My coworkers started charging cancellation fees for our lunch plans.
By @owenok · Work
A few guys in the office made a spreadsheet to organize group lunch orders. Now they're trying to 'bill' people a five dollar fee if you back out, even if you have a good reason.
The full story
I'm not a complicated guy. I come to work, do my job, go home. For years, lunchtime has been simple. Someone's going to the taco truck, they shout it out, you give 'em cash, they bring you back a taco. Easy. Then we hired a few younger guys, and they have to make a system for everything. They created this whole spreadsheet for lunch. Who's in, who's out, what they want, links to the menu. Fine. Whatever. At first it seemed kinda useful, I guess. But then came the rules. First, there was a hard cutoff time to get your order in. Annoying, but okay. Then last week, they rolled out the 'cancellation policy.' If you're on the list for lunch but have to back out after 11am, you owe a $5 'convenience fee' to whoever is placing the order. They claim it's because it messes up their planning or potential group discounts. It's five bucks. So yesterday, I put my name down for a sandwich. Right around 10:45, my supervisor comes over and tells me I need to go handle an issue on another site, effective immediately. It's gonna run right through lunch. I find the guy who's running the lunch spreadsheet for the day and tell him to take me off the list. He just nods and says, 'No problem, man. Just don't forget to send me the five bucks for the cancellation fee.' I just stared at him. I told him I wasn't paying a cancellation fee for a sandwich I never ordered because I had to go do my job. It's not a plane ticket, it's a turkey club. they said 'rules are rules' and that I was messing up the 'integrity of the system.' Now he and his little spreadsheet committee are acting weird around me, and I overheard one of them calling me a 'freeloader.' It's not about the money, it's the principle of the thing. You don't fine your coworkers. It's just lunch.
How people voted
- Totally Cooked — 27% (19 votes)
- It’s Complicated — 44% (31 votes)
- You’re Fine — 29% (20 votes)
Readers say “It’s Complicated” (44%) — 70 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@umaok — I'd start paying the $5 fee with a mountain of unrolled pennies every single time.
@hollyhm — I feel like you might be leaving out the part where you cancelled three times last week.
@whoops — Love this innovative, agile approach to a turkey club.
@milomm — These guys have weaponized bureaucracy because they don't know how to just talk to people.
@huhokay — you should start your own lunch group with no spreadsheet just vibes
Keep reading
- I took a pay cut so my coworker could keep his job.
- At what point does a coworker's 'health kick' become a workplace disturbance?
- My coworkers made a group chat without me to complain about me.
- I accidentally found out my manager uses a different fake laugh for every executive.
- Every time I go to the office coffee bar someone tries to pay for my drink.