Karen’s Malicious Compliance Embarrassingly Fails After Employee Outsmarts Her At Her Own Game
Imagine sitting behind a desk and seeing a customer walk in with a particularly full bag. The growing dread, as you realize they really do intend to pay a significant amount of money using just coins. Sometimes people don’t have a choice, after all, coins are legal tender. But some want to make your day miserable. But in every danger, there is an opportunity, and some have the wits to seize it.
This was the situation one internet user found themselves in when a ticked-off woman came in to pay a fine. She had a master plan to maliciously comply with her punishment, but, unfortunately, for her, OP was also skilled in the art of malicious compliance.
If you plan to be malicious, plan well, because your intended victim might have a plan of their own
Image credits: RODNAE Productions (not the actual photo)
A clerk encountered a woman who was dead set on paying a fine using just loose quarters
So they did what was technically required of them and started counting, one by one
Image credits: Hana Mara (not the actual photo)
In the end, OP even came away from the situation with a good chunk of change
Image credits: Amelia Spink (not the actual photo)
Image credits: pinkfloss9
Careful if you want to pay with coins, some places might just refuse you
Image credits: Pixabay (not the actual photo)
In some cases, the cleck would have been in the clear if they decided to just reject the coins. In Ohio, a court ruled that forcing a clerk to count unrolled coins was not reasonable, although the coins have to still be accepted as US legal tender. So at the very least, OP could have possibly made the woman put the quarters into rolls. That being said, it’s also not reasonable to have clerks memorize US court cases just to do their job. In Canada, the practice was so common and caused enough headaches for governmental officials, that they limited the number of coins one could use to pay. For each Canadian dollar owed, only a certain amount of coins could be submitted.
Australia has similar laws, Like the story posted by OP, a man tried to pay a fine using just coins. In this case, it was only a $60 fine, but that still came up to 1200 five-cent coins. He was so happy with his own malicious compliance, that he ignored the clerks’ protests that they didn’t actually have to accept it. He left without a receipt or his mountain of coins, having lost $60 and not paid his fine. Under Australian law, the government can limit the number of coins it will accept proportional to the amount being paid. Private entities can go further and are in no way compelled to accept any legal tender if they don’t want to.
Many places are starting to phase out coins in general
Image credits: Patrick Tomasso (not the actual photo)
Many American laws are set by local authorities, ranging from the county to the state. Despite the aforementioned Ohio example, sometimes Americans can get away with truly malicious compliance. A Virginia man paid a $3,000 tax bill using literally wheelbarrows of coins, with a total weight of about 1600 pounds. He was helped by 11 others to dump the cash in the DMV of Cedar Bluff. Under US law, the staff had to accept the payment and spent seven hours meticulously counting the coins. To his credit, the man had rolled them beforehand and spent around $400 on the wheelbarrows alone.
Some countries in the EU, similar to Canada, have effectively removed the smallest forms of currency, namely pennies and 1 and 2-Euro-cent coins from circulation. Some are still in use, but now in the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Finland, and Ireland, it’s normal for shops to round the purchase to the nearest multiple of 5 cents. Some stores will still accept the coins, however, as cash purchases are sometimes encouraged due to the costs of credit card transactions. Some EU nations also impose limits on how many coins a governmental institution can accept for each Euro being paid.
Commentors thought the whole situation was hilarious and applauded OP’s strategy
A long-retired local bank president told me a story; one summer day, he had just started as a window teller and a surly customer made their last mortgage payment: by dumping a wheelbarrow of coins in the middle of the lobby ... Thinking fast, he called the local boy & girl-scout troop leaders- and invited all the kids to come down and finish up their coin-collections. He also called the local newspaper. - Then HE quickly dashed down to the storage room to grab all the cardboard-coin-collection boards AND new checking account applications he could carry. Retired bank president said THAT was the day he set a still-standing company record for number of new accounts opened. The scouts even sorted out the rare coins- which added about 20% to the value of the pile of coins. So the bank got paid 100%, the bank donated the excess 20% of valuable coins to the scouts, and the surly customer was stuck having to 'smile for the picture' as the local paper ran the story headline "Customer Donates Rare Coins to Fund Scouts"
As a 70 year old who gets carded every time I buy beer at the store, I used to get frustrated. But these clerks are not the ones making the rules and they don’t want to waste their time asking a 70 year old fir ID any more than I want to fish it out of my wallet. Clerks get paid to do a job and they don’t get to make the rules of that job.
I'm only 45, but I feel you. EXCEPT the time I went to our local grocery store and they refused to sell me wine (yep, had ID and everything) because I had my 13/14 year old son with me and they didn't believe he WAS my son! (They thought I was buying for a minor, like who BRINGS the kid WITH them?! 🤷♀️) Our family had been shopping there for 15 years or so! They knew our names for Goddess sake!🤦♀️
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In Ireland and Germany (not sure about other European countries) a clerk can refuse to accept payment if a person tries to pay with more than 50 coins per transaction.
Australia too. You can refuse payment if it's deemed inconvenient. I think about $20 in coins is the maximum.
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A long-retired local bank president told me a story; one summer day, he had just started as a window teller and a surly customer made their last mortgage payment: by dumping a wheelbarrow of coins in the middle of the lobby ... Thinking fast, he called the local boy & girl-scout troop leaders- and invited all the kids to come down and finish up their coin-collections. He also called the local newspaper. - Then HE quickly dashed down to the storage room to grab all the cardboard-coin-collection boards AND new checking account applications he could carry. Retired bank president said THAT was the day he set a still-standing company record for number of new accounts opened. The scouts even sorted out the rare coins- which added about 20% to the value of the pile of coins. So the bank got paid 100%, the bank donated the excess 20% of valuable coins to the scouts, and the surly customer was stuck having to 'smile for the picture' as the local paper ran the story headline "Customer Donates Rare Coins to Fund Scouts"
As a 70 year old who gets carded every time I buy beer at the store, I used to get frustrated. But these clerks are not the ones making the rules and they don’t want to waste their time asking a 70 year old fir ID any more than I want to fish it out of my wallet. Clerks get paid to do a job and they don’t get to make the rules of that job.
I'm only 45, but I feel you. EXCEPT the time I went to our local grocery store and they refused to sell me wine (yep, had ID and everything) because I had my 13/14 year old son with me and they didn't believe he WAS my son! (They thought I was buying for a minor, like who BRINGS the kid WITH them?! 🤷♀️) Our family had been shopping there for 15 years or so! They knew our names for Goddess sake!🤦♀️
Load More Replies... In Ireland and Germany (not sure about other European countries) a clerk can refuse to accept payment if a person tries to pay with more than 50 coins per transaction.
Australia too. You can refuse payment if it's deemed inconvenient. I think about $20 in coins is the maximum.
Load More Replies...
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