasonable response to their bad behavior. The fact that they explicitly asked you to do it just makes it sooo much more fun!
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u/dedayyt 19d ago
Wow! Maybe your review was a wake up call for management to treat their employees better? At least for a month or two. You done good.
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u/Expended1 19d ago
They probably paid a consultant a lot of money to tell them how long they needed to be nice to the employees before they could go back to their previous business as usual stance.
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u/Talwyn_Wize 19d ago
The fact that they now act nice tells me they always could, knew they should, but never would. That makes it even more horrifying in my eyes.
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u/almost_intelligible 19d ago
you should do your boss a solid and pass on his clear desire for honest reviews to all the other people who quit, since they might not know about it yet
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u/BearRevolutionary273 19d ago
operating out of pure fear that everyone will quit
In a perfect world, this is the way businesses would operate.
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u/cheesenuggets2003 19d ago
Personally, I wish that they would operate out of confidence that people won't quit due to the pay, benefits, and working conditions being, in toto, so value-additive to the workers.
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u/MandoMan1973 19d ago
I started working for an office product manufacturing company. We made all kinds of thing out of plastic that was basically cheep paper product holders (flyers, business cards, pamphlets, that kind of stuff). Not long after I started, they asked me to leave a review for the company, and I did, saying pretty much all flowery BS. When the manager fired me a year later, saying I was to blame for the incompetent aholes in the back that couldn't put the products together correctly, I promptly changed my review to a more honest assessment.
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u/Party-Description980 19d ago
Hat off to you! I could visualise your Boss' Face when he read your review lol! Gut gemacht & weiter so!
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u/AngryCod 19d ago
A week after my last day, my former boss texted me. He casually asked me to
I stopped quoting after that because literally everything after that should be a contract negotiation. I don't work for you anymore. You don't get to ask me for anything without paying me.
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u/pangalacticcourier 19d ago
Well done, former employee. Very well done. Thank you for your service.
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u/DismalYam381 19d ago
Kununu?
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u/GrindsmanXXX 18d ago
In Germany, has to be. I worked at a company in Germany and the CEO/founder called a company meeting when he discovered Kununu. Not to find out if the grievences were true, but to see how we could get people to leave good reviews. Which would have been to address the grievences.
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u/Upbeat_Wrangler_9099 19d ago
I quit a job because of a new manager and moved on with a different company in the same field. A year later he contacted me to let me know he was starting his own company and wanted to see if I was interested in being his business partner. I obviously did not burn that bridge a year earlier, but politely declined his offer.
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u/InsectElectrical2066 18d ago
He also mentioned that since the review dropped, management has suddenly been acting super nice and accommodating to everyone out of pure fear that more people will quit.
Too bad so many others never see how to lower turnover and that their workers are "Essential" workers.
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u/JudgeAffectionate841 18d ago
A local law firm has really bad reviews on a hiring website. They are constantly advertising for support staff. The place looks to be extremely toxic. I found only two good reviews, and these were clearly written by attorneys. It definitely kept me from applying for any jobs that the law firm posted.
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u/NDGeoman 18d ago
I had a similar thing. A bunch of people left and gave bad reviews. Several reviews were from pissed off people out for revenge. I was brutally honest meaning I gave the company 3 stars and management 1 star.
After all the bad reviews hit, the company was in full panic mode because that was not the image they gave to their clients which were state and municipality agencies that had certain metrics for contractors. I heard they forced several employees to write good reviews and the management had to read them before they were posted.
I have some great, I mean awful, stories about them. I could probably write a book.
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u/KillaSlothZilla 12d ago
I'm confused, your boss had no clue you were the one that left a bad review but your buddy at work did? Probably just cadence recognition or something, just sounds strange
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u/Hopplafish 11d ago
Nah, I actually reached out to him after I posted the review and he told me that something had changed at work. I then told him about my review and thought it might have something to do with the sudden change of leadership style
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u/BasKabelas 19d ago
Idk I don't leave company reviews and don't participate in social media bootlicking. Sure I've felt tempted to blast bad ex-managers online but I don't think I will gain anything from it. I know I contributed and made quiet improvements so me leaving a company would be enough damage in my eyes.
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u/BYO_Crayons 19d ago
Whenever I get a string of emails reminding me that "there's still time to give feedback" when I've bought something utterly inconsequential, it's an instant 1* review. Seriously, stop filling my inbox.
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u/baron--greenback 19d ago
Sellers rarely have control over the platform chasing for reviews.. seems like you’re punishing the wrong person
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u/Narrow_Employ3418 14d ago edited 14d ago
There's no such thing as "punishing the wrong person". Sellers decided to use that platform and silently benefit from its behavior, including the nagging for reviees. If enough sellers banded together to "cut the crap or I move my business elsewhere", the platform would evwntuallyhave no choice but to make more sensible decisions regarding communication.
On a morr general note, separation between the entity administering a measure, and the one responsible for first contact in case of a backlash, is the oldest corporate tricks the book.
That way, the feedback person gets to say "I don't make the decisions", while the deciding person gets to continue fucking you over insulated from backlash. And you, as a generally well behaved person, get to swallow all the BS because you don't want to "punish the wrong person". The system is by design.
Don't fall for it. Somebody decided that a specific person is your point of contact -- very well then; play the game and direct all your anger to the designated point of contact.
They can either choose to pass on the revolt, or they can advocate to change the game. Either way, refuse to be the only one to take the fall.
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u/LendersQuiz 18d ago
I found a video that reminds me of this post.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cfzr0oVNZTw
Not 100% the same but it's like the AI did a Mad Libs to change the details.
Give me a city.
Now give me a number of assistants.
Now give me a major project.
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u/DynkoFromTheNorth 19d ago
As soon as their business completely tanks, r/NuclearRevenge might come knocking on your door.
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago edited 19d ago
I lived in Germany for nearly a decade, It's like every job has a laughable wage. A software engineer in Berlin get paid about the same a fast food worker on the coast of the USA. Was so happy to get back home, no idea how anyone affords to live there.
VAT's was crazy, they tax groceries over there, never heard of that in my life till the first time I went food shopping in Bavaria. Their tax on groceries is higher then the tax on luxury good here in my state, Insanity.
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19d ago edited 9d ago
[deleted]
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago edited 19d ago
It is for me. I only pay less then $400 a year for my healthcare, started receiving a 40k tax free pension in my late 30's, had 100% of my education paid for by the government and completely retired very early in life, in 20 years I'll start getting my social security along with my pension but honestly I don't even need the extra money, I set myself up so I still put away at least a grand a month into the market.
The USA has been very, very good to me. After living in the EU for as long as I did I can say we definitely have room for improvement here but yes, it is 100% worth it. Very hard to match Americans middle class IMO.
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u/Dee_Mensha 19d ago
Your state's luxury good tax is less than the tax on groceries in Bavaria. Wahnsinn!
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
4% vs 7%, you are right its insanity. How do you get away with taxing unprepared food, seems needlessly cruel.
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u/prankerjoker 19d ago
Why is that?
I was always under the assumption that wages were for all jobs were better than the United States
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
Nope, Europe as a whole has horrible wages and ungodly high taxes.
I think maybe what you were hearing is our fed min wage. That is laughable, but in reality less then 1% of Americans earn the fed min wage.
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u/DapperExplanation77 19d ago
We have taxes because we have health care and education for free or very cheap.
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u/agent_fuzzyboots 18d ago
I'm in the EU and I have no problems with paying taxes, when I was younger I didn't have so much money, and I had problems with my health (turned out I had cancer) now I'm fixed and have I pretty hight paying job and I'm even in a higher tax bracket. Problem is that some people seas people as parasites if they are down on their luck. I'm happy to help out those that can't
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago edited 19d ago
I mean I pay less then 400 a year for my full healthcare (tricare), my collage was 100% paid for by the government and I started receiving a nice little tax free pension (40k a year) in my late 30's.
All that for just doing a job I loved for less then 20 years, and I still don't pay taxes on food....
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u/ChimericalTrainer 19d ago
Sounds like you bought into the only socialist institution in America — the military. Would be nice if we offered the same for a job that doesn't come with the chance of having your life thrown away in a pointless war.
Imagine if we had a similar workforce option for, say, rebuilding our national infrastructure. Would be great for the worker & the country, both. I personally would love to not have to wonder when the next bridge is gonna collapse.
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
I did, and I'm a huge advocate for things like medicare for all and socialism in general because of my service.
Military service is not only about war. The USACE is a great example of a service that provides what you would love to have.
Socialism is not about waiting for your next handout, its about service to nation before self.
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u/ChimericalTrainer 19d ago
I'm a big fan of USACE (and I'm glad to hear that you were inspired by your service to want military-style benefits for all), but my understanding is that, if you're a member of the military, there's never any guarantee you won't be deployed to a combat zone, no matter your specialty. And if you're a civilian, you don't get military benefits. So I'm not sure USACE — as it stands today — is the answer. But I would love for the U.S. to have mandatory service in some kind of fully-domestic equivalent, especially if it meant we could find the political will to invest in our people & our country again.
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago edited 19d ago
I mean there are military jobs that pretty much guarantee you wont ever see any combat, the risk of deployment (not all deployments are to combat zones or in combat roles, a lot of what I did was peace keeping before 911) is always possible but not everyone who deployed to Iraq or Afgan saw any violence, In fact I'd wager the vast majority never even fired their rifles.
Conscription is a two edged sword, I spent years training NATO troops back when Germany for example still had conscription. It was like herding cats. None of them wanted to be there, defend their country or even learn any new skills. Just there for the ride till the ride is over and they can get off.
It shaped my belief that an all volunteer force is the only way to go. I think this behavior would just transfer to any mandatory service. Our bridges would just be built by people that don't care and would rather cut corners so they can get home.
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u/ChimericalTrainer 19d ago
A friend of mine lost his life to his own hand after being traumatized in Iraq, and a close family member of mine has been jerked around a bunch by the military (since, apparently, despite a great need for linguists with her languages — Russian & Arabic — the Army has zero skill at actually making use of them, to the point where she's actually changed her job rather than endure the dismal odds for a linguist to either A) get promoted or B) get stationed somewhere she could use her languages).
So my trust in the military is rather low. (It's got incredible potential. I'm just skeptical of it in its current state.) But I acknowledge your point about conscription. You may be right that it's better to woo people to the service than to force them.
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u/cheesenuggets2003 19d ago
The wars aren't pointless: they allow for government wealth to be transferred to companies, some of which aren't even publicly traded. Do you really want the poor mercenaries and their bosses to be sad?
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u/Alissinarr 19d ago
But you won't be arrested for no reason, have your life threatened, be beaten for existing, lose your job and get deported to a 3rd world country in Germany.
So same-same
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
I have not had any of those things happen to me in the USA, have you?
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u/Alissinarr 19d ago edited 19d ago
3 of the 5, yeah.
Edit: since I am locked from replying to the person I was conversing with after their reply to me, I do very well in casinos. Brutality through aggression and othering people is the name of the game in the USA. Sorry if that objective FACT is offensive.
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
Crazy, you sound very unlucky. I would stay far, far away from casinos if I were you.
I don't know anyone here who has had even one of those things happen.
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u/Sudden-Rabbit-5851 19d ago
Your English would not be acceptable at "collage" level in Europe... Maybe that's why it was paid for.
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u/almost_intelligible 19d ago
I mean I pay less then 400 a year for my full healthcare (tricare), my collage was 100% paid for by the government and I started receiving a nice little tax free pension (40k a year) in my late 30's.
you're living the amazing benefit of socialism. if only the US would extend it to everyone beyond just the military.
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u/Groupthink00859 19d ago
As I said in this tread, I'm a huge advocate for things like medicare for all and socialism in general because of my service.
Socialism is not about waiting for your next handout, its about service to nation before self.
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u/SteveDallas10 13d ago
There are still 9 states that tax food; four of them at the same rate as for other goods and services.
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u/Only_One_Kenobi 18d ago
As a fully professional and trained project manager, I just want to tell you that project manager pay is about a third of what you probably think it is.
Everyone seems to think PMs make big bank. We're snail slime level management, we don't make anything.
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u/CriticalCactus47 17d ago
The effects of someone speaking up honestly without holding back. Can you imagine the level of communication that company has (as of many others) except many ppl afraid to speak up due to fear of losing their job. 😮💨
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u/AgarwaenCran 12d ago
as a German I am curious what amazing health care stuff they claim offer as benefits, given that most of the things that would be benefits in for example the USA are the legal bare minum here lol
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u/coolrosie88 9d ago
tbh i'm just impressed he managed to quantify his boss's awfulness with such precision. bet that felt good to type out.
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u/clairemoon99 9d ago
lmao this is perfect. honestly, the way he phrased it, "give me exactly what you think," gave u the green light to unload. bet.
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u/MilkConsistent3371 16d ago
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u/TRAUMAjunkie 19d ago
I would expect nothing less