'I will go a great distance for a good laugh': Man retaliates against cellphone carrier over an additional fee for deactivation, resulting in charge cancellation and official apology

Author image for Sienna Varady
Sienna Varady
Aug 19, 2024 5:00 PM EDT

Experiencing seemingly inconsequential and fleeting moments of happiness gives us a sense of meaning and significance in life.

The story below is an account of a clever customer. The original poster (OP) explains how he was able to settle his dispute with his mobile phone carrier.  More than 20 years ago, the concerned party decided to change mobile carriers. To settle his debt with the company, OP contacted the sales agent and paid the remaining invoices. To his dismay, though, the very next month he received a statement demanding additional funds—that is, four extra cents to permanently deactivate his account—instead of a bill listing the fees he had paid.

So, check out the story below to see how OP responded after receiving the letter requesting that he pay four more cents in order to permanently cancel the account! After you're done, don't forget to read the story of the worker who was promoted to manager after it was found that his manager was living in his truck because of expenses associated with the truck!

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    830593 "Are you aware of the 2 balance?!" 20 5
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    I Thought I Mastered Malicious Compliance-Then My Wife Showed Me How It's Really Done!
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    For this story, you need to know that I am the kind of person who will go a great distance for a good laugh, as you will see below. I love this story, and we tell it every once in a while, even though it has been more than 20 years. I live in the US and I own an IT support company. Many years ago, I used a cell phone company named Nextel. They had this great Push-to-Talk feature that turned your phone into a walkie-talkie,
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    which was perfect for communicating with coworkers in my IT work. However, their customer service was a nightmare. Anytime I needed to contact them, it would take at least 30-40 minutes on hold. Eventually, I had to switch to a cheaper service, which meant getting a new number. (Now you can port your number to a new carrier, but back then,
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    you had to change numbers if you switched carriers.) I canceled all the phones on our plan except for mine, which I downgraded to an emergency plan costing about $10 a month. I left the old phone plugged in at my office and set my voicemail message to instruct callers of my new number. The phone just sat next to my desk on a shelf, plugged into a charger, so that I could see if anyone called. I could also hear the phone make a
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    sound when it disconnected from the cellular network and then a different sound when it connected to the cellular network. It connected and disconnected constantly there in my office. I would estimate that it only stayed connected to the network about 50% of the time. After six months, I decided to cancel it. I had to wait on hold. for the customary 30 to 40 minutes just to cancel
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    my service. After telling the service rep that I was always dropping off the network, and that I had already switched services, they verified the service problems on my account and canceled my entire plan. I wasn't under any contract at the time, so there was no problem canceling my service with Nextel. As expected, I got my final bill. It was somewhere around $10 since that was my monthly plan (just the emergency plan, and I didn't make any phone
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    calls). I paid the bill and was happy to be done with that carrier. Then, the next month, I got a bill for four cents. Yes, just four cents. I figured it was a clerical error and ignored it, expecting them to write it off. But no, each month, another bill for four cents arrived. I was incredulous! I checked the postmark and saw that the postage to send me the bill was costing
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    them ten times more than the bill itself! And they kept sending the bill every month. I could have paid the bill, but it seemed ridiculous to write a check for four cents and spend more on a stamp. After six months, I finally had enough and decided on some very petty, malicious compliance. I decided to invest the 40 minutes on hold to call Nextel to work this out. By golly, if they wanted my
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    four cents, I would give them my four cents. I planned to wait on hold for 40 minutes and pay the four cents with a credit card, knowing it would cost them more in fees. I told my wife about my plan, thinking it was the perfect malicious compliance story. But my wife, the true master of malicious compliance, suggested an even better idea: call and ask if I
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    could make payments on the four cents, splitting it into two payments on my credit card. OMG! I was in the presence of malicious royalty! I called, waited on hold for 40-45 minutes, and finally got through to a representative. The representative sounded like one of those airport terminal attendants who act like they are checking
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    your reservations, but instead, they are writing a Stephen King-length novel. I could hear the clickety-clackety sound of the keyboard. The female representative was constantly typing as I explained that I had canceled my service but kept getting the final bill and proposed making payments. The representative, typing away, said she'd look up my account. As she typed away at her keyboard, I explained that I had gotten the final bill and that I would like to set up a payment
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    plan to take care of the outstanding balance. I told her that I would like to pay half on my credit card today and pay the remaining half the following month. She was agreeing with me and typing away when suddenly she stopped typing and went quiet. "Sir," she said. "Yes?" I replied. "Are you aware of the balance amount?" "Yes," I said. "Four cents???" she said. "Yes," I said. "I figured that you really
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    wanted that four cents because you keep spending all this postage to send me bills each month. So I'm just calling you to take care of it." After a brief silence, I heard the clickety-clack of the keyboard again and she said that I would not have to worry about the balance because she was writing it off. I insisted on giving my credit card for
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    the first half of the payment, but she firmly dismissed it and assured me I wouldn't get any more bills. My wife's suggestion turned a simple prank into a masterpiece of malicious compliance. I may be good at it, but my wife is on another level! And you really have to want to do malicious compliance to wait on hold for 40 minutes!
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    Edit1: Thank you to all you kindred spirits of Malicious Compliance! I wanted to post an edit to show what I've learned from this great community. Although I have fond memories of this story, my wife and I both laugh at the other, possibly better, options of dealing with this situation.
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    First, a couple of commenters stated that I was stupid for waiting on the phone for 40 minutes to do this. Yes. No argument there. But my first line above states that I will go a great distance for a laugh. However, no customer service reps were injured in this exercise. The conversation only took a couple of minutes, I saved the company money
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    because they fixed their stupid error, they stopped spending more on postage than the actual bill, and I was working in my office while I was on hold. So, a little time traded for a funny story. Second, some people had great ideas for other possibilities. Most suggested paying slightly more than the $0.04 so that Nextel would have to deal with the
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    refund. Then Nextel would constantly have to send me statements in the mail. I like this. And if Nextel ever sent a refund check, I wouldn't cash it. I know in my own business that when a customer writes a check for a penny off, it causes me at least 5 minutes to fix. Sometimes it even takes a little longer. So this option appeals to me.
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    u/Peacemkr45 suggested paying it with British pound to make them deal with conversion *and* a refund. I *love* this. Do you know how much that would cost me?? I would definitely do this next time. u/Squibit314 suggested taping 4 pennies to the bill and mailing it in. I wondered if taping 5 pennies would generate more issues for Nextel and give me $0.01 credit??
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    rcrossler These companies need to have an auto filter that just writes off balances less than the cost of sending statements. They would save a bunch of money and would be able to deduct that as a business loss.
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    Impossible Mine2065 OP I had a friend who used to work in the oil fields. He would work something like a week on and then a week off. He once had his gas shut off because of a $0.10 gas bill that he just thought he would pay on the next month's bill.
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    add'l edit: When he got back to his house after being in the oil field and found the gas off, he called in. The rep was nasty to him and blamed him for not paying the bill and told him that he was in arrears and that he deserved to have his gas shut off --
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    until she saw the amount was only $0.10 and then started apologizing profusely and scheduled a work order for someone reconnect it the next morning. Kudos Bruce!
    via u/Impossible_Mine2065
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    muirsheendurkin My mom had a similar situation years ago, a billing that was essentially pennies. Company wouldn't budge. She purposefully overpaid (by check) by one cent. They sent her a refund check for one cent.
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    Jigs79 More MC would be to let it go to collection and let them send you notices. My work switched HSA carrier I get mail every month to use the .01 cent on my old account.. lol
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    AndyPharded. 1 day ago I'm convinced that it's things like this that constitute a successful marriage..
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    Impossible_Mine2065 OP 1 day ago It doesn't hurt! I heard a wise man once say that God gives answers to problems to a married couple. But he gives half of the answer to the husband and half to the wife: then they have to work it out together. Thanks!
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    JeannieSmolBeannie aw man, that representative didn't know how to have a little fun! would've been HILARIOUS if she'd laughed and just processed it anyway!
    via u/JeannieSmolBeannie

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oddly specific salesman drama malicious compliance work nostalgia dispute reddit story petty revenge cell phone Reddit malicious compliance reddit money oddly satisfying
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