Ticked-Off NFL Player Pays $3,900 Car Shop Bill Entirely In Coins

Image courtesy of frankieleon

Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert was apparently so displeased with the service he received from a car shop that he paid the business almost $4,000 using nothing but change.

Tolbert wrote on Instagram that the job — replacing the engine in one of his cars — was supposed to take just 10 days. Two and a half months later it still wasn’t done, he claims, which ticked him off.

In his post, he warned followers away from the business, adding that the shop upped the original price quote, and that he was handled differently than other customers because he’s an NFL player.

“I expected a level of professionalism that I did not receive and the owner expected me to pay more because I’m ‘a millionaire’!!!!” he wrote. He told The Charlotte Observer that he was shocked when he found the bill had gone up, even though the car wasn’t finished.

“So we had an argument about that. I tried to pay them with a check,” he told the paper. “They said we’re not going to take your check because we’re not sure it’s going to clear the bank. I’m like, ‘OK, if that’s what you feel.’”

The business posted a reply on Facebook, FoxSports.com reports, saying Tolbert had paid his $3,900 all in coins, a move the player confirmed to ESPN.

“Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, everything,” he said. “I didn’t even care, I didn’t care one bit. I took a truckload of them and put it right there where he wanted, and I got my car towed back to my buddy’s shop.”

The business was not pleased with the coin payment, he notes, adding, “but they got what they asked for.” To that end, the shop called the police… who then made the business accept the coins as payment, The Observer reports.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen folks shelling out large payments in small coins: there was the guy who paid his dentist bill with 45 years worth of pennies; the local official who was annoyed when someone paid a $25 parking ticket all in pennies; the insurance company that paid a man $21,000 with buckets of loose change; and the time a town instituted limits on coin payments after a woman paid a $200 sewer bill with change.

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