Everyone has regrets, but sometimes it takes a while to realize that a decision was a mistake. You may find out years later that a certain relationship wasn't actually a good idea or that your investments aren't ever going to pay off. Other times, however, it takes only a few seconds to realize that you've made a terrible mistake.
Netizens have been recalling the most expensive mistakes they've ever seen someone make in the span of less than ten seconds, so we've gathered their most painful stories below. Good luck getting through these tales without cringing extremely hard, and be sure to upvote the experiences that would certainly make you wish that you could go back in time too!
#41
I worked in a food manufacturing plant while I was in college.
Salt and auger were stored in huge silos.
A guy erred by unloading a rail car of salt onto the sugar silo.
It wasn’t discovered right away.
The plant had to recall 3 shifts worth of production, Much of it was already in transport via trucks and rail cars to distribution centers and customers.
Salt and auger were stored in huge silos.
A guy erred by unloading a rail car of salt onto the sugar silo.
It wasn’t discovered right away.
The plant had to recall 3 shifts worth of production, Much of it was already in transport via trucks and rail cars to distribution centers and customers.
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3points
#42
Imagine metal parts inside your car but for an airplane. Large metallic components can run for +100k dollars, theses parts have a service life, and past there service life these components can be reworked. In a machine shop flipping a lever the wrong way or improperly hoisting can turn a 100k part to just a few hundred dollars worth of scrap metal easily. Happens regularly to new guys, false confident workers, and the distracred workers.
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3points
#43
I didn't SEE him but I was in Hawai'i in 2018 and got woken up by a text saying "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
Apparently some guy was running a drill that involved him saying "this is not a drill" so another guy sent out the warning thinking it was real.
Apparently some guy was running a drill that involved him saying "this is not a drill" so another guy sent out the warning thinking it was real.
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3points
#44
Told a branch manager not to release property loss funds of $195,000 to an unauthorized 3rd party (deceased mortgage holder’s son)via a cashier’s check. Found out later that the branch manager did it anyway. Never heard from the son again. The house had burned to the ground. The note still had $125,000 left on it and was deeply in arrears.
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3points
#45
I saw a guy in Alaska not tilt back the forks on a forklift and reverse with what I can only imagine was hundreds of thousand dollars worth of roe. It was several pallets high and almost all of the packages broke when they hit the ground. Not only the cost of the roe, but the cleanup was insane. The Japanese inspectors were right there when it happened and they stayed to make sure the processing area was up to their standards before they signed off on buying anymore fish. It halted processing for at least a day. The packing co took a hit that day.
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3points
#46
Watched a car stereo installer drill through the firewall into the fuel injection wiring harness on a brand new Porsche once.
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3points
#47
I was once working in a transformer factory and me and 2 other guys landed this big steel plate on top of a fiber glass cable that gave information about the coil temperature and what not. with the Transformers costing up to millions of euros/dollars the client gets a discount of something around 25 000 euros if one coil does not have this sensor working.
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3points
#48
A nurse at my hospital threw away a 45k piece of equipment without asking. Then a week later, our EVS crew in surgical accidentally hit a fire sprinkler on the ceiling, causing a multi million dollar operating room to be completely destroyed. Thankfully for the workers, they weren’t found at fault since the sprinkler system should’ve had covers since daily ceiling cleanings were mandatory. It was an accident waiting to happen.
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3points
#49
A shady tow company dragged my car off from in front of my dad’s house at 2:00am. Except when they backed into it they cracked the oil pan. All told I paid them $250 to get my car back and they paid $3,000 to repair it.
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3points
#50
Myself. When I crashed a $600 drone into a concrete wall even though I have 100s of hours operating UAVs.
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2points
#51
Not seen, but I called it.
Had a coworker who could NOT control their temper. The place we worked together let him scream and rage and after too many years I couldn’t take it anymore and I called him out on it. Said if he ever went anywhere else, that wouldn’t fly. He lasted a month before quitting. He got another job somewhere making nice money, and after a bit he got a raise and they asked him to do something and he felt it was beneath him so he let his anger get the better of him and he exploded on the person at work. He was fired instantly. His stepmother told me, and my only reply was, “I called it.” He was basically blacklisted from an entire nursing home community (and their network) bc of his poorly managed temper.
Had a coworker who could NOT control their temper. The place we worked together let him scream and rage and after too many years I couldn’t take it anymore and I called him out on it. Said if he ever went anywhere else, that wouldn’t fly. He lasted a month before quitting. He got another job somewhere making nice money, and after a bit he got a raise and they asked him to do something and he felt it was beneath him so he let his anger get the better of him and he exploded on the person at work. He was fired instantly. His stepmother told me, and my only reply was, “I called it.” He was basically blacklisted from an entire nursing home community (and their network) bc of his poorly managed temper.
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1point
#52
Just this morning, I saw two idiots make what was likely a rather expensive mistake on the commute to work. I was in the second row stopped at a light behind a sports car and a comically ugly spoilered car who decided they were going to race.
Now this would have been a bad decision regardless, but the road we were on didn’t have a shoulder and wasn’t in the best shape. Like 50 yards past the intersection there’s a pothole that took out a chunk of the outside edge of the road. Normally it’s just an annoyance you have to scoot over in the lane slightly to avoid.
Well, the two speed racers burned rubber when the light turned green, and the one in the outside lane either hit the pothole or tried to swerve around (it was dark, and with what happened next I’m not 100% which it was) and either way proceeded to fishtail back and forth across the road and managed to T-Bone the other car, landing both of them very embarrassed and in the median. They’re honestly lucky that the pothole was as early as it was before they could build up any real speed. Even still, I can’t imagine that being a cheap little hiccup on their ride to work.
Now this would have been a bad decision regardless, but the road we were on didn’t have a shoulder and wasn’t in the best shape. Like 50 yards past the intersection there’s a pothole that took out a chunk of the outside edge of the road. Normally it’s just an annoyance you have to scoot over in the lane slightly to avoid.
Well, the two speed racers burned rubber when the light turned green, and the one in the outside lane either hit the pothole or tried to swerve around (it was dark, and with what happened next I’m not 100% which it was) and either way proceeded to fishtail back and forth across the road and managed to T-Bone the other car, landing both of them very embarrassed and in the median. They’re honestly lucky that the pothole was as early as it was before they could build up any real speed. Even still, I can’t imagine that being a cheap little hiccup on their ride to work.
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1point
#54
Watched my nearly drunk buddy change the oil on his new-to-him ‘86 bronco with a 351 and built with a lift by the previous owner and even wearing good ole Buck Shot mud tires. This thing was clean. We were all getting ready for a Saturday night camping trip excursion on the lake. The location was only accessible by 4x4 and had miles of mud hole trails. This poor guy was having fun working on his truck and busting balls with us around the shop that somewhere along the way he forgot to tighten his partially installed oil drain plug. He refilled that old ford and we took off! About two miles down the road we came to a stop to cross the highway and heard a knock coming from his truck. Behind his bronco was a trail of oil. My guy was devastated. He knew immediately what he did. That weekend I watched him completely destroy that bronco because he didn’t want to fix the bearings in the motor. Kind of sad, but also an epic show. In the end, I guess we all had fun.
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1point
#55
Some time during the pandemic my friend was so passionate about DOGE coin. When it spiked, it got up to around 70k and I begged him to sell and take the profit. He spent pennies on the dollar for all that, so literally anything would have been a solid win. He decided to wait until it hit a dollar a coin so he could essentially take the 100k, but before that could even happen, they froze transactions and he couldn’t sell. Then it crashed. He kept thinking it would go back up so he didn’t sell. 60k, 50k, 40k, all the way back to near-nothing. Now it’s basically worthless.
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1point
#57
Circa 2001.
Senior manager Lost a 200,000+ a year salary by walking up behind a brand new temporary employee with very large breasts, wrapping his arms around her and cupping them in his hands. when asked why he did it, he said, ‘I had to feel their weight’.
He was 58 years old and she was maybe 21.
Senior manager Lost a 200,000+ a year salary by walking up behind a brand new temporary employee with very large breasts, wrapping his arms around her and cupping them in his hands. when asked why he did it, he said, ‘I had to feel their weight’.
He was 58 years old and she was maybe 21.
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-2points