'Oops, I've overpaid my bills': Programmer uses skills to program a system to mess with his former apartment manager

Author image for Sienna Varady
Sienna Varady
Dec 24, 2023 1:00 PM EST

I should be able to repeat a few well-known sayings in my sleep by now. My favorite phrase and the one I have to swear by is 'live within your means'. In case you haven't noticed already, the theme of this delightfully intriguing tale will be money—perhaps the most despicable topic in history. However, I guess it gets less painful, and possibly even funny, when we talk about other people's money. 

The story below is an account of a cynical tenant who has come up with a very creative strategy to antagonize the apartment management company. Due to his extensive background in computer science, OP has devised a clever method to quietly retaliate against the company for its absurdly ridiculous demand of a two-cent fee. I mean, I hold myself to a fairly high standard and I could never have come up with such a brilliant plan myself. Therefore, from one malicious individual to another, I genuinely admire your commitment to the task. So, if you're curious and want to find out what happened between OP and the apartment management company keep on scrolling! And after you're done, check out the story about the supervisor who mistakenly targets his top-performing mechanic here!

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  • 01
    "So you want me to write you a check ... for two cents..."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Apartment manager "doesn't take cash" for $0.02 bill. Malicious compliance ensues.
    via u/lentesta
  • 03
    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
  • 04
    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
  • 05
    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.
    via u/lentesta
  • 06
    I say "It's two cents. Here's the bill, and I have the two cents if you want it." The manager says "We don't take cash." Nothing else. There was an awkward pause.
    via u/lentesta
  • 07
    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
  • 08
    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?"
    via u/lentesta
  • 09
    The manager says "Yes, send us a check and we'll process it." and then WALKS BACK INTO HER OFFICE to end the conversation. So I go home and set up an automatic, monthly bank payment to my apartment complex. For three cents.
    via u/lentesta
  • 10
    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
  • 11
    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.
    via u/lentesta
  • 12
    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
  • 13
    EgberetSouse 1 yr. 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/EgberetSouse
  • 14
    lentesta OP • 1 yr. ago . If I didn't already have a twin, I'd bet we were separated at birth.
    via u/lentesta
  • 15
    the Naughtydog. 1 yr. ago A long time ago I bought something at Sears using my Discover Card (which Sears owned at the time). I wasn't happy with my purchase and returned it the next day but my bill had cycled (with a $0.00
    via u/Naughtydog
  • 16
    balance) so of course I ignored it. The next month I got another bill for $0.00 and had a nasty note about being late and paying right away. I assume that there was some sort of rounding error (ie the
    via u/Naughtydog
  • 17
    interest was less than 1 cent) so the bill rounded down to zero but was non-zero internally causing the nasty language. I called them and they said nothing they can do because the bill is zero.
    via u/Naughtydog
  • 18
    Next month I get another bill for $0.00 and it had some threat about my account going into default and maybe closing the card unless I paid $0.00 immediately.
    via u/Naughtydog
  • 19
    So I wrote out a check for $0.00 and mailed it in with the stub. Maybe 10 days later I got an apology note and they returned my $0.00 check.
    via u/Naughtydog
  • 20
    Chocolate BananaCats · 1 yr. ago My sister and brother-in- law moved to another state. For 5 years my brother-in-law got a monthly bill from the tollway here for 5 cents. Once when we were
    via u/ChocolateBananaCats
  • 21
    visiting them in their new state my brother-in-law gave me his latest bill and asked me to go by their office when I got home and pay it in person. When I went to pay all I had was a dime and they couldn't give me change. After that,
    via u/ChocolateBananaCats
  • 22
    my brother-in-law got a monthly statement with a 5 cent credit. After a year of that, they sent him a check for 5 cents.
    via u/ChocolateBananaCats
  • 23
    doowgad1 1 yr. ago That's genius. 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/doowgad1

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humor landlord malicious compliance computer science tenant reddit story programmers petty revenge payment Reddit funny money karma karen oddly satisfying
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