Shop Owner in China Pays Overdue Management Fees with Coins... "What a Malicious Mindset to Torment Employees," Criticized

Controversy Over Distributing Coins to Management Office as Retaliation

A shop owner in China has become a hot topic for paying overdue management fees with 'over 20,000 coins' as an act of retaliation against the management office. On the 8th, local media including Gupa News reported that a shop owner in Hami City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, recently paid about 20,000 yuan of management fees overdue for the past three years entirely in 1 yuan or 5 mao coins.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The shop owner had delayed paying the management fees, and when the management office filed a lawsuit, he was reportedly forced to pay the fees according to a court settlement. Harboring resentment, he deliberately exchanged coins at a bank, packed them into two bags, and brought them to the management office.

An official from the management office said, "The bags he brought contained over 20,000 coins," adding, "Six employees spent two days, totaling 8 to 9 hours, counting the coins to verify the amount, to the point their hands cramped." He continued, "It was confirmed that he paid about 19,700 yuan (approximately 3.62 million KRW), leaving about 220 yuan (approximately 44,000 KRW) short, so we requested additional payment. He clearly intends to pay the remaining balance in coins again."

Netizens criticized, saying, "It must have been difficult to gather 20,000 coins," and "What kind of spiteful mindset is it to pay the management fees, which should be paid anyway, in such a way to bother the management office staff?"

Similar 'Coin Retaliation' Case in the United States

This kind of 'coin retaliation' also occurred earlier in the United States. In October last year, in Colorado, a welding company, dissatisfied with the subcontractor's work being "below standard," paid $23,500 (about 31.67 million KRW) in coins weighing about 3 tons. The company had refused to pay but was forced to do so by court settlement, and the payment in coins was intended as retaliation.

The company reportedly filled a specially made steel box with 6,500 pounds (about 2.95 tons) of coins and sent it to the subcontractor. The subcontractor refused to accept it, saying, "A 3-ton box cannot fit in the office elevator, and banks do not accept that amount of coins." Subsequently, another lawsuit ensued, and the welding company had to pay an additional $8,000 (about 10 million KRW).

At that time, the Larimer County Court in Colorado ruled, "Paying in coins was a strategy to make receiving payment troublesome and difficult, reducing the plaintiff's net profit or frustrating receipt altogether," and judged that "payment should be made by traditional methods such as checks."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.