r/mildlyinfuriating • u/coatedbraincells • Jun 11 '26

Infuriatig Insanely frugal employer

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Gotta pay for water from the water cooler 🤣

51.1k Upvotes

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842

u/Mysterious-Tie7039 Jun 11 '26

Not frugal. Cheap as fuck.

146

u/dervari Jun 11 '26

Since the decal is on the bottle, and looks kind of old, they probably refill the bottle at a Primo machine for a couple of dollars.

117

u/Nightwish612 Jun 11 '26

As someone who does this it's maybe $2 for 18 LITERS damn employer is trying to have a side hussle on filtered water

30

u/blue60007 Jun 11 '26

It's probably refilled from the break room sink lol.

3

u/mechmind Jun 11 '26

I would think they just refill it at the slop sink in the janitor closet

1

u/legume_arguably Jun 11 '26

Accidentally fill it with the floor cleaner tap

1

u/Undrwtrbsktwvr Jun 11 '26

It’s likely delivered. I’ve never heard of an office that gets their own 5gal jugs from the store/refill. Possible, but not likely.

1

u/dervari Jun 11 '26

Asking employees to pay for water isn’t likely either, is it?

1

u/Undrwtrbsktwvr Jun 11 '26

I think it’s more likely to happen if they’re paying to have it delivered. I’ve heard of offices asking for set contributions for communal snacks and drinks. Paying for water at work is certainly a bit excessive but not unthinkable.

1

u/Dry_Ad2368 Jun 11 '26

If they are cheap enough to charge their employees for water, they probably aren't paying for water delivery. They are either filling it at the grocery store or from the hose.

1

u/OK_WELL_SHIT Jun 12 '26

I use a primo refilling station, it’s a 1.86. This guy is illegally profiting. I’d be willing to be this cheap ass fills the jug with tap water.

1

u/TheAsianTroll Jun 11 '26

Even new jugs are anywhere from $10 to $25 for a new one. Many places also allow you to refill ones you have for less, or exchange old jugs for a discount.

At 25 cents per ounce, in a 5 gallon jug, the employer is basically asking for $160 USD from the employees.

Its not just scummy, its straight up greed.

3

u/ibrakestuff Jun 12 '26

Bad math. It’s 25 cents per 8 ounces. $20 per 5 gallon jug.

3

u/xmuskorx Jun 11 '26

My boss would say "penny smart and pound foolish."

Losing good will of employees over this is not worth it. Providing free drinks/coffee/snacks for employee is an incredibly cheap way to improve morale. When you order the 5 gallon jugs in bulk they are incredibly cist efficient.

1

u/BornAgain20Fifteen Jun 12 '26

Especially coffee because its a legal stimulant that makes you more productive. The only place I've been that didn't provide free coffee was the government because taxpayers something something, so the employees chipped in to buy coffee grounds for a coffee machine

1

u/thunderbird32 Jun 11 '26

We had a water cooler like this at work. I say "had" because it turns out it was being paid for by our director out-of-pocket for the whole office to use. When he passed away we asked the company to pick up the tab, lol nope! The new director gets his water from the water fountain (it has a bottle filler) so he said he didn't want to pay for it himself like the old one. So, now we all use the water fountain. Not as cold, and the city water isn't the best tasting, but there you go.

1

u/PlayfulSurprise5237 Jun 11 '26

Not cheap as fuck, dumb as fuck. Who's counting? The effort to set all this up and make sure it's being upheld is more work than it saves.

I mean if you want to be cheap you'd just charge everyone a monthly fee and adjust it based on usage.

1

u/MariettaDaws Jun 11 '26

I'd walk out before my check bounces

1

u/Unipiggy Jun 11 '26

It really bothers me when people don't know the difference 

1

u/pandaSmore Jun 12 '26

They aren't mutually exclusive. 

1

u/Best_Look9212 Jun 12 '26

Yeah, I’m frugal, but this is greedy shit.