The original poster (OP) had moved from an apartment they lived into a condo. Usually, when you move out from an apartment, you will receive a final bill that typically includes pro-rated rent, deductions for damages, and security deposit refunds, which OP says they paid for.
The following month, OP’s wife called him to say that they had received a follow-up bill of $0.02 in the mail from the apartment management company.
OP and his wife, both working in tech, could not get their heads around this company’s IT department actions because they spent $0.05 in postage to collect $0.02. It does not make much sense, but OP still laughs it off because this happens often.
Since the apartment complex is on OP’s daily drive, he decides to pass by and finalize the payment. His wife prints out the copy of the bill, and he picks out the two cents from the change jar.
He stops by the office and tells the manager he wants to pay his last bill. He tells her the bill is two cents and would be paying in cash.
The manager tells him that they do not take cash. An awkward silence between them follows.
Flustered, OP says, “I don’t expect you to take cash. I expect us both to laugh at how silly computer systems are and for you to write off the two cents because it’d cost you more to process the payment.”
“I’m not going to do that.” The manager responds sternly, followed by another awkward silence.
OP asks the manager if she wants him to write a check for two cents and mail it to them so they can process it. The manager says that is precisely what OP should do before walking off.
Alright, You Will Get Your Check
After this exchange, OP goes home and sets up an automatic monthly bank payment for the apartment complex, but for three cents.
He, however, goes a notch higher to use his programming skills to write a code that would send a letter once a month saying, “I am so sorry – I overpaid my bill. Please send me a check for the overpayment.”
On the first day of the next month, he got a call from the apartment company’s regional manager apologizing for a mistake they had made. The manager asked OP not to keep doing that, and they will never contact him again.
OP took it, stopped the mail, and never heard from them again.
Was it a good way of getting back to them, or was he just petty?
Redditors Weigh In
To put things clearly, OP is pleased with how he handled things. He says he spent two hours developing the machine code to deal with a 2 cents check, but he still thinks it was 100% worth his time and energy.
One of the commenters, with the same energy as OP’s, said, “ATT sent me a $0.03 bill. I sent them a check for $0.07 and began hounding them for my refund.”
Many commenters were in awe of OP’s “dedicated compliance.” One said, “I am fiercely jealous of programmers for this reason alone.”
And lastly, one commenter said, “I worked for a company that did a lot of small-potatoes transactions like this. I was tasked with “finding efficiencies” when I was first hired. So, I followed the entire process of processing a single paper transaction (as opposed to automatically billed, which was far more efficient) from start to finish, with a stopwatch, and talked to everyone involved. It turned out that processing a single transaction cost more than $50. I recommended that anything under that amount be written off. My findings were not appreciated.”
Is it worth it for companies to lose more in transaction, mailing, and processing fees for every small fee (in cents) their clients owe them?
This article was produced and syndicated by A Dime Saved.
Read More Articles From A Dime Saved:
- She Came Home and Her Wedding Dress Was Gone, He Had Returned It Because It Was “Too Expensive”
- Woman Storms Out of Her Baby Shower After Telling off Her Delusional In-Laws: Who Is To Blame for the Situation?
- His Wife Kept on Telling People They Were POOR So He Told Everyone How Much Money They Have at a Family Dinner
Originally posted 2023-03-29 05:06:38.