The Original Post
I work from home, for a company that makes software for mobile devices. Of course, a lot of the work I do requires having the physical devices. If I needed a specific one, I’d put in a request and they’d ship it to me.
However, recently one of my requests to ship it was denied, and I was told I’d have to pick it up. Their reasoning? I live within an hour of the office, so I’m expected to come in to get them myself. The problem is, if you look up the drive on Google Maps, it does take under an hour, just barely – but only if you look it up at like 2 in the afternoon, or in the middle of the night when no one is driving. If you look it up during normal commuting time, it’s never less than that. I’m writing this at 7 AM and it’s at 1:15. In 30-45 minutes, it’s gonna be even worse.
I asked if I could just pay for shipping myself, since it would be cheaper for me to do than pay for gas and parking. Nope. Gotta come in.
So now I come in. I take lunch, and then head in, at 1 in the afternoon. I get what I need and immediately leave. It takes me just under 2 hours total, and because I’m only running in for a few minutes, I can leave my car in front of the building and not have to buy parking. 2 hours that I would normally spend doing work, I am now spending in my car.
For some reason, I’m now back on the approved list for shipping.
What Reddit Said
Redditors absolutely loved this perfectly executed malicious compliance. Most praised OP for finding the ideal way to make his point without being confrontational. However, many were frustrated on his behalf about the shortsighted policy that ignored traffic realities.
The consensus was clear: this was textbook malicious compliance done right. In fact, several commenters shared similar experiences with companies that had arbitrary distance-based shipping policies. Moreover, many pointed out how the company likely spent more money on OP’s lost productivity than they would have on shipping costs.
The Verdict
Reddit’s verdict was overwhelmingly supportive of this brilliant malicious compliance move. When a company denied shipping within hour drive based on unrealistic traffic estimates, OP’s response was both professional and effective. This is a perfect example of malicious compliance that benefits everyone – the company learned their lesson and OP got his shipping privileges restored without any workplace drama.
Original post from r/MaliciousCompliance (3,075 upvotes, 184 comments)