# I want my penny! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265 "2008-05-22T16:44:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/1 "2008-05-22T16:44:43Z")
About 3 year ago i accidentally over payed AT&T $0.01. I have been getting a statement from them every month that i have a 1 cent credit. 😛 several years back when my daughter moved out of a rental house she received statement for 2 years that she owed a penny and could only pay by money order. That ended, but AT&T keeps sending the statement :smack: I would write them for the cash but then I would be a looser :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/2 "2008-05-22T16:51:03Z")
I closed an account for a monthly service and they had to refund like .17 cents they over charged on their last statement. I got a statement for about two years before they sent a check. This more a Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share topic. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/3 "2008-05-22T17:50:15Z")
Moved from General Questions to Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/4 "2008-05-22T22:14:01Z")
Do you still have the AT&T service? Because the simple solution would be the next time you get a bill from them, just make the check out for one cent less than the listed amount. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/5 "2008-05-23T00:06:25Z")
[QUOTE=Gbro] About 3 year ago i accidentally over payed AT&T $0.01. I have been getting a statement from them every month that i have a 1 cent credit. 😛 several years back when my daughter moved out of a rental house she received statement for 2 years that she owed a penny and could only pay by money order. That ended, but AT&T keeps sending the statement :smack: I would write them for the cash but then I would be a looser :dubious: [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t writing them for the cash make you tighter? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/6 "2008-05-23T00:42:15Z")
Same thing happened to me recently. A few years ago I moved my retirement funds from Fidelity to Ameriprize, even though I can’t stand their commercials. Between the time I signed papers agreeing to transfer X amount of money between the two institutions, I managed to accrue an additional 23¢ in interest that stayed with Fidelity. So now I get monthly statements telling me all about how my 23¢ retirement fund is doing. I called them to say keep the change but they would need me to send in notarized forms and who knows what else. So I’ve decided to just keep getting the monthly statement. I can use it for kindling. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/7 "2008-05-23T01:05:47Z")
There was this (I’m sure apocryphal) story I read on bash about mailing trash and other company’s ads to companies with business reply mail, making them pay for the charges. Note: I do that whenever possible. > [@someone from bash.org](#): > > Now, I did this for about a month before it got boring, so I got an added idea! I added exactly 33 cents worth of pennies to the envelope so they paid EXTRA due to the weight. I got a call informing me about the money, I said it was a mistake and I demanded my change back. After yelling at the clerk and then to the supervisor they agreed to my demands and cut me a check for the money. I hold in my hand at this very moment a check from GTE Visa for exactly 33 cents. from [here](http://bash.org/?127039) ETA: Oh, and one year my friend’s tax rebate was something ridiculous, like under a dollar. He still has the check. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/8 "2008-05-27T02:37:55Z")
I heard Neal Boortz read a new item last week about someone that owed a city about 53 cents. In order to notify him of that the city had to send him a certified letter that cost them $3.50 or so to mail. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/9 "2008-05-27T04:01:38Z")
i had at one point ran up a credit card debt of just over 1000.00 due in part to being unemployed. Once I was gainfully employed again I took out most of my savings and paid off the card (it was already cancelled) or so I thought. I apparnetly tranposed the cents portion or something because it left a balance of about 6 cents. The credit card company typically sent me offers almost daily and my new job was quite stressful with long hours ad I din’t check the statement for several months thinking it was just a request to reopen the account. Nope it was several months of overdue charges etc. I tried calling them and they said sorry it’s what you owe and I told them I didn’t have the money. Severl months later I started getting calls from a collection agency. and I finally told them the whole story and that I was barely paying my bills as it was and I had no idea when I would be able to pay the acculated charges. He looked at my record and apologised, saying he would credit my account in full. Shocked the heck out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/10 "2008-05-27T09:46:55Z")
I got a paycheck a couple of months ago for $4.33. I wouldn’t throw $4 in the trash, so I felt obliged to cash the damn thing, but I swear I could hear the drive-thru teller giggling. ---
**Author:** ![Maui\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Maui\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maui_Lion)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-my-penny/450265/11 "2008-05-27T20:17:43Z")
The very first time I filed taxes, that year I also got a refund! Yay! The refund? $1.00 That’s right. They sent me a check for a buck. Probably cost more to make and mail it. I never cashed it, it was too awesome to cash. I’m keeping this 'til the day I die.