Company made a job candidate wait 2 hours, then walk 20 minutes in summer heat for an interview. He got even on Day 1

Companies often act like they hold all the cards and can treat job seekers however they want. A software engineer (u/dead-dance) learned this the hard way during a final interview. He showed up early for a 9:00 AM slot, waited over two hours with no water, and was forced to walk 20 minutes in the summer heat to the boss's house. All that just for the CEO to lowball him on his salary. Instead of walking away, he accepted the job, only to teach the company a lesson on his first day. He revealed the story on Reddit on November 11, 2026, racking up over 5,000 upvotes.

The final round

The engineer worked at a top firm in his country and wanted a fresh start. So, he applied to a direct competitor in the same sector. Given that he already understood their business model inside out, the early interviews went smoothly. He cleared the first three stages with ease. Only one hurdle stood between him and the job: a final chat with the company owner. His final meeting was set for 9:00 AM sharp, right before the owner had to catch a flight abroad. Wanting to make a good impression, he showed up 15 minutes early.

'Why should I pay you that much?'

Staff left him alone on an empty floor without offering water, coffee, or snacks. Two hours ticked by with no word. Finally, at 11:15 AM, someone told him the boss was not coming in and that he would have to go to his house instead. "They assigned a staff member to escort me, and we literally walked for 20 minutes in the blazing summer heat to get to his residence," he explained. Even after that, the wait didn't end. The man sat for another 20 minutes before the boss finally appeared. After brief pleasantries, the owner sized him up and asked, “You’re such a young guy; why should I pay you that much?”

Playing the long game

That single remark flipped the switch. Right there, the engineer decided to accept the offer. However, not to join them, but to teach them a lesson. The company eventually sent over the paperwork, setting his start date for September 1st. He played the part well, even messaging HR on August 24th to sound eager about joining. Behind the scenes, though, a much better opportunity was already in the works, and it officially came through on August 26th with a September 10th start date.

When his joining date finally arrived, he did not show up. "I simply put my phone on silent, went back to sleep, and went completely No Contact," he revealed. The rival firm panicked, flooding his phone with angry calls and empty threats about blacklisting and legal action. But none of that got to him, as he ignored every single message. Sure enough, it worked. In fact, it ended pretty well for the man, as he went on to thrive at a better company.

Ghosting is fair game

This incident isn't an isolated one; in fact, job seekers often use this ghosting tactic when they feel recruiters aren't being fair. According to a LiveCareer poll, 25% of job seekers ghosted a company at one point in the hiring process. Of these, nearly 4 out of 10 (39%) did so or might do it in the future if they felt they weren't being treated unfairly. That is the exact maneuver this man pulled after being made to wait for hours for his final interview. However, that being said, only 8% of seekers did this after getting a job offer, making this man a gutsy person.

'Need more people like this'

As for the people, they believe more job seekers need to take things into their hands. u/dennismullen12 commented, "I wish more people would do what you did. After the disrespect shown, I will do almost anything to pay them back. How out of touch can they be for threatening to sue you?" Meanwhile, u/vacuumcube stated, "A similar thing happened to me. All interviews went exceptionally well except the one with the big boss. It was a hybrid role. I made excuses and never went into the office for 2 months until they fired me."

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