There was a bakery near my office, "Sweet Bliss," that was amazing and affordable. I loved it so much, I set them up as the vendor for our entire company's daily afternoon snack break. On a day off, I was craving their stuff and saw they were on DoorDash. I was shocked when I got to the checkout. The total, after all the promos and a coupon, wasn't just cheaper than our corporate rate—it was almost half the price. And the portions were bigger. I called the owner to ask why. "Why is our 150-person bulk order more expensive and smaller than a single DoorDash delivery?" Her response? "You shouldn't complain about a free meal." "You don't pay a dime for it, your boss does!" she snapped. "Your CEO isn't whining, so why are you making a scene?" She was right, I'm not the CEO. The CEO's my dad. And if DoorDash is cheaper and better? Fine. Let's have the entire company order from DoorDash. 1 When I saw the total, I thought I’d messed up the order. Nope. Taro Boba and a Strawberry Swirl Cupcake. Same as always. But the price... it was $7 cheaper than our corporate rate. I checked the bakery's page. There was a "30% off orders over $15" promo, plus a $5 "DashPass" coupon I had. My total came to $8. Our company pays $15 per person for the exact same items. I figured this must be the catch. Everyone knows delivery portions are a rip-off. It would probably be tiny and stale. But when the Dasher handed me the bag, I realized I was the one being played. 2 The boba was amazing. The cup was coated in a thick, purple taro puree. The ones at work? They had a sad, single-spoon smear at the bottom. And the cupcake. The ones at the office had a thin layer of frosting. This one was piled high with a three-layer swirl, studded with actual, visible chunks of strawberry. On top of that, they’d thrown in a free mango mochi. A little sticker on the mochi box read: "5-star review + pic = $3 off your next order!" I was confused. Did she make a mistake? Did she grab someone else's deluxe order? Or... had she been intentionally ripping us off this whole time? I couldn't let it go. I dialed the shop. The voice that answered was sickeningly sweet, "Hi! Thank you for calling Sweet Bliss Bakery, how can I help you today?" I tried to keep my cool. "Hi, I'm calling from Aura Cosmetics—" She cut me off. Her voice was suddenly sharp, like scraping a fork on a plate. "Ugh, you girls again. My husband just dropped off your order." "You all need to put your requests in the notes. I don't have time to deal with this every day. You're all so high-maintenance. 'Half-sweet,' 'no ice,' 'extra hot'... I'm not just serving your company, you know! I have delivery orders piling up!" Her rant floored me. Aura Cosmetics is a beauty startup, so yeah, 95% of our staff are women. A free coffee and a pastry in the afternoon is a small perk that keeps morale high. I took pride in setting it up. I’d been so happy to give Sweet Bliss the business. We guaranteed them 150 orders, every single day, at a $15 per-person budget. We paid our invoices weekly, on the dot. We’d been their biggest client for four months straight. 3 "And another thing," she was still going, "you always call right at the lunch rush—" I cut her off. "Why is our 150-person bulk order more expensive than a single DoorDash order?" The line went silent. "And why," I continued, "are you so nice to a random customer, but so rude to your biggest client?" She coughed, trying to recover. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry! I'm just so swamped. I just... I feel like we're so familiar, you know? I can be casual with you. Don't take it personally." "Familiar? Really? Then what's my name?" She stammered. She couldn't say it. "You don't know who I am," I said, my voice cold. "This isn't 'casual.' This is taking us for granted." "Now, answer my question. Why is the same order $7 cheaper on DoorDash, and it comes with a free mochi and a coupon?" "You said you were giving us your absolute rock-bottom price." I expected her to apologize. Instead, she got defensive. "Look, you're trying to have it both ways! You used a bunch of coupons. Those are platform promos! DoorDash pays for that, not me!" "That's a lie," I said. "I know how the platform works. The '30% off' promo comes directly out of your margin. And DoorDash still takes its 25% commission. On my $8 order, you probably made $2. But you charge our company $15 for a worse product? You're not just overcharging us. You're robbing us." She was still trying to gaslight me. "We do delivery for volume, not profit! I set the menu price at $15 for everyone. I even gave your company a 50-cent discount on that! What I do on DoorDash is my business!" I laughed. "Oh, really? So the watery boba and the dry cupcake we get are just 'group discount' quality?" 4 That finally broke her. She dropped the fake-sweet voice and went full-on nasty. "You're just a little employee, mooching off a free perk, and you have the nerve to complain? Did you pay for it? No! It's company money! Why are you so obsessed? You're just a broke-ass brat." "You freeload at the office all day, then go home and try to scam promos on DoorDash." "I can't stand girls like you, all dressed up in your nice clothes, but cheap as hell underneath." I was stunned. "What do you mean, 'mooching'?" I said. "It's an employee benefit. We have a right to know what we're actually paying for." She let out a high-pitched, mocking laugh. "Oh, honey, you really think you're special, don't you? You really think that company is your house?" "If you hate the corporate order, go ahead and buy your own. Oh, wait... you'd never do that. You'd never pass up a free handout." "Our CEO hasn't said a word. So who the hell do you think you are, making a scene?" "Why don't you call me back when you're the boss." Click. She hung up on me. I was so angry I was shaking. But then, I just felt... cold. Why was she so confident? Why wasn't she afraid I'd report her? I pulled up a map. Our office park is in a new, remote development. It's cheap rent, but it's a food desert. I checked the apps. Besides Sweet Bliss, there were three other options: a sad-looking deli, a Starbucks (where $15 wouldn't even cover a drink and a pastry), and a tiny mom-and-pop place that couldn't possibly handle 150 orders. Brenda knew she had a monopoly. She thought she had us. That was a big mistake. I opened our company-wide Slack. I sent a message to the general channel. [@everyone, Hi team. Quick update on the afternoon snack. We're pausing the group order with Sweet Bliss. Instead, starting tomorrow, please order your own snack from the 'Sweet Bliss Bakery' on DoorDash. Here's the fun part: Create a new DoorDash account to get the new-user promos. Stack all the coupons you can. The company budget is still $15 per person. You'll be paid back on a reimbursement. Any money you save... is yours to keep. Let's see who can get the best deal!] The channel exploded. Not only were they getting a better-quality snack, but they were also getting a cash bonus. My phone buzzed. It was Brenda.
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