The Original Post
This happened over Black Friday.
Back in October, I bought a vacuum from Kohl’s online for in-store pickup. It normally sold for around $330, but I paid $250 and got $50 in Kohl’s Cash, which I used the following week. No issues there.
When Black Friday rolled around, I noticed the exact same vacuum was now selling for $150.
I reached out to online customer service to see if they could refund the difference since I had bought it online. They told me they don’t do price matching or price adjustments during Black Friday promotions. Nothing they could do.
While I was chatting with the rep, I looked up my order and noticed the return window was 90 days and I was still well within it. I pointed that out and tried using it as leverage, asking if they could just refund the difference instead of dealing with a return.
Still no.
At that point, I told the rep that if that was the case, I’d return the used vacuum to Kohl’s and just buy it on Amazon instead.
They didn’t budge.
So I did exactly what their policy allowed.
I ordered the same vacuum again from Kohl’s for $150 with free delivery. That purchase also earned me $30 in Kohl’s Cash.
When it arrived, I took the unopened box to my local Kohl’s and returned it using my original $250 receipt from October.
I fully expected them to deduct the $50 in Kohl’s Cash I’d already spent from the refund… but they didn’t.
End result:
• Full $250 refund
• $100 saved
• Plus an extra $30 in Kohl’s Cash
No rules broken. Just followed their policies exactly.
What Reddit Said
Redditors absolutely loved this perfectly executed malicious compliance. Most praised OP’s clever thinking and methodical approach to beating the system. However, many were surprised that Kohl’s didn’t catch the return discrepancy or deduct the previously used Kohl’s Cash.
The community was impressed by how OP gave customer service multiple chances to resolve the issue reasonably. Moreover, commenters appreciated that he followed every rule exactly while still coming out ahead. In fact, several users admitted they wished they’d thought of this strategy themselves.
The Verdict
Reddit’s verdict was overwhelmingly positive: this was textbook malicious compliance at its finest. OP discovered a legitimate Kohl’s return policy loophole and executed it flawlessly after being denied reasonable accommodation. This represents a perfect example of malicious compliance where corporate inflexibility backfired spectacularly against retail policies.
Original post from r/MaliciousCompliance (12,139 upvotes, 575 comments)