Short version - I was trying to advance my career and got completely fooled by someone that I was told to trust and believe in, by everyone in the company.
Long version - I had been at my job for about 6 years and felt I had gone as far as I could within the company and started looking for ways to advance elsewhere. After nearly a year of searching, I finally found something that seemed like it was an adequate position for me to switch to. So I put in my two week's notice.
At the same time and unrelated to my job-hunt, the company was also going through a major organizational shift where new directors were brought in and entire departments were gutted. It was a very turbulent time.
Back to me, I knew I was going to get an offer to stay as I had a great relationship with everyone in the company and was pretty competent too but I didn't think the offer was going to be anything worth staying for, personally. My resignation notice went quickly up the ladder and within an hour after handing it in, I get a call from one of the senior executives pleading with me to stay. We talked about what it was that I wanted (higher profile work assignments, access to more job growth opportunities) and they said to give them some time to figure out a counter offer to the job I was going accept.
A few hours later, I get another call for the exec and they make an impressive offer, something I really wasn't expecting. I tried it keep my cool but it was somewhat obvious from my stunned silence on the phone that I was definitely interested. I sleep on it for a night with the agreement to give my decision the following day. That night, I thought about the offer and who was making it and with my time at the company, I learned that this exec was one that everyone pretty much loved. Worked their way up through the company for a number of years, all of their direct reports and co-workers lauded them for their fairness and commitment to the company and the people within. Bottom line, this exec has your back.
Next day, I go back into work and talk with the exec again, agreeing to stay if I could get some kind of formal, official guarantee on the offer (ex. some of the work assignments had a future start date so while I couldn't really begin working on it, at least I wanted my name assigned to it in the project plan). At that moment, the exec started to hem-&-haw (no, this isn't where I got screwed). I confidence dropped immediately and I kept pushing and the best I could get was an "I will try." I guess the night eased their panic too and they started to realize they couldn't deliver on everything they promised and tried to hedge their bets. I probably should have walked away but I kept thinking about how everyone trusted this exec implicitly. So I accepted "the try" and notified the other position that I would be turning down their offer as well, choosing to stay where I was.
A week or two later, I visit the exec in one of our other office locations (in another state) and spend the week there, having a face-to-face to make sure everything was fine, no hard feelings, and that the "try" was actually taking motion. Everything seemed ok, and the morning of my return flight, I stopped by one last time to say goodbye (standard social "see you later" type thing, nothing official or serious) and felt pretty good that things were proceeding smoothly.
A few hours later, I get off my flight and check my phone. A coworker sent me a text that while I was in midair the executive I was supposed to trust had resigned. Apparently, the executive did not get along with one of the new directors that was brought in during the organizational shift and could no longer stand to work with them.
That was where I felt I got screwed. They had apparently been butting heads for months so the decision to quit wasn't one that was made on a spur of the moment. They had strong inclination to leave yet made promises to me that they knew they wouldn't be able to keep.
I have a feeling that some of you may feel like I have no right to feel like I was screwed over. Maybe, maybe not. Even though this was a "nothing personal, just business" type move, it still hurt.