'I acquired the rights to their leaves': Guy collects massive pile of leaves from neighbors to get back at collection company

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 16, 2023 7:00 AM EST

It's fairly perplexing when a company is particularly bad at providing a service, especially when that company's sole purpose for existence is to provide that service. When you're a leaf collection company, that kind of implies that you're going to be collecting a lot of leaves, and it would be fair for people to expect you to be adept at doing so. Well, it turns out that while a lot of companies brand themselves as providing such-and-such service, really, their main priority isn't providing good service—it's making money. These money-making companies can come in various different guises, but there's a commonality between them: providing the lowest possible service while still remaining in business.

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  • When this overly pedantic leaf collection company neglected to pick up this guy's leaves, he got back at them with a very fitting leaf-themed revenge by collecting a massive pile of leaves, legally acquiring the rights to all his neighbor's leaves so that the company had to collect them too.

  • 01
    "They must be MY leaves on MY curb? As you wish."
    via Courtney Smith

  • Keep reading for this wild tale of leaf-fueled revenge, as shared by Reddit user u/nillanute4283 on Reddit's r/maliciouscompliance subreddit. 

  • 02
    Posted by u/nillanute4283 They must be MY leaves on MY curb? As you wish. MOC The leaf collection company for my neighborhood has absurdly strict rules about where leaves must be for pickup. I live at the end of a cul-de-sac, so my curb is curved and pretty short (about 30' / 9m) long. My property is wedge-shaped, so my back yard is quite long (200' / 60m) and has 40-50 oak trees. I also have two sugar maples in my front yard. So, leaves. Lots of leaves.
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 03
    Pickup rules state leaves must be within 5' of the curb, but on the road. They must also be at least 15' from a mailbox. Because subscriptions for leaf pickup are by individual homeowner, neighbors are not allowed to combine leaves and cannot buy a group subscription. Subscribers must only put "their" leaves from "the current year" out for pickup. Pickup trucks use GPS to identify homes who have signed up and ignore leaves in front of homes that did not sign up.
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 04
    Because I have so many leaves and so little curb (only 15' of available curb due to the required distance from a mailbox), I called the leaf collection company and asked to put the leaves along a longer curb I share with my neighbor. "No problem," they said. Great. The truck came through and picked up a fraction of the pile and left the rest of the pile the driver decided was in front of my neighbor's property. I called the company back and a different person said those are the rules. I'll just
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 05
    Fine. Now it's on. I have 15' of width and 5' of depth. There is, however, no limit on height. I moved the remaining leaves to my available curb space. I collected the rest of my leaves and added them to the pile. I spoke with my neighbors and acquired the rights to their leaves by paying them $1 each. Now they are all "my" leaves. I shoveled / swept the leaves off the streets.
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 06
    They went on the pile. I collected the purchased leaves from the neighbors. They went on the pile. Leaves continued to fall, so I kept adding them. It was a lot of work, but the pile was over 12' tall. I spent a ton of time using a snow shovel to fling the leaves to the top of the pile that was more than 5' above my head. Neighborhood residents stopped to gape at the epic leaf mound.
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 07
    I am happy to battle willful ignorance with malicious compliance. I reminded myself of this every time I spent another hour tending to the obscenity on my curb. The truck came today. The pile dwarfed the truck. They had to drive away and dump leaves, then come back and reload. Twice.
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 08
    tl;dr Leaf collection company won't let me put leaves on a longer curb so I collect everyone's leaves and create a 12-foot pile. EDIT: Not surprisingly, many want to see the pile. Since I did this alone, I didn't have a way to take a picture of myself in front of the pile (attempts failed). I also don't want to show too much house for fear the company could single me out for denial of future services. Apparently, however, my son took a picture when he got off the bus on the first day when the pi
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 9838469888
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 10
    Lyle_rachir The child in me just wanted to jump into your pile of leaves. Reply Share 3.4k nillanute4283 OP It's normally quite the temptation, but ... 1. There is an unknown quantity of dog mixed in with the leaves since it's virtually impossible to find the among the leaves before collecting them and
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 11
    2. Even my 15-yo son admitted that he wasn't sure he could get out of that pile if he jumped into it and said leaf suffocation sounded like a terrible way to die 4.2k Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 12
    Grapefruit Prize 2. Even my 15-yo son admitted that he wasn't sure he could get out of that pile if he jumped into it and said leaf suffocation sounded like a terrible way to die He might be right 1.3k .. ← Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 13
    Ok_Investigator8544 Thank you for all your hard work to produce this epic Malicious Compliance story! Extra points for going the legal mile to make the neighbors' leaves your leaves. 5 stars Reply Share 844 EsotericOcelot ●●● Paying them all $1 to "acquire the rights to their leaves" was my favorite part 384 Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 14
    Stabbmaster This is why I just run over everything with the mower. Good mulch, helps the grass stay healthy, no leaves to deal with. Then again, I live in Florida, my "carpet of leaves" is probably nowhere near as expansive as yours 312 Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 15
    Boxofoldcables Here, leaf collection is a township service, so all curbs are fair game. People on a cul de sac still have that problem though, where there's little curb space between mailboxes and driveways. ↑ 137 Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 16
    bosozokulove Leaf subscription?? GPS tracking for picking up leaves from houses?!? What the kind of HOA dystopia do you I live in 441 Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 17
    nianthium my question is why does it have to be so over complicated.. its leaves Imao 46 Reply Share nillanute4283 OP Probably for a few reasons. First, it's political since this tends to be the most visible activity for the elected county council members. Second: volume. There are over 10000 homes needing leaf pickup. Third: equipment
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 18
    overhead. The leaf pickup trucks cost between $80K and $120K each to outfit and maintain. The one company with the county contract has bought all the available equipment, leaving nothing for competitors. Finally, the contractor is more paranoid about people "stealing" services they didn't pay for than they are about providing the service for those who did pay. Reply Share 62
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 19
    Tealy- So the pile is made of loose leaves? We have to have ours in paper bags. Would of loved to see a pile of leaves that big! 63 Reply Share 27 ●●● Rage-Parrot That is what I was thinking. I am trying to imagine this truck pull up and what the leaves up? I live in PA so we def have plenty of leaves, but I have never heard of them being collected in such a way. Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 20
    krystalgayl What in the world is leaf pick-up!!? What country is this? I am extremely confused. You need to contact and pay someone to come collect the leaves that have fallen in your neighborhood? What other countries do this?? I am really curious. I live in East Asia, we have people who walk around pushing a trolley type thing just sweeping leaves and picking up trash. Also those trucks with vacuums. My mind is blown. 15 Reply Share ●●●
    via u/nillanute4283
  • 21
    Malgor905 "Acquired the rights..." That line killed me. I spit coffee all over my phone! You, sir have an upvote just for that! ↑ 19 Reply Share
    via u/nillanute4283

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hoa neighbors terrible company malicious compliance neighborhood revenge homeowner neighborhood-drama neighborhood-stories Bad Neighbor neighbor
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