I worked a small web design company
With a total of just 8 employees. It was a shambles really. After I was given the boot, I was tempted to report them because they used software from the Microsoft Partner licence thing, where the software is only allowed to be used for testing and internal training purposes and not for commercial use. And everything else they used was hooky, kept in a folder on one of the servers complete with cracks, serials and keygens. Photoshop, Dreamweaver and a load of other odds and ends.

However, if I did report them, the business would've gone under and they would have all lost their jobs. If it was a much larger corporation then I might have done.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 12 Jul 2011, 11:23, 4 replies)

I don't understand your logic.
You'd rather a few hundred people, some of whom would be unskilled, lose their jobs than 8 people who would likely find work easily?
Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give a fuck if people copy MS software, but I'm not following your logic for not shopping them. Unless you were just a bad employee and/or the company treated everyone fine?
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 12 Jul 2011, 18:01, closed)

this may be commonplace
I know of a web design company of about the same number of staff run by the most arrogant a-hole that ever existed. Even using the C word as an adjective, a modifier, a verb and a noun isn't strong enough to describe this guy. Despite charging a massive amount for allegedly bespoke (off-the-shelf) software and hosting he doesn't see fit to pay for software himself.

This one might qualify for a dodgy work ethics post on it's one. He charged a client about £60k to develop a specific website. After a long time the website worked but it was pretty awful ...compared to the one they released a month later under the guise of another company. Enough evidence was found to link the very attractive and professional looking version back to the company. They admitted it eventually.

Total and utter.. no there is no word strong enough.

PS, if you're in sales and your boss steals someone's website idea don't post the link on your facebook page!
(crand _.-~stupid ascii thing~-._, Wed 13 Jul 2011, 13:36, closed)

My company's previous web-devs used to link to our website in their portfolio section. Then I was brought in to fix the utter arse-gravy they'd produced. Bastards kept the link in their portfolio section, but updated the thumbnail to reflect my complete, ground-up re-design. Cockjockeys.
(universalpsykopath loves what you've done with your hair., Wed 13 Jul 2011, 16:22, closed)

Back in the late nineties, a nickel-and-dime web design firm I did work experience with charged the clients to host their sites on geocities, with some fancy JS to hide the ads & branding.
This attitude extended to everything they did. Our dev machines were Hooky dreamweaver, Hooky Photoshop, Hooky Fireworks and hooky Windows on machines they'd got grants from the council for on the pretence of being part of a gateway project.(Getting small businesses into the bold new world of e-commerce. Pre-bubble OFC.) They still charged everyone full-whack.
(universalpsykopath loves what you've done with your hair., Wed 13 Jul 2011, 16:14, closed)