My wife's employers sent out emails and paper letters to customers at the beginning of the year stating that the cost of the services offered was increasing to cover raises for all employees in the amount of $1.00/hr.
My wife was unaware of these letters until Monday of last week when a customer showed her a paper letter and asked her if she had received her raise. My wife told the customer that she hadn't yet, but would ask to see if the raise was pending.
So my wife calls her boss, asks about the raise and is told that no raise is pending for her. My wife then asks 5 of the 12 employees in her company if they have received raises and they confirm that they have not.
So Monday of this week my wife is back with the same customer who asks if they got their raises. My wife says that she's talked to half of the employees in the company, including herself, and that nobody has gotten or is expecting a raise.
Fast forward to last night and my wife receives a call from her boss who is pissed because said customer cancelled their service with the company because of the increased rates and the fact that the employees didn't receive the raises that were the stated reason for the increase.
My wife's boss then has the audacity to insist that my wife call the customer and retract her statement by telling the customer that she had lied about not receiving a raise. The boss goes on to say that my wife cost her money by telling the truth to the customer, and if she'd like to keep her job that she will need to lie to the customer and get her back.
My wife refused to lie to the customer and, very professionally and respectfully, told her now ex boss to go fuck herself. The boss then asks my wife to hold on the phone while she called her husband, who has nothing to do with the company, and got him involved in the call.
Of course my wife hangs up immediately and ends the call. I'm completely flabbergasted at the level of dishonesty in this company. I'm proud of my wife for sticking to her morals and not giving in to an absolutely ridiculous, and frankly shitty, request by her employer. If you're going to lie to your customer base at least have the backbone to 'fess up when one of them catches you in the lie.
tl;dr My wife's company raised their rates and told customers the increases were to cover raises for all employees. My wife was fired for confirming to a customer that she hadn't received said raise.