Alert: You Cannot Send A Drawing Of A Spider As Payment
David didn't have the money to pay his account (for some mystery service—we don't know what), so he decided to see if they'd accept a drawing instead. Turns out they won't. The email exchange that follows is hilarious, and much more entertaining for both parties than the old put-the-wrong-check-in-the-envelope trick.
Please note that we didn't include a picture of the drawing because David might try to charge us for it. We really can't afford $233 right now.
Good Idea!: Man Submits Drawing Of Spider Instead Of Payment For Overdue Account [Geekologie] (Thanks to Anthony!)
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Comments:
I couldn't even finish it.
I'll have to wait until I get home cause I look like an idiot trying to stiffle my LOL in my cube.
There is no way that's real. "Jane" sounds like a bot to me.
Brilliant! Kudos to the Rep. she kept it cool the entire time.
I'm surprised he didn't insist that by copying and pasting it that she retained a copy, and therefore owed him royalties for duplicating the work. ;-)
I wonder if this made the sales rep's day better or worse.
Wow, that has to be the funniest exchange I've ever read between a customer service rep and poor person ever. This will be forwarded many times....
So, service rep in India not understanding the humor or American service rep playing along?
I am sorry, but David is a bad consumer and is being a jackass. It may be funny [I laughed], but that does not stop this from being stupid. The first spider, cute, kind of funny, I can see a laugh internally, but going on from there, just asinine.
May as well just send a check for $15 and write a binding memo that if it is cashed all debts are forgiven. :\ Just as effective in the end, unless the company really screws that one up too.
Best customer service I have ever witnessed in my life.
@gibbersome: ROFL! He undervalued his drawing. If he just sold it before (like it would sell for that price) he could paid off that bill pretty quick.
Fake but creative. No evidence that this was not made up for entertainment. The company name is not mentioned and this is fake.
wonder if he can chargeback a drawn spider if the account representative refused to return the email attachment
Freakin hilarious. I chose not to stifle my LOLs at my cube - and now I am being peeked at from around the corner. :)
@balilanai: Please, do go on about how this is clearly photoshopped and you can see pixels all over the place.
@balilanai: Are you suggesting that there is absolutely no way that this exchange could have taken place?
I am betting that the collection rep is enjoying this at least a little. I'm sure she told some of her coworkers about it.
@Bauer22:
If that's the original site of the letter, it doesn't mention where it even came from. I say it's made up.
@maztec: Picasso was reported to have sketched some work on a piece of paper or napkin for his house to show a contractor what he wanted. When he asked the contractor how much it would be, the contractor said that the actual sketch would be fine as payment.
This reminds me of a hilarious book my g/f got me called Letters from a Nut by Ted L. Nancy (its a pseudonym, some believe the author is Jerry Seinfield) [www.amazon.com]
Basically, the author sends crazy letters to all these corporations, government offices and famous people only to see how seriously he's taken in the obscure responses he receives. Usually, its the responses from these people that are more funny than the situations the author creates with the initial letter. I highly reccommend the read, its right up Consumerist's alley.
for those saying its fake, pretty sure its not, hes a friend of my girlfriends, which made me go wtf when i saw this, we read it on his livejournal a few days ago :)
"Please note that we didn't include a picture of the drawing because David might try to charge us for it. We really can't afford $233 right now."
^ That's knee-slappingly clever! :)
@changed my name: Considering that the domain 27bslash6.com is registered to Thorne, David, I would say he's the originating source.
Couldn't tell you if it really happened between Mr. Thorne and a business, though.
This man is a genius. I'll be paying off my next phone bill with a plaster of paris moose.
This guy has terrible form, I submitted a picture of a pygmy goat to Comcast and not only did they wave my late fee, they gave me a year subscription.
@Ein2015:
I doubt he would, apparently the spider was given away and was subsequently sold on e-bay.
LGT ebay auction that ended. [cgi.ebay.com]
@balilanai: not fake, as i said below. "for those saying its fake, pretty sure its not, hes a friend of my girlfriends, which made me go wtf when i saw this, we read it on his livejournal a few days ago :)"
@John: I wish I was that awesome. Can you imagine going to the grocery store, sketching the groceries you'd like and having the cashier say "I'll accept that sketch as payment."? I want that to be my superpower.
Haha.. funny, I just Stumbled on this last night. That's two articles in a row that Consumerist has up that I've read elsewhere... but.. I still love reading you!
If he drew a fluffy kitten instead of an icky spider, it would have worked!
This reminds me of the Saturday Night Live sketch with John Lovitz scribbling on a napkin in a restaurant
"It's a Picasso!"
Did anyone notice that Chris Walters wrote this? Welcome back, Chris!
@changed my name:
O.K....after reading the post below by "gibbersome", I take back my original comment.
@stezton: same here. but by now my office mates know about my habit of reading the consumerist articles and occasionally breaking out into laughter. what magical substance was this man smoking?
Did anyone else read this as him having been sold a SPDR? Especially when he says "It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it." Maybe I am reading too much into this...
This reminds me (long-time lurker, first time poster; hello!) of what Dali used to do:
He'd go into restaurants and order a meal for him, his entourage, etc.. and then write a check. On the back of the check he'd put a little drawing and then tell the owner that it's a Special Drawing Just For Him By The Great Dali.. and then the owner would never cash it!
I call a fake...9 times out of 10 these are fake. Funny, but fake. Note the lack of a company name, the lack of what kind of bill it was, the lack of any kind of defining information. You could say it was for anonymity, but first and last names of both (fake) parties were published.
The original auction has ended but there is one up now for a Santa hat for the spider, about fell outta my chair laughing.
Check out The Lazlo Letters by Father Guido Sarducci from SNL Real Life brother of Former Surgeon General of US Novello
Here's the original site of this letter.