'Her attitude... increased the fine to $300': Woman tries to maliciously comply by paying $250 in coins, employee gets even with her

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 26, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

This customer thought she was getting back at the company that was charging her a fine, but she didn't really think through her choices. 

Being charged an expensive fine is almost always infuriating. Sometimes you didn't read a street sign correctly, and you feel the pit of dread in your stomach as you pull the bright orange ticket from your windshield. Now you've got a $250 fine for parking somewhere for the wrong amount of time. Ugh! So frustrating! It makes you want to appeal the ticket and plead your case. "Please, officer," you want to tell the police officer who's walking away, "It was an accident. I really can't afford this! Who among us doesn't make mistakes?" You can do that if you want, but once the ticket is written, that cop could care less what you have to say about it. A fine is a fine, and worse, if you don't pay it, you might find yourself with compound interest on it, too. 

Some people get so infuriated by these surprise fees that they try and maliciously comply with the orders. That's what this woman was trying to do by paying $250 in quarters. Before you try that trick for your next accidental fine, check out this cautionary tale of how it all went down. 

Next, read about this coffee shop manager who was exhausted from working 100 hours per week, and after being forced into a 2-week long vacation, shared that at the coffee spot, "[Things] started going wrong the next day." 

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  • 01
    'I uno-reversed a malicious compliance'
    via Joshua Hoehne For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "I uno reversed a malicious compliance"

    This happened years ago when I used to work at an office as a front desk one summer during college. A video I saw today just reminded me of the incident. One day this lady came in to pay a fine. She was very r de and angry about her fine. I don't know the particulars because all I did was work the front desk. She decided to try a little malicious compliance. Her fine was about $250 and she said she was going to be paying in quarters. I knew I
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
  • 03
    had to comply since we're supposed to accept any legal tender I took the bags from her but realized that she had unrolled every single roll of quarters. She said that since we want to waste her time with a stupid fine, she will also waste our time. I tried to explain/beg her not to do this to me, since I had nothing to do with her fine. She didn't care and said that we're all evil. She smirked and said "one band one sound". I
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
  • 04
    realized then that there was no reasoning with her. I was furious but I began counting one by one. We were interrupted by multiple phone calls and customers so I had to restart a few times. She started to realize how long this would really take. She tried to stack the quarters to help me count faster but I told her that it was my job. That I couldn't just take word that the stacks were correct so I had
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
  • 05
    to do it one by one like she asked for. 2 other came, paid and left while she was still standing there. She started getting mad saying that I was wasting her time on purpose. I told her that we don't have a coin counter so this is how long it would take. She threatened to call the police, I told her to go ahead that I'll have to restart when the police gets here so I can be sure to get an accurate count. After someone else came
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
  • 06
    and left she finally snapped. She whipped out her credit card and paid. As she was leaving she snatched one of the bags of the counter but the handle gave way spilling all the coins all over the floor. She scooped up what she could but left a good chunk. I told her she was littering and she flipped me off.
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
  • 07
    I got a broom and swept up the coins. There was about 192 quarters on the floor. When I was leaving work I found some more in the parking lot. It wasn't a whole lot of money but for a broke college student it was great.
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
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    Cheezburger Image 10486006272
    via Joshua Hoehne For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 09
    Little_Storm_9938 Laundry for months baby!
    via u/Little_Storm_9938
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    irritatingpassenger "Why the sudden change?"
    via u/irritatingpassenger
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    MoreThanSufficient lol. Her attitude cost her $50 in quarters and increased the fine to $300. Well played lady.
    via u/MoreThanSufficient
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    Jenstigator I told her she was littering Lmao, best line of the story.
    via u/Jenstigator
  • 13

    This worker refused to let customer insults stick to them

    Olthar6 "since I had nothing to do with her fine" That is why I've never applauded someone who was proud of doing this. You're not sticking it to the man, your sticking it to some poor innocent worker who had nothing to do with whatever led to your being there and probably has more annoyance at "the man" then you
    via u/Olthar6

    They know that it's not personal, that woman was just mad at herself and taking it out on everyone else. 

  • 14
    jengaj2016 I think it's funny that you counted them one by one and told her this is how you have to do it. And when you lost count you started over. If she wasn't smart enough to make you use some sort of stacking method, she deserved what she got even more than she already deserved it.
    via u/jengaj2016
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    I'm also curious what she thought the police were going to do. I can't think of any possible argument she could make that you were breaking a law.
    via u/jengaj2016
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    Swiggy1957 Nothing like getting a $48 dollar tip because you complied. I recall back in the 70s or 80s, some guy tried to pay his tax bill in loose pennies. Several hundred dollars worth. The clerk advised him that he could not accept that many pennies.
    via u/Swiggy1957
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    Somehow it ended up in court and the man was told he either needed to pay his tax bill in paper currency, check, or credit card. Why? because no where on a US Coin (Not even a dollar coin) are the words that state it is legal tender.
    via u/Swiggy1957

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customer service quarters quarter malicious compliance fine customers malicious-compliance-reddit coins malicious compliance reddit money
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