Malicious Compliance

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/jrrdnx on 2025-06-01 00:56:27+00:00.

We've had 5G home internet from one of the top three cellular providers in the U.S. for the past year or so, but recently had fiber lines ran to our area. As soon as we got the new service connected I called to cancel our 5G.

I called five days before the end of that month's billing cycle and was told it just wouldn't renew, but nothing more would be due since the month was prepaid.

Received our final bill a few days ago for a whopping $0.17, less than the cost of the stamp it would take to mail a check. Instructions were to go online to pay, but when I entered the account number and payment amount it wouldn't allow me to continue as the minimum I can pay is $5. So I paid the $5.

Instead of letting me pay the $0.17 and be done with it, they can pay what it takes to send me back a check for $4.83.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/coffeebrewcrew on 2025-06-01 00:24:08+00:00.

First time poster, long time reader.

So I’m currently part time in a pharmacy, been a tech for almost 10 years and we are fairly busy consistently every day, even on weekends. We got metrics, we got expectations and you guessed it - we always get more stuff to do that makes no logical sense with the demand of the store.

A few months ago our district manager came by and did an audit, we did fine besides a few things but now required we ask for almost everything when someone picks up meds. We aren’t talking about verifying allergies or conditions, no he wants us to ask about that, immunizations, pushing for the + service, using the online app, asking if they know someone to transfer here… basically about 12 tasks per person.

The issue as it always is with district managers is they want metrics but don’t understand how detrimental they are to ask for when you’re also wanting us to get a good score, which also is ranked by how fast we service people.

So we don’t do all of it, but when he comes in, we have to do it. And since he was here a week ago, decided to let him see how slow all this stuff can be.

It was around 3 PM the Friday prior to Memorial Day, so everyone’s getting set to go out of town, including him but he’s stopping in to check on things for reasons.

Anyway, it’s busy and we’re down a person cause of sickness. And since he’s here… well, time to cue the malicious compliance.

I have a patient come up and I ask her EVERYTHING. Got allergies? Medical conditions? Need shots? Have you heard about online delivery? Do you want to? Do you have specific questions on your med? We have an online pet pharmacy, did you know that? Also, in case you change your mind about shots, did you want a report? Need any other refills?

By the time I’m done, she had to get counseled anyway and we had a line of six people behind them. She asked me why there was so much to ask for a simple pick up when I brought her down and I told her “Well this is our district manager and he wants us to make sure you’re well informed! If you have questions while he’s here he’ll gladly listen.”

Yeah he didn’t like that cause she complained. And someone else in line after did the same thing due to the wait.

Anyway, soon after we were asked to “use our best judgment” when it comes down to informing people “for the needs of the business.”

Thanks DM!

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/FurtiveFox88 on 2025-05-31 23:22:34+00:00.

I've read some MC stories pertaining to coffee and decided to share my own.

My family owns a funeral home and I would work there for a Summer job when I was in high-school. While working there, I would show up before everyone and make the coffee for the day and do some light cleaning. The break room where the coffee machine was also had your standard office water cooler so I would make the coffee with the good water.

One day, I was making the coffee and my grandfather (the boss) showed up and asked why I was using the expensive water instead of the tap. I told him the tap water makes the coffee taste like shit. I know because I made it with tap once, took a sip, then poured it right down the drain.

He didn't believe it was that bad. He made his coffee from tap at home and it's fine.

Note: he never drank the office coffee, he drank his at home with breakfast. What he didn't take into account was that while the funeral home was nice and remodeled (very old building), the pipes were not because the water was used to flush toilets and wash hands, not for drinking.

He insisted that tomorrow I use tap. The coffee would mask the taste and no one would tell the difference.

"Okay, your the boss."

The next day I make the coffee with the tap. Now on this day, we had a funeral that morning. Two funeral directors, some members of the family of the deceased, the preacher, and I where in the break room trading small town gossip when one of the directors took a big chug of the coffee (the machine was old, the coffee came out hot, but the hot plate would only keep it luke warm) and immediately spewed it all over the preacher, ruining his white dress shirt. This was also the first time I ever heard a preacher curse lol.

The funeral was delayed 30 minutes while the preacher ran home to change.

Needless to say, I was allowed to make the coffee with the expensive water from then on. It's still something we all laugh about to this day, even the preacher.

edit *layout fixed by user dayatapark

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/bagelbuytes on 2025-05-31 22:56:37+00:00.

I had a job as a call center agent.

The pay was garbage and the work was horrible. But despite all that I really did enjoy what i did.

The contract changed each campaign, with some being canceled and the call center reps shuffled into the next. If you were really good you were placed in DirecTV. I was placed there.

I could tell you many stories about DirecTV. How they lied to people about movies being HD when sun flares happened "just sell SD no one can tell the difference" How they really thought having the reps highest sellers pick the toppings for the MANAGERS pizza party was a good idea (anchovies. I picked anchovies) was a great idea.

How they forced people to take overtime with prizes that they canceled afterwards. How much of a meat grinder it was, and how it was normal to come into work with wiped screens. I'd survived several "wipes" or that is reset computers and clean desks for the people who could not sell, sell SELL.

But this one isn't about how horrible the place was..

its about an argument with HR.

See I was pretty good at sales as much as I hated it. This alteration was over a remote control I'd waived and how I could have spun it into a sale instead. I went back to my desk with a fake write-up for some BS mistake and pulled up the sales charts fuming. I was pretty sure my time there was coming to an end.

And then I found Dog TV. it was a glitch in the system where it was not high enough to count as anything other than a free for a month offer, available to every customer.. but it counted as a PREMIUM SALE. (probably cause no one in their life ever sold it.)

Dog TV was special. So Dog TV is tv for dogs. Yep its a thing. it bills itself as a show for dogs to enjoy.

Adding it to the account was free for the first month just like some of the other shows except it was cheaper. And it was a very good sale for me, right up there with selling a full account upgrade at full price.

AND adding it allowed me to do pretty much anything I wanted to the account. (It seemed to act like a retention offer)

My sales went parabolic. I'd always been good but now every manager used me as the shining example. All the perks they gave to top sellers were mine. I won gas cards, quality didn't say a word when i made a mistake on a call. My surveys were all 10s as I carefully explained to every customer if by some chance you don't want to pay for DOG TV.. just call in by this date. I waved service calls, offered pretty much anything for free with all exclusive perk of Dog TV. Oh you missed a due date? waived. you need a service call? waived. Want a free upgrade to the best shows, free equipment, free setup, how about an additional remote? waived. I could even offer you a month of service for free if you got Dog TV. and I did.

That's correct, I will give you one month of free service in exchange for adding Dog TV. just call in by this date to cancel it or its going to charge you

I remember one person who called in cause their remote wasn't working. I gave them a free remote, free equipment, free service call, one month of free service and and made sure it was marked as "not rented" in the system, in exchange for a one month free channel of DogTV. They were ecstatic.

"just promise me you mark the survey as ten" I said, quietly marking their service call as priority.

you bet your bottom biscuits! they replied. Fantastic. Welcome to DirecTV would you like a free movie?

I became the top salesperson across the ENTIRE company.

They pointed a camera at my face and asked

"so tell us.. how did you become the star salesman?"

I looked right into the phone camera for the video that would be sent to every employee. Not even employee, I was to be the talking head for all the new trainees to watch. unpaid of course, what an honor!

Tips from the top or some BS. Everyone had to watch it. No one did so they started writing you up if you couldn't answer one "top tip for talented ..i forget the last T."

Well folks its easy. All you gotta do is Sell, sell SELL. Even if its something like DogTV.

What a great answer! and whats your favorite thing to sell?

Why that would be DogTV.

Dog tv.. I've never heard of that one.

oh people who want to to superstar their sales should check it out.

whats it about?

We'll I'll happily tell you for 17.99 a month..

*fake laughter*

As a top salesperson I was able to "buy" many things with points, and before I left I placed a remote control on HR's desk. and then I left the building forever, as I had an interview.

I found out later though a mutual connection that they had techs delete the emails right from peoples inboxes. Dog TV was a sale all right.. one that people called en-mass to cancel. One that caused who knows how many thousands of waivers as hundreds of people caught on, and started selling at the top channel. The leader-board dissolved into chaos as managers had an all hands on meeting as Directv was screaming at them for failing every metric possible while selling to every customer who called.

I'll tell people today I was the top salesperson GLOBALLY for a large company.

Its not a lie. they just they just erased my name from every single mention of the sales charts, and tried to take back the award they sent.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 20:39:54+00:00.

Another tale from my retail experience, this time featuring my Boss vs higher management.

Things are going (relatively) smoothly until one fine day manglement recently introduces the idea of introducing home deliveries. (No doubt this had to do with a newly-promoted manager to a key role in manglement, whom we all knew has been coveting the position for years. Several people left after his ascent; always a bad sign especially in retail.)

Brilliant idea in theory, terrible in practice. First time we do home delivery, we run into all sorts of logistical trouble.

First, the goods don't arrive on time. Second, when they finally arrive, logistics messes up the delivery time. Some of the items are perishable, so by the time delivery is scheduled and actually takes place, they are not as good as before. Third, the whole order can also be time-sensitive, because our customer needs it as soon as possible.

What this means for our store is, Boss has to send someone, from our already short-staffed store, to do the delivery. And it comes out from our store's own bottom line. And it comes along with a whole host of other workers' rights issues, which is too complex for me to go into.

Anyway, the first delivery was a pain to deal with.

And for her efforts, what did my Boss get from upper manglement? Terse but vague statements that don't mean anything, i.e. that she's responsible for the store and the staff, and to manage customer expectations moving forward.

So, Boss complies. We will indeed manage customer expectations.

Imagine, manglement is going all out saying "we now offer home delivery!" Our customers, many of whom are elderly or are busy adults caring for their elderly parents or dependants, arriving at our store excitedly with the expectation of home delivery.

And we are actively managing customer expectations. Home delivery is available, yes, but it can take up to a month or even longer. Sorry Sir, we understand this is time sensitive, but based on past experience, we cannot guarantee a delivery date at this time. We highly recommend you take the most time sensitive products home first.

"I'm going to complain!!" Many customers are (rightly) fuming.

"Apologies, we understand your frustration. If you'd like to give some feedback, here is manglement's contact."

Not long after, Boss gets a call from manglement, asking what's going on with Home Delivery? "We've managed customer expectations, as you asked." Boss explains quietly but firmly.

I wish I could hear what the response was on the other end of the line. It was also rumoured that there was a meeting which all outlet bosses were invited to for discussion of this "new policy", but I can't confirm this sadly.

All I do know is that shortly after, manglement stops pressuring my Boss to "offer home delivery", and the ads on Home Delivery at our store are quietly taken down. Also, new manglement manager left for another unnamed position at suspiciously short notice; potentially another sign that he was probably behind this whole farce in the first place.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/TonyTwoShyers on 2025-05-31 20:29:06+00:00.

i used to work at a bank as a teller. it wasnt glamorous but it was easy and convenient as i lived a hop skip and a jump away- a five minute walk and you could see the bank from my house.

as such i was almost always one of (if not the) first person there. we were expected to be there by 7:15 to open at 7:30am, but the managers tried to get there early so we had time to set up like log in, fill drawers, have a morning meeting, that type of stuff. when opening for the day, you need at least 2 people for safety reasons so one of which was usually me, and i was frequently arriving around 7 so the manager could unlock and we could set up

i had been clocking in after getting inside, which i guess was starting to add up combined with the amount of times we have to stay past closing. i was told that theres only a "6 minute grace period" for clocking in early or late, that i had clocked in early too many times and that about two weeks of my punches would be adjusted

i said, "okay. is this you specifically telling me to stop showing up early?" they said "yes, it is"

so showed up at 7:20 every day. i stopped being there early, i stopped helping set up. i even took advantage of the grace period to be about 5 minutes 'late' every day to make sure i didnt get stuck helping set anything up. it sucked and it didnt work for anyone, we were frantic trying to open every nearly morning as most other employees didnt care about procedures, just their own drawers

one day a few weeks later, a manager asked if i could come in earlier than usual to help with the alarm tests. they were supposed to be done once a month and for almost a year i was the one who did them with the opening manager. apparently the test was supposed to get done that morning, but the other employee didnt show up early enough to start before we opened for the day

sure, no problem. i was in by 7 the next morning, and clocked in.

its sad that we live in a world where trying to be effecient is seen as trying to game the system

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 20:13:42+00:00.

When I was working in retail, the stuff we stock are generally meant for everyman use. That means that they are not very highly priced, and the quality is also average. Not poor, mind you, but definitely not "Fortnum and Mason" kind of quality. Product for the masses--affordability is key.

In comes this lady, who tells me about a problem she has. I recommended several solutions, which, like I said, are everyday brands which are affordable.

"Hmm," this lady wrinkles her nose, "why are you showing me all this cheap stuff? Show me the most expensive stuff you have. I only want the best stuff. Price really is no object."

"Sure!" I grin, knowing this is the time I put all my store knowledge to good use.

I lead her behind the store. "Here Madam are all our premium products. We have this Premium Product, which works amazing and has plenty of good reviews. And it is simple and easy to use, too! Unlike the Cheap Product and Mid Product that I showed you earlier, this one just needs to be used once or twice, and your problem will all clear up." (Note: Premium Product is 5x the price of the Mid Product.)

"And over here, we have Deluxe Product, which you'll just need to use once! And look how easy it is to use..." (Deluxe Product is even more expensive than Premium Product.)

Now our dear customer has gone very, very, quiet, and is starting to look a little uncomfortable.

"Wow," she mutters under-her-breath-but-also-in-a-voice-loud-enough-for-me-to-hear, "that's expensive."

"Shall we return to looking at the Cheap and Mid Products?" I ask with a smile.

"Yes please," she says, looking relieved.

She becomes much more receptive after that to my suggestions. Well, I guess price was an object after all.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/FightinRndTheWorld on 2025-05-31 14:57:59+00:00.

I used to work for a small online retail company, ultimately there for about 10 years. At the point where I had been there for about 6, the owners decided they wanted to start rewarding the employees that had been woth them for two years or more with…..

Custom bobblehead figures of us employees. The company they found to do these let you upload pictures of yourself, choose outfits, theme or whatever. Fully customized, and not cheap. Average cost per bobblehead was about $100-$150 USD.

I was a little incensed that for all the time people had put in, and hard work on growing the company, that the owners felt it was more appropriate to get some goofy bobbleheads for us instead of a bonus check. Considering how much they were willing to shell out for these custom bobbleheads, just cutting checks to us should have been a very real possibility.

They sent out the forms for us to all pick out which bobblehead designs we wanted to choose. While others went along with it, I simply did not fill out the form and return. This caught the attention of one of the owners who reminded me they wanted the form filled out so they could place the order. I told them that I really didn't want a bobblehead, and honestly, would rather just have a hundred bucks. The owner refused and said I had to choose a bobblehead, no choice, I was going to get.

Here comes the malicious compliance. I found the most expensive design for bobblehead that I could choose, which was to have me put in a standing style wheelchair. When all was said and done, my particular bobblehead cost just shy of $250.

Force me to choose a custom bobblehead? Fine, I'll go with the most expensive one. They never said a thing.

About 4 years later they would terminate me to find someone to do the same job for significantly loss. I smashed the shit out of that bobblehead after I took it home.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/goofball1963 on 2025-05-31 13:49:24+00:00.

I worked in a nid sized hardware store as a salesman. I had been working in the construction industry for 15 years, and at this store for at least 10 years. I knew almost everything about how to do home repair projects and what was needed to fix the problems.

At this same time, we had a girl at the sales counter named Bonnie (not her real name, but it will do.). She was also very knowledgeable and one of our best salespeople.

We were both behind the counter one day. She was standing at the counter, and I was at a desk doing paperwork. An older guy comes up to the counter, and Bonnie asked if she can help him.

"No. I need a man that knows what he is doing to help me."

Bonnie was PISSED. She turns to me and asks me to take over. Sure. No problem. Cue up my warped sense of humor.

"Sir, what can I help you with?"

He states the problem. I imideatly tur around and restate the issue to Bonnie. She casually answers, and I turn back around and repeat exactly what Bonnie had just said. He asks another question, and I repeat the question to Bonnie, then repeat her answer to the customer. Every question he asked me, I turned ans asked Bonnie, then repeated her answer to him

Yes, I knew all the answeres, but the guy was being a prick, so I decided to give him a little lesson. He wanted a man to help him. OK.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 10:23:57+00:00.

This is probably the most controversial MC, in that on hindsight it's possible that my boss knew exactly what she was doing. Nevertheless, it is malicious and it is compliance, so here's another story from retail to all of you.

(I'm on a roll--see the other two here and here.)

A bit of context so you don't have to click on the links. I work in a specialised profession, in which I'm not authorised to do quite a number of technical things.

My boss now has quite an interesting character. Usually, she is a very nice person, but she has some interesting qualities / quirks, for which the rationale only becomes apparent when you work in retail long enough.

An example is that she doesn't like having too many people in the store, because it opens us up to shoplifting (it's bad where we are at).

Anyway, the context, as always. When our store gets busy, I try to help our customers as much as I can, leaving my boss the cases that are harder to deal with. The rest of the customers whose problems I can solve? They can go about their daily lives.

One day, there are just too many customers in the store and I can sense my boss becoming a little antsy, as she tends to do when this happens.

"Palpatine," she says with some irritation, "if you see that I'm busy or not available, and you know that we don't have the product in the store, can you help our customers by referring them to the surrounding stores? They might have the product instead."

Sure. Here comes the MC.

See, what you need to know about my particular profession is our products are all regulated differently. There are three broad groups of products. One, the lowest tier (Tier A), is almost completely unregulated, these can be bought nearly everywhere. Second, the mid tier (Tier B), can only be supplied by my boss. And third, the highest tier (Tier C), you need to get it in writing before my boss can supply it to you.

If a customer comes in wanting a Tier C product, we cannot change the order, because it's a legal requirement. But, if we don't stock a product in Tier A or Tier B, we can recommend alternatives.

But sure, if we don't have the product in the store, I will refer them to the surrounding stores.

Normally, what we do is to take time and try to convince customers seeking Tier A or B products to switch to something else that we do stock. But since we don't have the exact product in store, I guess I will just refer them to the other store (which belongs to our competitor) that is literally just a short escalator ride away.

It took all of five minutes for me to clear out the customers from the store. My boss was very impressed with me and I even got a "good job" from her. Though of course our sales for that day could've been much higher, and we missed our target sales for the month (again).

Addendum: Sometimes, I feel like my boss knows exactly what she's doing, and she probably meant for things to go down as they did. She's not out for the sales--that's what her bosses would like. She probably was acting her wage.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 10:56:43+00:00.

One day I am working retail in my store. Now what you need to know is that in my profession there are three broad groups of products. One, the lowest tier (Tier A), is almost completely unregulated, these can be bought nearly everywhere. Second, the mid tier (Tier B), can only be supplied by my boss. And third, the highest tier (Tier C), you need to get it in writing before my boss can supply it to you.

Now a bit more about the Tier B products, which is important for this particular customer. Normally, when my boss is around, I can supply the Tier B products. Without my boss, we can still supply Tier B products, but we need to call someone from HQ to confirm this. Tier C products simply cannot be supplied without my boss being around, regardless of whether you have them in writing or not.

But on this lovely day, my boss has to attend to something, and she's not around the whole day. I am holding the fort with the Tier A and B products, but as you can imagine, it's a lot more inconvenient now that I need to make multiple calls to HQ to be able to dispense the Tier B products. The queues are backing up, and it's just me and several other colleagues managing the store. My colleagues are focussed on selling the Tier A products; they can in theory handle the Tier B products, but they would really rather not to and it's much better that I handle them.

(There's a whole story there about the Tier A and B products, but they don't belong in this story.)

So this customer comes waltzing in and wants to get a Tier C product. I tell her that I can't sell it to her, not today.

"But I always get it here!"

"I'm sorry, I can't sell it to you and my boss is not around today."

"But I see that you can sell Tier B products!"

"Sorry, Tier B products are different, you want a Tier C product, to sell it to you, we need someone of a higher authority."

"Ok, bring me to the highest authority to the store! They are always behind that counter." *points to boss' counter.

Well I guess this conversation isn't going anywhere, and seeing is believing.

"Sure Madam." Ok, I will comply and bring you to the highest authority in the store.

Both of us head over to the counter, and I step behind it ("Of course I know him, he's me."-style)

"Hello Madam, I am the highest authority in the store right now, as my boss is away. I am sorry but I cannot supply you with what you want today. Could you try again tomorrow when my boss is back?"

The lady looks confused, and then finally I see her connect the dots. Her expression changes to one of frustration as she walks away and doesn't come back (no, not even the next day).

Boss is super amused when I tell her what happened the next day.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/reddit-is-trash-69 on 2025-05-31 08:41:13+00:00.

A few years ago, I worked in retail hell at a mid-sized department store. I was in university and doing the classic part-time grind, and for the most part, the job was tolerable — until we got a new assistant manager named Chad (not his real name, but it might as well have been).

Chad came in like a whirlwind of bad ideas and passive-aggressive memos. He was one of those guys who thought being a manager meant "catching people out" rather than, you know, managing people. His biggest obsession? The clock-in system.

At our store, we had a 7-minute grace window to clock in before being counted as late. I usually arrived about 10 minutes early, clocked in maybe 5 minutes before my shift, and used the time to settle in, say hi to coworkers, grab a water, etc. Nobody cared. Until Chad.

One day, Chad pulled me aside and told me I was "stealing company time" by clocking in before my shift started. I pointed out that I wasn’t taking breaks or leaving early and that it was barely 5 minutes, but he wouldn’t budge. He told me in no uncertain terms that I must not clock in a single minute before my scheduled start time, or there would be “disciplinary action.”

Fine. You want exact compliance? Let's go.

The next day, I arrived at my usual time, but instead of clocking in early, I sat in the break room until my phone hit 10:00:00. Then I clocked in. That meant I was just starting work as the store opened — not on the floor, not ready to help customers, but walking to my station.

Cue minor chaos. Customers waiting. No one manning the register. Chad fuming.

After a couple of days of this — me walking through the door on time, clocking in exactly on the hour, and only then starting the routine setup tasks — Chad confronted me again.

“I noticed you’re not ready at your station when your shift starts.”

“Right,” I said cheerfully, “because I’m not allowed to clock in early. So I can’t start working early either. I’m just following your instructions.”

He had no rebuttal. Eventually, HR got wind (thanks to another coworker who was also annoyed), and they told Chad to “use discretion” and that 5 minutes early clock-ins weren’t a big deal unless abused.

Victory never tasted so petty.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 08:35:19+00:00.

I love all these small retail MC stories so I'm adding some of my own. Nothing major ever, but I hope you'll enjoy reading my stories of MC.

A bit of context. I work in a specialised profession, in which I'm not authorised to do quite a number of technical things.

But my role at the store helps in two ways.

First, I can hear you out, and help you decide whether you need my boss to handle your request. If that's the case, I will refer you to her.

And second, I am competent enough to solve some problems on my own, in which case I can help you and you can be on your merry way.

Now, on to the story.

One evening our store was unusually very busy, and there was a long line of people. In my profession, 7-8 customers is counted as a long line. Each problem can be fast or really slow, and it is important in my profession that we deal with each problem properly.

So, my boss and I do what we always do. She handles the difficult request, I do an initial "triage" to help customers whom I can, and refer those whom I can't.

I make my way down the line, and finally I reach this gentleman.

He gives me the side-eye, saying "you can't help me, only your boss can, I want to talk to your boss."

Lovely, when you hear someone say this to you in retail without any context, you already know your evening is going to be great. /s

Me: "I see, do you want to tell me your problem? Perhaps I can help."

Him: "No I will wait for your boss."

Me, complying, and always putting on my happy smile for the customers: "Sure thing!"

I help everyone else in line, and the other customers are all content. One of them even gives me a compliment, because in their eyes they got to "skip the queue". LOL.

So this gentleman continues to wait, and since he doesn't want my help. I roam about our store, helping other customers who aren't even in line.

Finally, he gets to my boss after half an hour's wait, who says in all of one minute "Oh, unfortunately I can't solve your problem."

The man blinks at her, opening his mouth to say something, then closing it again. The problem in question? Something I could have told him that we couldn't have fixed anyway, since it was a legal requirement.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Great_Palpatine on 2025-05-31 07:15:58+00:00.

Another funny retail story.

When I was working in retail, we had this regular customer who just loved to complain about almost everything.

But nobody at the store ever took her feedback to heart.

One day, she came in to complain about the diapers that we were selling. "The pack is too big, the quality is not good, it shouldn't be displayed here in the store, etc.. You need to give this feedback so that it will be just right!"

Aha! Give this feedback to the management? The feedback chosen specially for the management? That feedback?

Always the helpful staff, I gave her a big smile.

"Sure! You want me to give this feedback in the best possible way?"

I could see her eyes light up.

Finally! Someone who takes my feedback seriously! (I assume this was probably what she was thinking.)

I gave her the contact of the manufacturer, and told her, "You know, you are absolutely right! The manufacturer best listens to the customer, we retail staff have tried to give feedback many times before. The best way is that they hear from you directly! That is the best way for the manufacturer to adopt your feedback and listen to you!"

Her expression faltered, "Uh... no, it's alright, you know what, it's all fine, really..."

And she turned around and scampered out of the store. I didn't see her during the remaining time I had at the store.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Theungreatjoy on 2025-05-31 05:32:23+00:00.

I live in a block of flats with a shared back garden. It’s nothing fancy, just grass, a bench and a few flower beds. I’d put out a small foldable chair and a potted plant near my window, nothing in the way.

One day, a neighbour knocks on my door. She says the garden is communal so no personal items, so I removed them

Fair enough.

Next week, I notice she’s strung up fairy lights and laid out a full picnic setup for some friends. I wait until they’re mid toast and then go out, gently unplug the lights and say. Sorry, just keeping the garden neutral. No personal items, remember?

She was not pleased. Everyone else suddenly loved the rule.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/West_Bike6088 on 2025-05-31 05:30:42+00:00.

So this happened in our local park. There’s a big field where people walk their dogs, sign says dogs must be under control, leads recommended.

I usually keep mine on a lead, he’s an older collie, not aggressive but doesn’t like being bounced on by younger dogs. One day, a bloke with a hyper spaniel walks past and tells me... Bit pointless walking a dog if you’re just gonna keep it on a lead, mate.

I explain that my dog prefers it, but he cuts me off and says... Just let him off, he’ll be fine. That’s what this space is for.

Alright. Next day, I let my dog off. Sure enough, spaniel comes bounding over, all energy. My dog, clearly not in the mood, flips him onto his back and stands over him like a bouncer at closing time.

Spaniel runs off yelping. Bloke glares at me.

I just smiled and said, Off lead zone, remember?

Didn’t see him again for a while.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/stemlund on 2025-05-31 05:13:31+00:00.

I’d been at the same job for over 15 years with only small cost of living raises, annually. I began to realize my current salary was 30-40% lower than the average salary for my industry in my particular part of the US. I also had been learning new skills and applying these skills to work projects while executing work ahead of schedule.

I asked for a raise to match the average salary I researched. I expected to receive a fraction of what I was asking for as a token acknowledgement. Instead, my boss said they don’t give raises for working harder, taking on more work, or to match an industry average salary, etc. He then said I can certainly, “shop it around” - meaning go look for another job that will pay me what I was asking.

My first form of malicious compliance was lowering my work output to match the low salary.

Then, I did what my boss said, and “shopped it around” and found a new job that offered me a salary that was 66% higher than my current salary.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/zephen_just_zephen on 2025-05-31 03:15:49+00:00.

The recent post about Q/A being told to stand down reminded me of an event from a couple of decades ago.

As anybody who has been around any serious development at any serious company knows, we all participate in helping to assure the quality of the final product.

Except, of course, a man I will hereafter refer to as Chuck, because, fuck you, Chuck.

Chuck was supposed to be a designer who could take problem descriptions and design hardware blocks for integrated circuits that would perform what is known as digital signal processing. But Chuck was really one of those my-shit-never-stinks kind of people who always blamed others for his plethora of failings.

I have never technically been part of a Q/A department, but I do have a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like Chuck.

In particular, I am skilled at taking designs that will eventually become integrated circuits for sale to the general public, and emulating them in real time. So I build tools (digital hardware, analog hardware, software, scripts, printed circuit boards, whatever it takes) that are typically used by others, so they can write software for, and also validate, chips that do not yet exist. Since I built the tools, I am always right in the middle of triage for bugs. Is it digital? Analog? Software? Lack of fidelity in my own emulator? It's not typically my job to find bugs, but, once they are found, it is my job, as a systems engineer, to do root cause analysis to figure out who isn't meeting spec, and prove it if they disagree (and, of course, to fix it if it's my own bug).

I had a long history with Chuck, starting with his congenital inabilty to run a five minute simulation smoke test of his changes before tossing them over the wall for me to start the sixteen hour build process of the next version of the emulator.

At the point of this story, we had, to our chagrin, shipped a chip where one of the hardware blocks that Chuck designed was not working. Fortunately, this did not affect many customers, but we needed to fix it, and since it was absolutely critical that it be fixed (in fact, its failure was the primary reason for a new, expensive, chip revision), and since the validation department had not previously caught the failures (to be fair, this was partly due to Chuck's song-and-dance about how some things they found were not failures that could occur in the field), and since, by this point, the emulator was proven and had been working fine for many months (freeing up some of my time), yours truly was tasked with torturing the next revision of Chuck's bad block.

Being a systems engineer, I had looked at Chuck's design, found it fundamentally flawed, and had given him information (advice, links to whitepapers, etc.) about how he should rearchitect it. Of course, all that was ignored.

In retrospect, there were good reasons that Chuck was being given a lot of rope. Rather than placing him on a performance improvement plan, management was undoubtedly simply grooming him for the next round of layoffs.

But not understanding this, yet implicitly understanding that my primary task at the moment was to continually prove that Chuck's bad design was, in fact, bad, so that we did not ship yet another flawed chip, my life became a Groundhog-Day style hell, for weeks, of spending a couple of days building a new version of code supplied by Chuck, and taking it to the lab and watching it fail in under five minutes, and then engaging in interminable arguments about whether performance in the emulator in the lab faithfully reflected what would happen with the real chip in the real world.

One of Chuck's go-to forms of deflection was to ask, in the almost daily 20-person meetings dealing with this debacle and its hit on the schedule, whether I had tried . This led to protracted arguments about the relevance of the requested test, and sometimes to wasted time actually performing the test, and this went on for, literally, weeks, and Chuck could literally come up with half a dozen of these inane question in every single meeting.

Finally, there was one time when I was able to take a fresh build of the emulator to the lab five glorious hours before the next scheduled finger pointing meeting.

So, after watching the design fall over and twitch helplessly on the lab bench in under five minutes (as usual), I decided that my next task was to think long and hard about WWCA (What would Chuck ask?). Over the course of the next several hours, I came up with a long list of potential red herrings, wrote them down, performed the requisite useless tests, and wrote down the results.

Chuck's face at the next meeting was priceless. "Did you try xxx, zephen?" "Why, yes, Chuck, yes I did. Here's what happened..." "But you should have tried yyy, too!" "I did that, and this happened..."

This went on for probably ten questions, each one stupider than the last, before he gave up and said he would go look at my data.

No arguments, no raised voices, no pushback. Just twenty people, all tired of the Groundhog Day loop, all watching Chuck flounder with ever-more-ludicrous manufactured scenarios.

Chuck was gone two days later, the block was handed to another designer who rearchitected it according to sound principles, and, until now with this retelling, I never relived Groundhog Day again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Son_of_a_Mormon on 2025-05-31 03:04:24+00:00.

So I get a migraine medicine in pill form and also as a nasal spray. My Dr told me to use the spray if it’s a really bad one, and otherwise use the pills.

I went to the pharmacy today to pick up my meds and they said I could only get one because the insurance was blocking the 2nd. They told me that it didn’t make sense to block my nasal spray because they are different forms of the medicine. The pharmacy tech offered to have someone call the insurance company and see if they could get an override.

The insurance told the pharmacy that I’m not allowed both the pills and the spray. They said they’re the same thing. They’re not. The insurance said they would pay for 3 ml of the spray, but not 6. It comes in a bottle with 6ml. So they want the pharmacy to somehow give me 1/2 a bottle of nasal spray?

Anyway, I usually only fill these every 3-4 months so like 4 times a year at most.

Here’s where the malicious compliance comes in:

The pharmacist told me I’m allowed to fill either the pills or the spray every 25 days, so theoretically I could alternate filling each one and get it more often.

That was at the beginning of the year, so tomorrow is the day I’ll fill another prescription making it 3 of each so far. That’s how many I used ALL OF LAST YEAR. At this rate I’ll have 7 fills of each by the end of December.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Short-Farmer-5991 on 2025-05-31 02:05:03+00:00.

1st time poster so please be nice. Not even sure if I should be posting in this sub but here goes. This happened many years ago and I'm in a much better position now.

Back when I was just a 2nd year apprentice (builder). Myself and and qualified builder got the job of renovating an upstairs block of a comercial building (basically just a big concrete box.) There was also a business directly underneath our building site. This business had the working hours of 9am to 5pm. Our normal working hours were 7.30am to 4.30pm. Having said that, obviously having an active building site above their heads could get loud and annoying. So we made a plan with them and all other contractors that we would do a majority of the loud work before they started at 9. Made sense.

Now, we had thousands of concrete bolts to install. I remember sitting down with the builder and ordering 6000 bolts. (Frames were being bolted top and bottom). We quickly realized that we weren't going to be able to drill enough holes in the 1 and a half hours before they started work to keep us busy for the day. So again we had a meeting with everyone (our own bosses included) and said that we were going to start at 4am in order to get more of the loud work done. We also stated that because we were going to be starting early, we would also be finishing early. We decided that we would work until 2pm. Still longer that we would normally work but seemed fair at the time. Everyone agreed.

Now, we only got to do this for 3 days until the boss stopped in and started yelling at us for leaving work early. The builder and I both said that we had all agreed that when we started at 4am, then we would leave at 2pm. Not good enough apparently. The boss demanded that we stay until 4.30pm when the work day ends. He said he was being generous because other places make you work until 5pm. I was pissed and about to question him but the builder put his hand on my shoulder and said "no problem boss". I was confused but stayed quiet. The boss was happy and left.

When the boss left we started talking about how to proceed. The builder said that when I get home, look through my contract and see when my hours were. Surprise, it said my hours were 8am to 5pm. So were the builders. The bosses wanted us to stay until 4.30pm. No worries we will stay until 5pm. Unfortunately it also meant we weren't starting until 8am. Needless to say, work quickly fell behind due to us still honoring our agreement with the business below of no loud work after 9am.

It didn't take long for our boss to stop in and yell at us again for not being far enough along on the job and that we should be starting earlier to get it done. We simply stated that we could no longer start earlier and that rest assured, we are on-site until atleast 4.30pm just like he wanted. I've never seen someone turn purple with rage before. But before he started yelling again, the builder showed him his contract and show him his contracted hours. The look of rage never left the bosses face but he walked out without a word.

As you can imagine, a job that should have taken as a week and a half or 2 weeks at most ended up taking us a little over a month to accomplish. The rest of the job went on without incident but as a surprise to noone. We were made redundant as soon as that job finished. We knew it was coming and already had jobs lined up but we got the last laugh when that business went under investigation a few months later and subsequently closed after it was found they weren't paying anyone properly. Story for another time but basically everyone (including subcontractors) would complain about not being paid.

That builder and I became goid friends and I told this story to as many people as I could at his funeral a few weeks ago. Thought I'd share this story here because it's to good to be forgotten.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Frequent_Couple5498 on 2025-05-30 23:18:06+00:00.

A few years ago I decided to get a second part-time job for some extra cash at a well known Burger place. When I started I heard that the GM, we'll call her Tammy, was pretty new at her job and no one seemed to like her much. I soon found out why. She was demanding, didn't know how to talk to people at all. She like to screamed instead. And acted like she was the queen bee that everyone had to wait on.

When breakfast was over and I went to throw away all the extra sausages, one of my co-workers rushed over and said "no, wait you have to save one for Tammy. She'll be here soon." So about 11am Tammy comes waltzing in and goes straight to her office. All my coworkers start rushing around to make her a large iced tea and a sausage breakfast sandwich. Someone takes it in to her. She comes barreling out of her office screaming that the sausage wasn't fresh for her liking so make her another. I was just like wow.

Then she comes out and walks around, and just yells at people. About everything. I was already thinking at this point that I don't think I will be here long. But thank goodness I only worked morning shifts so only had to deal with her for a couple of hours.

Tammy was the worst boss I have ever encountered in all my working life.

Our site was recently sold to another company and they sent in "Kevin" to make some changes. He was a nice enough guy but every change he made, as soon as he left Tammy would yell at us for doing things differently (Kevin's way) and not the way she likes them done. We would say, but Kevin said we are to do it this way from now on. And Tammy would yell, "I don't care what Kevin wants, this is my store, I'm the GM and I wants things my way." She told us not to worry about kevin, she would handle him. And I'm thinking, um okay Tammy but aren't these people your boss? You don't own the store, they do. But okay Big Boss Tammy, whatever you say.

So the next day Kevin comes in early before miss Tammy. I continue to do things the way Tammy wants them done because that's what she told us to do. When Kevin approached me and said "why are you doing things the old way,I thought I showed you the changes that I have made?" And I answered "yes Kevin, I know and I tried to do things the way you showed us but, Tammy said she is the GM and this is her store and she told us not to worry about what you say and to only worry about what she tells us to do." Kevin said nothing but made a strange face.

When Tammy came in they went into her office. I wish I were a fly on the wall. He left not long after and she came out screaming at everyone about the times in drive thru. I swear she just liked yelling, it didn't even matter what it was about.

I left that day and just never went back. I'm too old to deal with some Manager that is way too big for her britches.

About month later I go to another fastfood place nearby and lo and behold Tammy is at the window. She looks visably embarrassed when she sees me. She hesitates as she starts to hand me my food and I hear a woman in the back say to her in an impatient voice "Tammy what are you doing, we have times to worry about?" she whispers "I know" and hands me my bag as I smile and drive away.

The next day I went to my old place for lunch and asked them what happened to Tammy. They gleefully told me that just a couple of days after I quit that Kevin fired her because she kept refusing to do things his way. He also told her he didn't like how she talked to people. They all seemed so happy and I would make sure to visit Tammy's new place every now and then because it's fun to see her have her big ego crushed.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/jagoff22 on 2025-05-30 22:01:41+00:00.

I went to College back in the early 70’s,  close to the last era when you could kind of pay your way while going to school.  I lived off campus, rode my bike to school, worked at the College/Hospital loading dock part time during school and full time the rest of the year.  I avoided additional fees like parking permits, and it was before big student activity fees.

Upon completion of my degree, I received a letter from “Harvard of the Cuyahoga” that asked for $150 as a “Matriculation Fee”.  As I was not attending graduation, I called and asked why.  I was informed it was for my diploma.

I had spent over two years of my life at this particular school, finishing my degree, and had paid them (1970 figures, don’t laugh) about $14,000 to date.  I had kind of assumed the diploma was included.  My diploma was included in high school and I didn’t pay them a thing.  So, I asked if I would still be able to get transcripts if I did not pay the fee and they said yes. I thanked them for their time.

Cool, I got on with life, still in the same city.  About seven years later I get a call from the Dean’s Office and the nice lady explains they have had my diploma sitting in a drawer and could they please messenger it over to me?  They would REALLY like to get rid of it.

I think that is the ONLY battle I ever won with a college.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/chloeverydirty on 2025-05-30 21:35:07+00:00.

So I work at a small marketing agency. Nothing fancy, pretty relaxed environment. For years, we've been wearing smart casual: jeans, sneakers, button-down shirts. Everyone's comfortable, clients don't care - it's all good.

Then we get a new "Creative Director", let's call her Laura. She's all about "professionalism", so she issues a dress code: business formal only. No jeans, no sneakers. Jackets, ties, dresses, the works. She says: "If you want to be taken seriously, you have to look the part. No exceptions"

Alright then.

So Monday morning, I show up in my only business formal outfit: an ancient three-piece suit my dad gave me for college interviews. I'm talking brown, wide lapels, tie so loud it might be a war crime. Everyone else did the same - dusted off old suits and dresses from the back of the closet. We looked like a low-budget wedding party. Meanwhile, Laura's in a sleek, tailored outfit worth more than my car.

Clients start asking if we're going to a funeral or a prom. Our social media manager's suit was two sizes too big, he kept tripping over the pants. The receptionist looked like she was wearing a mother-of-the-bride outfit. One of out designers came in wearing an honest-to-God top hat, just to see if Laura would blink.

By Friday, she's had enough. She calls an "emergency meeting" to announce the dress code is now "business casual again, with flexibility to ensure comfort and personal style".

Guess suits don't make the work better after all.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/TrashLoaHekHekHek on 2025-05-30 18:20:09+00:00.

Obligatory not in the US. Also not my MC, but my manager's, but I was along for the entire ride. I work in a 200 person sized company. Have been here for 9 years. Department colleagues are great, other than 1 person(but that's for a different story). My manager is among the best people I've had the good fortune to ever meet, and both department heads I've worked with are fantastic too. This particular incident happened during Covid.

I was assigned to a project for a specific role which was typically for managers. However, this government project also required someone to submit sensitive documents for approval, and you needed to have government certifications. To get these certifications you had to attend courses and training that were usually for managerial levels. They were also not cheap, a couple of thousands. I got these from a previous job that unfortunately went bankrupt. I wasn't a manager in my current job, but due to having these certifications I was assigned the role.

My manager has been trying to get me promoted for awhile now, but HR constantly provided excuses. "No available position, not the right time, he needs to prove himself etc". Manager figures this is the perfect time, and goes to HR again with my HoD's blessing. HR again rejects the proposition, and my manager instead argues for a pay raise then. HR says that I've already hit the cap for my position, tough luck. He's now pissed, and thinking of the next plan. HR then sends him an email reiterating everything, but adds "he should be working his wage anyway". He just smiles, and starts his MC by telling me he's taking me off the project, as well as informing the project lead. Project lead informs HR that they need to fill the slot, either by sending someone to train for the role, or to hire someone. HR is appalled by the price and instead chooses to hire someone instead. This is where crap starts rising.

Remember I mentioned that this was a government project. That means if we fail to meet deadlines we get fined. With no one submitting required documents for approval the project grinded to a halt. First month, HR did nothing, not even putting out hiring ads. At the end of the month, we were fined 5k. HR finally realizes that this was serious, and finally started putting ads out. However, they offered basically intern tier of pay, lowballing the hardest I've ever seen. There was no shot anyone with said certifications ever taking up the offer. Month 2 ends, we get slapped by a 25k fine as listed in the contract. HR panics now, raising their offer, but again still way too low. Month 3 ends, we now get an additional 50k fine. C suite are now all involved, especially the CEO.

CEO questions project lead why no work was done for 3 months. Lead sends him to HR. HR tried to throw me under the bus, but my manager and Head produced HR's email. CEO pulls me into a meeting with my manager and Head, asks me to return to my role. In addition, he guarantees me a promotion, including back pay since the start of the project. He even sends an email with his official business use signature stating the offer. I agree.

In the end, 1 HR member got fired, and another demoted. CEO also started a separate progression path in the company, for those who aren't interested in managerial roles. In fact, I got 2 promotions for that path, and I currently earn slightly less than a manager, and also getting more responsibilities as per the role. My manager and I sometimes joke that I upgraded from being a bronze cog to a golden one, but honestly I don't mind, as I know I would absolutely fail at managing.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/CountingSheep_002tv on 2025-05-30 17:53:19+00:00.

My whole team moved under a different org at work. This new org has implemented several changes since the move, with each new “rule” being more micromanage-y than the last. Instead of being treated as adults that can handle working from home and still meeting our production goals, we now have an idle tracker that pops up after we’ve been for too long. We lovingly refer to it as the gray box. Today I let the gray box know when I had to poop, but refrained from adding that I’m on my cycle and had to exchange feminine hygiene products. I’m sure I’ll get more detailed as I get more fed up with their rules. That being said, anyone have fun ways to express things like having to poop, etc that I can use for the gray box?

ETA- we are all fully remote and based in the U.S.