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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/georgetgwtbn on 2024-10-18 20:29:52+00:00.

Some months after my mum sold up and downsized I got a letter from a debt collection agency saying I owed them £134 and some pence including interest and fees. I had no idea what this was for so phoned them.

It was for the broadband service at my mum’s old house (now sold) which had been cancelled a short time before she moved, along with the attached phone line.

I explained that there must have been a mistake as the phone line and broadband were all in one package and I had cancelled it, all together, at the same time, since the house was sold. The query went back to the supplier.

They called me and said they had been unable to cancel the broadband part of the service because the cancellation had not come in from the account holder. But I was the account holder!?

They said no, the account holder is Mr [my father’s name]. I explained that there really must have been a mix up as he had died a few years earlier and I took over control of the telephone line and broadband account, paying that (single) bill for my mother (along with some other regular bills since she no longer had my father’s income to cover things.)

They insisted that they HAD to speak with the account holder and could no longer speak with me on the matter and refused to speak with me again. Despite all the collection letters and threats of legal action being taken against me, not my deceased dad!

They wouldn’t take no for an answer - so I drove to his grave, phoned them up and said [Account holder] is here - you can speak to him if you want. I left the mobile by the grave stone while I wandered around the quiet and pretty churchyard.

I heard some irate voices at the end of the line, so picked up the phone and asked if they’d had any joy speaking with the account holder. An angry voice asked what was going on, so I explained where I was and that I’d love to know if my dad had said anything to them since I had been unable to reach him under 6 feet of churchyard dirt since we buried him a couple of years earlier.

Silence at the end of the phone.

I was passed to a manager who apologised profusely and said they’d sort it all out at their end. A month or so later the debt collection agency sent me a letter saying the matter had been resolved with no balance owing.

TLDR: They insisted on speaking with my long deceased father, so I tried to oblige.

For any who ask why I didn’t just pretend to be my father - my voice is in no way masculine and I wasn’t about to go to the hassle of coaching a male friend or getting a voice machine for something so silly.