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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Affectionate-Yam-886 on 2024-02-28 19:24:53.

Last year I was ordering an upgrade for the server room at work; it was a large expensive upgrade that cost over half a million dollars. If you have ever had to call a manufacturer to order equipment at this amount you may know that once you get a good reputation with a manufacturer, they tend to cut red tape for you to maintain a good working relationship with your company. I in the past have bought equipment for my personal use at home and it takes forever to get a rep on the phone and they often screw you on the deal. While i was making the order with the manufacturer, i inquired about getting personal equipment, to see if it would be possible to make a separate order for myself with my own money. The rep had no issues with it, and was happy to make the second order. He place both orders, and even gave me a company discount for my order. Now I did make it perfectly clear that the second order was a personal order and not in any way connected to the corporate account or order. He confirmed this and the order was locked. A few months went by and the equipment showed up in the loading dock at work and everything was in order. However my order never arrived at my house. I attempted to contact the manufacturer, but got put on hold for hours. I gave up for now and figured I would try again in a few days. The next morning the equipment showed up. It was an exact match for the equipment that was sent to my work. Now keep in mind the order i placed for my house was a blade server that was just over $6k usd. This was not what I ordered. I went into panic mode as I can’t afford this equipment and when they bill me I will be screwed. I checked my bank account and found no charges yet… Now im really panicked as now i think they billed it to my company, effectively double charging them. I expect I will get fired. When i returned to work after my weekend, I emailed billing and got a copy of the invoice. Well, they didn’t bill my company for the equipment sent to my house. Now im really confused. So, at this point I drop it. It is a pain to get them on the phone and I can’t call the corporate line when its a personal order. A month later I got an invoice in the mail with a late charge for failure to pay. Ok, now i can get this fixed. I see they want $6k +$250 for late charges. Thats odd. I call the retention number and got a rep. I gave her the account number and she told me she needed to transfer me to a manager due to the amount. Ok, cool. The manager picks up the phone and I try to explain the bill is wrong and the equipment they sent wasn’t what i ordered; and he immediately cut me off with “You need to pay the invoice, your in violation of the contract and we will sue you if you don’t pay it immediately!” I tried again to explain the equipment issue, but again he cut me off and demanded I pay. So, I told him I would take care of it then. I said sorry for being an inconvenience and I will call my bank right away. I then confirmed the bill amount, and the part order number from my equipment labels. He confirmed it, and said “see, there was NO mistake!” and as i was about to hang up, I know i heard him say in a smug tone to someone else, “Thats how you deal with poor dick heads”. Called my bank and got them to unblock the transaction. It was stopped for fraud alert. The amount was paid. I am now the owner of a half a million dollar server room in my basement. A few months later I had to order some more connectors for the fiber lines and spoke to their rep again. I inquired about buying personal devices again, since the last time went so well. Apparently they can’t do that anymore. Something about a manager fraud investigation. Can’t imagine what thats about.