Payback Time For Big Al! | r/ProRevenge | #249

hey everybody rob from karma comment chameleon coming at you today with a continuation of a previous Pro revenge story payback time for Big Al now if you haven't heard the previous big owl story click the link at the top of the description and watch that video first and then come back to this one this takes place a few years after the previous story by this time Big Al's business had grown tremendously he had housing communities going in a three-state area he lived in a huge house in a gated community had a ranch at the base of the mountains a lake house and a big condo in Mexico the company had its own plane and pilot Big Al was living large his wife a former Miss America contestant didn't make it out of the first round was also enjoying the trappings of their success she's at the high end of high maintenance I called her a semi trophy wife she's hot but she's not an airhead I received a phone call from a longtime friend named Chris she had been working for Big Al in their marketing department they were in the process of revamping all of their plans and promotional materials their previous CAD guy had convinced Big Al to use some non-standard software for all of their plans this was starting to create problems in dealing with suppliers and subcontractors as they all wanted drawings in AutoCAD format this software was totally incompatible Big Al was gearing up for another expansion so he wanted everything in autocad and wanted all new landscape promotional renderings the problem was the lack of a qualified cad person big al now had an architect tom but tom had his hands full cleaning up all the old plans and developing the plans for custom projects so Big Al had the brilliant idea of calling me to do the work in all honesty I could not tell you why he didn't call any of 20 other people to handle this project when you consider our past for whatever reason he wanted me on the project so I met with Chris and Tom to figure out what we were going to do I suggested just doing the plans in 2d using standard drawing techniques we could get the project out the door quite quickly as we'd just be copying existing plans I even knew of a utility we could use to export the floor plans from the original software and into a format we could use in AutoCAD to create the plans it would be a huge time-saver Tom however wanted to start from scratch and use an amazing tool called architectural desktop it's a version of AutoCAD specifically for building design I'll spare you the details of exactly how it works but the biggest items is you can draw in a way that feels like 2d and it will generate all of your interior and exterior views automatically it can even break down material list generate sectional details and on and on and on all these things we would do by hand can be done automatically the problem is the learning curve this isn't something an experienced operator can sit down with and be proficient in a day or two there's a lot to this program and Tom had a plan Tom's plan was to send him and I to school for a week there were training companies in every major city at the time so Tom and Chris convinced Big Al to send us to school for a week the company would cover everything hotel food fees etc I had no out-of-pocket expenses they weren't going to pay me for my time but that was fine with me the cost of school alone was more than my hourly rate would have been these are skills I can take with me far beyond this project like a fool I again went into this project without a written agreement not even a handshake just a verbal agreement to do some work for the company for a per plan rate plans will get paid for one week after delivery that's it AutoCAD at the time worked on a per seat licensing program the software can be installed on one and only one computer at a time they had an activation scheme that was pretty much impossible to get around so part of the agreement with Big Al was the company would need to provide a piece of software for me to use during this project no big deal for a company with deep pockets as they'll likely have a need for the seat in the future once I'm done with the project a week before the schooling I received a big box from the school in it was the materials for the school some suggested exercises to practice and a full version of AutoCAD and architectural desktop neither had been activated these were brand new off-the-shelf still in shrink-wrap virgin software we're talking about at least five thousand dollars in software here I figured there must be some mistake that would likely come out in the registration process so I loaded it on my computer entered all of my company information not Big Al's company and did the online activation bang zoom it's activated and it's all mine I still didn't believe it so I called the school and company a few days later to ask a question they pulled up my info for verification and said nothing about Big Al's company as far as they and Autodesk were concerned I was the owner of this particular license yes it crossed my mind to keep the software but this was an honest mistake by Big Al's minion so I would bring up the issue at the end of the project there were ways to transfer ownership of the registered software just some paperwork and a few hoops to jump through Tom and I headed to school for a week at the end of the week we knew our stuff I knew it much better than Tom but he knew enough to get the job done we were ready to hit the ground running on Monday I estimated each plan would take about three days but I was expecting the first two to take a week each as I set up various aspects of the program to work with our needs I also needed time to get comfortable with the program for the most part my estimates were spot-on Tom had no issue with this timeframe Chris wanted it all right now but understood it was going to take time Tom's task would be to redline my drawings make corrections and work on some custom projects the company had going on two and a half weeks later I had three plans done Tom would mark them up and send revisions back to me it was usually just little stuff like one would expect from a first draft revisions were minimal and usually only took an hour or so Chris was happy with the results she had three more plans ready for me to convert I picked them up at the office and started working at the old electronic drawing board ten days later they were ready to go back and get another set sidenote when Tom and I were in the big city for a week we shared the evening meal we discussed the day's lesson life outside of work and so on the last night we were in town he said there were some friends of his nearby and would be having dinner with them that didn't strike me as odd except that he never said anything about it until the afternoon break the next morning I asked how it went and he said it was good but was a bit evasive I thought maybe my coffee hadn't hit my system yet back to the story when I arrived at the office I went back to Tom's office to drop the plans tom was not there a new person was sitting at his desk named Amanda apparently Tom's dinner meeting was actually a job interview he managed to get the job one reason he pushed for the classes on the new software was related to this new job he had learned the position was coming open but the firm wanted someone with knowledge in architectural desktop so he was able to get his education on the software paid by someone else I also learned there were some serious office politics going on with Tom regularly getting shafted by those higher up Amanda said she was experienced so I didn't foresee any issues in the transition brother was I ever wrong Chris wanted to see me before I left she told me Amanda did indeed have experience but it was all in an academic environment she was fresh out of college Chris that they would need me to help her along with transitioning into this project I said they would have to pay me a bit more for that Chris said she'd talked to Big Al about it later that afternoon Chris called with Big Al's answer if I wanted to stay involved in this project then I'd better help them out definitely the wrong thing to say for a couple of reasons first I had discovered a serious error in their square footage calculations all of their plans thus far had been figured about a hundred and fifty square feet under the actual number that's a nice little chunk of cash just off one house somewhere between seventy five hundred and nine thousand dollars at that time imagine it over 100 houses I told the VP in charge of the cat area but he was indifferent and told me I didn't know what I was doing yeah I've only been calculating square footage for about 15 years I can see where that might be an argument as for reason two I'm still sore at Big Al for the sins of the past but I wasn't ready to pounce just yet I tend to be a good natured person and it's really difficult for me to step into ethically questionable areas I'll need a really firm shove in that direction if I'm going there it happened next time I was in the office Chris told me she needed the next plan as soon as it was done she would also give me a couple of more plans to save me a trip so I dropped by picked up the plans and went over to Big Al's office I wanted to talk about this demand for me to help Amanda along without further payment we had already been through several phone calls of support and a few emails with detailed instructions it was getting old very quickly I also wanted to let him know about the flaw in square-footage calculation I had discovered Big Al's secretary said he was on the phone but could see me after he was done suddenly we heard Big Al's voice booming from his office yeah if you think you have a case against me then you go ahead and sue but guess what I'll bury you in so much legal red tape that you'll run out of money before I do and you'll never see a dime so go ahead and sue me I told the secretary to forget it and don't tell big owl I was there she didn't want to talk to him any more than necessary that day so I'm sure she honored my request in that moment I knew it was time big owl had no problem shafting me over Amanda and he was shoving other little guys around as well everything was in my favor here - I had no written contract payments were sent one week after delivery the verbal part of our agreement only stated they would provide me with training and software one of the witnesses no longer worked at the company I'm fairly certain he'd do whatever it took to screw them to the verbal part never said anything about completing the project or that they retained ownership of the software or training I'd give it back if they screamed loudly about it I took the next set of plans home and waited for days Big Al had a big expansion going on complete with grand openings and such and was all over Chris to get this done the set of plan she wanted was the flagship of their new huge subdivision she called and left a message demanding I call her back or bring the completed set of plans by as she really needed them so I packed up the four sets of uncompleted plans I had and went to the office I gave them to Chris told her it was nothing against her but rather big out and said I was done because of the way I'd been treated over the Amanda situation I also said to tell Big Al not to bother calling me to patch this up or to ever do any work again I am done with him Chris was pissed but understood I waited two weeks before breathing easier if they were going to demand the software back they would have done it by then but they didn't the one person who understood how it worked was Tom and he was no longer with the company so I managed to screw Big Al out of about $10,000 worth of software and try his new subdivision stumbled out of the blocks because Amanda did not get the work done in time all of his plans had incorrect square footage calculations causing them to have a reduced level of profit on each plan Amanda may have caught this but I seriously doubt it and I managed to drive a wedge between Big Al and Chris Chris quit about a year later she just couldn't take Big Al's ego any longer Chris and I are still friends no cliffhanger this time I do have a story about Big Al taking revenge on a construction crew for using the toilets and newly constructed houses but the muds had a problem with it and took it down still haven't figured out where to post it well it looks like Opie posted the toilet story in the comments so of course we're gonna have to read that too it says as requested the Big Al toilet story Big Al calls me one day says he has six of the newest plans nearing completion and needs to make some changes to the base plan this is pretty common during construction you'll discover a wall doesn't quite line up with something or needs to be shifted a bit for a load-bearing or they decide to flip a bathroom layout just little things but it happens he asked me to come over to the subdivision and we'll walk through each one to do the markups I quickly agreed as it is rare for me to see my drawing brought into reality I arrived bright and early so we could get the task out of the way before the usual business of the day sets in these particular models were scattered throughout a six-block area plus there were a few other plans in progress like any construction site there were a few porta-potties scattered around for the workers there was also a large jobsite toolbox this is essentially a very heavy thick walled steel toolbox the workers can store their tools in there overnight so they don't have to lug them back and forth every day Big Al the crew foreman and a few others had keys to this box Big Al was in his office when I arrived we walked to the first plan and went through the changes then the next one and so on these houses were getting close to done but the water was not turned on the wall textures had been sprayed they only needed paint flooring and a few other odds and ends for some reason Big Al kept looking in the toilets of all the bathrooms even if we didn't need to look in the master bedroom he would go into the bathroom and check the toilet I wasn't sure why he was doing that until we arrived at a house with a turd in the toilet I figured Big Al would lose it as all the workers know to use the porta potties all he did was get a big grin on his face we are walking back to the office and the foreman Julio sees Big Al and waves him over the big grin comes back to Big Al's face and he says watch this it's going to be good this was likely to be epic or be an epic train wreck you never knew where things were going with Big Al regardless I knew it would be memorable and I was right Julio is fuming I mean red faced fury so mad he's stammering when talking you aren't going to believe what happened last night someone got into the job box and took a massive crap over all the tools I know I'm the one that did it said Big Al in a calm and matter-of-fact voice the look on Julio's face was priceless there was nothing Big Al could have said that would have shocked Julio beyond his current state it was almost like his brain was stuck in a loop trying to comprehend what he just heard what why the heck would you do that who is going to clean it up the calm and matter-of-fact voice disappeared Big Al was pissed because yesterday I found several toilets in the houses had been used by your crew I've told them repeatedly to use the porta-potties so have you gather the crew at the job box have them clean it out completely then go into each house and clean each toilet whether or not it's been used I'll be going around later to inspect them and if they aren't clean to my satisfaction I'll start firing people Julio took off to carry out his orders once he was out of earshot big owl said I saved that crap up and ate Taco Bell the day before thought I was going to explode before the end of shift yesterday ha ha ha that was worth it a few weeks later I asked big owl about it he said there had been no further toilet incidents well I'm glad Opie put that story about big owl and the toilets in the comments that's pretty awesome although I think big owl might have taken that a little too far but what do you guys think let's see your comments down below one thing that's really eating at me though is that Opie still did this without a contract it was just on a verbal contract Opie you'd think you would have learned the first time I hope next time you do any work you get a contract for it regardless of who you're working for I want to thank Opie for posting this story to the pro revenge subreddit you can visit them at the links in the description below please go there and give them an upvote once again this is rob from karma comment chameleon saying thanks for watching if you enjoyed the video please hit that subscribe button drop a like and share it with your friends and we'll see you in the next one you

Channel: Karma Comment Chameleon

Views: 98,066

Keywords: karma, comment, chameleon, karma comment chameleon, reddit, funny, funny reddit, reddit funny, r/entitledparents, entitledparents, entitled parents, entitled, parents, top posts, reddit top post, best of reddit, comedy, r/, rslash, r/prorevenge, r/pro revenge, prorevenge, pro revenge, pro, revenge, reddit revenge, reddit pro revenge, reddit prorevenge

Id: PXgSMAvTFdg

Length: 19min 11sec (1151 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 14 2019