People reveal petty things they’ve done, like secretly bidding against colleagues in online auctions

People have revealed some of the petty things they have done to wreak revenge after feeling wronged by others.

The conversation was sparked after an anonymous Mumsnet user, thought to be based in the UK, owned up to her own favourite act of pettiness – before asking others to share theirs.

She explained that when people drive too close to her, she purposefully slows down, adding ‘if they don’t back off I continue to drive as slow as legally possible just to make a point’.

The poster asked: ‘Even if you haven’t acted on it, what’s the pettiest thing you’ve considered doing?’

An anonymous Mumsnetter opened up about her own favourite petty act, while asking others to share theirs

One respondent revealed a mean trick they play on their partner, writing: ‘If my DP has done something to annoy me I wait until he is in the shower and then run a cold tap for a short blast. 

‘This makes the shower water get hotter. Not enough to scald but enough to make him turn the temperature down which by that time the cold tap is off he’s having a much cooler shower.’ 

Another, who described themselves as ‘sad and incredibly petty’, revealing that they had once secretly bid in an auction to drive up the price of an item an unpopular colleague wanted.

They wrote: ‘A work colleague of mine (who I didn’t like very much) had a plastic barbie plate that she was oddly attached to. She would use it all the time. One day she dropped it and it broke and she was very upset. 

‘She then found the same plate on eBay and placed a bid for it. I decided to bid against her to drive the price up. This stupid plastic plate went up to £35 before i stopped and let her win the auction. She still talks about the “mystery bidder” who was also so desperate to buy the plate. Yes I am sad and incredibly petty.’ 

People took to the post to share their own petty acts, including secretly bidding in an online auction, and spelling a boss’ name wrong

Another Mumsnetter with a workplace grudge added: ‘Incredibly tame but used to really satisfy me, a particularly nasty manager at an old job had a name that could be spelt with or without an ‘e’. I always spelt it wrong in emails because I knew it irritated her.’ 

And another opened up about using pettiness to get revenge on a manager, writing: ‘My boss used to refuse anyone to use (her) the office stapler. If you had to use it she would make you do it at her desk and she would frown at you if you dared to crack it too hard.

‘When I left I stole it.’

And the pettiness went beyond the workplace: for one commentator, a neighbour was the target.

She admitted: ‘I used to let my neighbours use my Wi-Fi when they were around – not often as they have a second home abroad. 

‘The husband was rude and snappy to me one day so without telling them I changed the password so they couldn’t get on it and I knew that they wouldn’t have the nerve to ask me for the new password. It gave me way more delight than it should have done really .’

A number of commentators admitted their glee at reacting to a situation in which they felt undermined with pettiness 

Another IT-related petty incident went even further, with a Mumsnetter writing: ‘I repaired a family member’s computer. It was completely riddled with viruses and malware. Took a good few hours to fix.

‘I didn’t get offered a single drink, he didn’t thank me and was just generally rude while I sorted it.

‘Before I left, I wrote a little script that made it loudly beep at random intervals and made sure it ran at start up. Just a few times a day but enough to be massively annoying.’

One poster revealed that they had once become embroiled in a petty battle with a sibling, with whom they shared a car.

They wrote: ‘This isn’t a revenge one but it is petty (both of us). When my sister and I still loved at home but after we both learnt to drive we shared a car. My mum owned it and paid the running costs but we had to buy our own petrol. 

‘We were always arguing about whether one of us had used more petrol then she had paid for. To the extent that we’d end up putting £3 of petrol in for each short journey. Really really petty!’ 

Other petty acts shared by forum users included refusing to pay a penny above the cost of petrol used in a shared car, and pretending to not remember an old date

Another opened up about how they got their own back on a terrible date, explaining: ‘I once went on a date (OLD) with a chap who was arrogant and just utterly awful. He talked about himself non stop and had the nerve to tell me he didn’t like how I’d done my hair. 

‘Years later, I somehow bumped into him at a gig. He recognised me and came to say hello. I pretended to have NO idea who he was. He kept protesting and trying to remind me and was extremely put out that I couldn’t remember him AT ALL. It was delicious.’