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Man Pays $350 Electric Bill With Pennies...Electric Co. Not Amused
John Almany was shocked when his monthly electric bill from Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU) jumped to $350, but Almany, being the upstanding citizen that he is, decided to pay every cent. Accompanied by a friend/accomplice, Almany visited several banks and proceeded to exchange cash for gobs of pennies. After they had collected $350 worth of coins, they unrolled all 26,000 of them and then dumped the 170 lbs. worth of the pennies into two large duffel bags. The Bristol Herald Courier reported that the two cohorts then made their way to the electric company's local pay counter, where Almany gleefully informed the cashier "this is my bill, and I'm here to pay every penny of it."
The cashier initially refused the payment, but since pennies are legal tender, staff were eventually forced to start counting the mountain of coins. After two hours, BVU employees had only counted $26 worth and had to stop because it was closing time. Almany, point having been made, exchanged the coins at a machine for paper bills, and paid the remaining bill in cash the following Monday. BVU has since set forth rules that limit the amount of coins a person can use to pay a bill.
Well played, Mr. Almany. [From: Tricities.com, via neatorama]
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Comments
12
Subscribe to commentsmacMar 16th 2009 5:45PM
This has been done before, but I still smile every time I see it :-)
Remember "Cash Is King !" utility company .
MichelleMar 16th 2009 6:43PM
There shouldn't be a "rule" saying what percentage of your bill can be paid in change. That is ludicrous. Maybe if they weren't charging up the arse for fuel surcharges even though the cost of a gallon has dropped to half of what they are charging, he wouldn't have felt disenfranchised enough to make such a statement. If you want the darn money, you will take it how the customer gives it to you or you don't f-ing get it in my opinion.
Master ShakeMar 17th 2009 1:10AM
The fact is that there is ALREADY a federal law that says that coins do not have to be accepted as legal tender - only paper money does. You note that bills actually say on them that "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" but coins do not.
JacobMar 16th 2009 7:44PM
"collected $350 worth of coins, they unrolled all 26,000 of them"
This makes no sense at all. It would be 35,000 pennies, or 700 rolls (50 pennies per roll). Where the heck did you come up with 26,000?
xbplaya1122Mar 16th 2009 7:46PM
ummm they could only count $26 in 2 hours??? wow
Gregory DittmerMar 16th 2009 11:15PM
xbplaya1122 @ Mar 16th 2009 7:46PM
ummm they could only count $26 in 2 hours??? wow
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When you have to count pennies, time goes VERY slow! It does seem they should have been able to count to more than 2,600 in two hours though. It actually works out to something like counting 22 pennies per minute.
In today's economy money spent by the government is counted in hundreds of billions with a national deficit of something like 10 trillion dollars. Just as a point of reference... if a person was to begin counting one dollar bills at the rate of two dollars per second, non stop, no sleeping, no eating and no bathroom breaks, 24/7/365... it would take MORE than 15,854 years just to get to one trillion dollars... but this nation is in debt of TEN trillion dollars.
So, if someone could actually count two dollars per second, non stop... it would take LONGER than homo sapiens have walked the earth just to count our national debt!
xbplaya1122Mar 17th 2009 6:37AM
right which has nothing to do with them idiots only being able to count $26 in 2 hours.... thats 10 mins worth of work tops
LinMar 22nd 2009 6:24AM
How funny! It served that electric company right! I think everyone should do this to their electric companies when the companies raise their rates. They don't raise them just a little bit either...they impart a huge raise and then won't work with people who are on a fixed income. As for taking two hours to count $26 of pennies, the people who work for that company must be really slow or not have the mental capacity to count fast. There is no way it should have taken that long...they were dragging out the counting so that they wouldn't have to count all of it.
BrrinAKMar 17th 2009 4:17AM
I paid my ex wifes Attorney with $276 in pennies in 1989. put them in a giant tub, and with a hand truck, and with help of new then girlfriend, poured them on the floor of the waiting room and demanded a receipt. LOL
HMar 17th 2009 4:53AM
Tuff titty on that electric company. I would do the same to mine because the only one company allowed to provide the general public with electricity on Long Island have been overcharging Long Island residents while all along they had a deal to buy electricity at a much cheaper rate from others.
rickMar 17th 2009 5:51AM
GOOD FOR HIM! The untility company should be happy that he paid his bill - if they don't want to count his payment it just shows how lazy the employees are!
peteApr 29th 2009 7:47PM
I can't find a penny machine to convert mine? where did you go