Toxic boss begs ex-employee for a 5-star review after underpaying him for years. Within seconds, he texted again — this time in a panic

A corporation is just like a family unit — every employee has some specific non-negotiables, and unless they're met, they won’t be able to put in adequate effort at work. A 29-year-old man (u/hopplafish) not only felt undervalued at work but was also significantly underpaid at a small design firm in Germany. Eventually, he resigned, but only to have his toxic manager beg him multiple times for a 5-star review on a famous job review site. Frustrated, the ex-employee complied — except his review was not only brutally honest but also exposed the manipulative company. On July 6, he turned to Reddit to share his petty revenge, and his post has received over 6,000 upvotes online.

Work above your station at zero extra pay

The employee described that the company already had poor leadership. Although he was a specialist, he was expected to perform the job of a “fully qualified project manager” without decent pay. Other employees were also frustrated by the company's toxic work culture. In fact, many ended up quitting due to poor management. At last, this employee also resigned and moved from Germany to a new city. But that’s when his former boss texted him asking him to leave a review on a job site. "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," the employee recalled. 

The obvious manipulation 

A few days later, the employee checked the review site and noticed that someone had left a few 4.5-star ratings. He suspected that the reviews were likely left by their boss, as they all looked the same with repetitive adjectives like "great work-life balance" and "amazing health benefits." He reported the reviews to the platform’s support, who removed them within four hours. 

Chef's kiss

After the fake reviews were removed, the man left a 1-star “brutally honest, mathematically precise” review, dragging the company’s reputation down to where it belonged. His boss texted him again to leave a good review. The entire incident was especially funny because his boss was unaware that he had taken down his 4.5-star reviews. Later on, an ex-colleague contacted him to say the company was making extra efforts to treat them nicely so they could snag a positive review.

Why do employees quit?

What the man experienced is a very familiar situation. A negative experience with a company often leaves the employee feeling invalidated and undervalued. According to iHire’s 2024 Talent Retention Report, 36.3% of employees leave their jobs due to unsatisfactory pay. Similarly, 50.9% of workers said they would accept lower pay if the employer promised to provide them with a better work-life balance. As the Reddit post suggests, the employer didn’t promise any such thing; in fact, he expected him to do more work. Meanwhile, a Gallup survey further revealed that employees who do not feel valued, appreciated, and recognized for their efforts in the company are twice as likely to say they’d quit their jobs.

'A wake up call'

Reacting to the Reddit post, u/ipsolpsum commented, "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!” Similarly, u/Talwyn_Wize said, "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.”

More on Scoop Upworthy

Employee who was fired by management for his stand-up comedy has the last laugh in court

Outperforming employee has the last laugh after HR cuts his yearly pay by 30 percent without notice

Restaurant owner gives scathing response to entitled customer who posted bad Tripadvisor review