'We don't take cash': Apartment manager demands former tenant write a check for 2 cents? Cue malicious compliance!

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 3, 2023 1:00 AM EDT

There is nothing more ridiculous than writing a check for two cents! This thread was posted on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by u/lentesta, who recounted how he and his wife received a follow-up bill from their former apartment management company for $0.02. They complied and attempted to make that already stupid payment in person, but the manager of the complex refused to take cash or write off the payment.

 

So naturally, this infuriated the Redditor, who proceeded to write a check for $0.03 and then asked to have a check sent back to them for the overpayment. This went on for enough time that they received the kind of apology you can only dream of from an apartment manager. Now personally, I would not have the time or bandwidth to commit to this kind of malicious compliance, but you have to hand it to the Redditor and his wife for pulling it off. 

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story, and check out this post for more tales of malicious compliance!

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  • 01
    Font - Apartment manager "doesn't take cash" for $0.02 bill. Malicious compliance ensues. M OC 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, which includes your last month's pro-rated rent, deductions for damages, security deposit refunds, and the like. We paid it.
    via u/lentesta
  • 02
    Font - The next month I get a call from my wife who says we've got a follow-up bill in the mail from the apartment management company, for $0.02. We're both in the tech field, so we laughed that this company's IT deparment didn't catch the edge case of spending $0.50 in postage to collect $0.02 in revenue. But it happens.
    via u/lentesta
  • 03
    Font - 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."
    via u/lentesta
  • 04
    Font - 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."
    via u/lentesta
  • 05
    Font - She says "I'm not going to do that." Again, awkward pause. 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.
    via u/lentesta
  • 06
    Font - 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 post cards in ridiculous sizes - up to around 18"x24", figuring that'll be my escalation strategy.
    via u/lentesta
  • 07
    Font - 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, "Oh god, we made a mistake - please don't do this, we'll never contact you again" apology anyone could've hoped for. 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.
    via u/lentesta
  • 08
    Font - doowgad1 That's genius. 1 hr. ago I had a similar experience. E-Z Pass sent me a letter saying they'd deducted $0.46 from my account. Postage was $ 0.48
    via u/lentesta
  • 09
    Font - or NoMoLerking 1 hr. ago God, this is flooding back to me. I opened an online brokerage account back in the late 90s. They instituted a monthly minimum fee and an account closure fee a few months later. But they didn't have a minimum withdrawal amount or fee. So I requested about 600 $1 checks and then closed my account. They then sent me a bill for the $20 (or whatever, I forget) account closure fee, which I ignored.
    via u/lentesta
  • 10
    Rectangle - Mystic L 1 hr. ago This is ridiculously petty and wasteful... I hope you're proud of yourself. I would be! I love it!!
    via u/lentesta
  • 11
    Font - LU Christwriter 55 min. ago I'd say it was neither petty nor wasteful. Petty and wasteful was what that manager did when she refused to either forgive the two cents or take OP's pennies. What OP did was teach that entire company why grace and generosity are valuable for the cost of three cents a month plus maybe the cost of a postcard.
    via u/lentesta
  • 12
    Font - EgberetSouse 1 hr. ago ATT sent me a $0.03 bill. I sent them a check for $0.07 and began hounding them for my refund.
    via u/lentesta
  • 13
    Font - lentesta OP 59 min. ago . If I didn't already have a twin, I'd bet we were separated at birth.
    via u/lentesta
  • 14
    Font - smash_pops 53 min. ago My former bank got caught up in a scandal where it turned out they had charged interest on fees. They did internal revision, and ended up finding out how much each customer was due. I then got a letter (that cost about 1 dollar to send, postage is extremely expensive here) that I would get a 3 cent payout. It was automatically deposited in my account 2 days later.
    via u/lentesta
  • 15
    Font - gumnos 59 min. ago Did I spend several hours on MC for two cents? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would have been worth it at twice the cost in time. This was fantastic.
    via u/lentesta

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