Some employees follow company policies no matter how unreasonable they may sound.
This man was charged a final bill of $0.02 for an apartment he rented.
When he dropped by the office to settle this in cash, the apartment manager refused to take cash.
The former tenant decided to settle the bill with a side of malicious compliance.
Read the story below and find out how he complied.
In 2019, I moved from an apartment complex in Celebration, Florida, to a condo.
As usual, when you move out of an apartment, you get a final bill.
This includes your last month’s pro-rated rent, deductions for damages, security deposit refunds, and the likes.
We paid it all.
This man received a follow-up bill of $0.02.
The next month, I get a call from my wife who says we’ve got a follow-up bill in the mail.
It’s from the apartment management company, and it’s for $0.02.
We’re both in the tech field. So we laughed that this company’s IT department didn’t catch the edge case of spending $0.50 in postage to collect $0.02 in revenue.
But it happens.
He went to the apartment complex to pay the 2 cents in change.
My wife prints out a copy of the bill.
I grab two cents from the change jar.
The apartment complex is on my daily drive, so I swing by the office.
I walk in and tell the manager that I want to pay my last bill. I say, “It’s two cents. Here’s the bill, and I have the two cents if you want it.”
Apparently, they don’t accept cash payments.
The manager says “We don’t take cash.” Nothing else.
There was an awkward pause.
I say, “I don’t expect you to take cash. I expect us both to have a laugh about how silly computer systems are. And for you to write off the two cents, because it’d cost you more to process the payment.”
She says, “I’m not going to do that.”
Again, awkward pause.
The manager told him to send them a check for $0.02.
I say, “So you want me to write you a check… for two cents. And mail it? And you’re going to process that check?”
The manager says, “Yes, send us a check and we’ll process it.” And then walks back into her office to end the conversation.
He processed the payment as soon as he got home.
So, I go home and set up an automatic, monthly bank payment to my apartment complex for three cents.
And then, because I’m a programmer, I write some code to send a letter once per month.
Saying, “I’m so sorry, I’ve overpaid my bill. Please send me a check for the overpayment.”
And I use an online service that sends postcards in ridiculous sizes—up to around 18″x24″. Figuring that’ll be my escalation strategy.
He received an apology from the regional manager.
The first of the next month, I get a call from the apartment company’s regional manager.
After introducing himself, the next two minutes were the most sincere apology anyone could’ve hoped for, saying: “Oh god, we made a mistake. Please don’t do this. We’ll never contact you again.”
I stopped the mail and never heard from them again.
Did I spend several hours on MC for two cents? Yes.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
Hahaha! That was hilarious. Let’s read the reactions of other users on Reddit about this.
This person shares a similar experience.
That’s genius, says this person.
This user shares their honest opinion.
Here’s a reply from this person.
Finally, a short but sweet comment from this user.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you give your two cents! LOL.
If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.
