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    Database worker bills $200 for labor because the accounting department wants to save $0.20 cents on a $5 replacement ethernet cable: ‘The purchasing clerk was proud’

    Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
    Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
    Jun 5, 2026 3:15 PM EDT

    How much does an ethernet cable cost? 

    Even the "experts," who have only ever fixed a tech problem by wiggling a cord and blowing into the plug-end of the wire, know that an ethernet cable is the cheapest fix out there. IT teams have used them for decades as a quick fix for a tech problem, so when this database administrator noticed that his biggest problem with the system outage was a mere $5 ethernet cable, he rejoiced. 

    He thought this would be an easy fix, so he sent his receipts to accounting to handle his expense report, but they asked him to take the longer, more labor-intensive route. The database technician took that rulebook logic and turned it into his own malicious compliance, sharing his story on Reddit's subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance, where users take orders quite literally (and maliciously, of course) to make a point. 

    What could have been an easy $5 fix turned into a $200 ordeal for this company because they insisted on following the rules to the letter. 

    If only they had known how simple an ethernet cable could be…

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    • Cheezburger Image 10636426752
      via Getty Images (Dragos Condrea)

      Database admin getting frustrated at work, as portrayed by a model. 

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    • I'm not a tech nerd, but I was born at exactly the right time to know how to fix both analog and techy things. Like many other younger millennials, my grandparents would marvel at how I fixed the wifi signal or how I tinkered with the landline to make things work again. Little did they know, all I did was turn it on and off again, a tried and true tech hack that will hopefully follow me for the rest of my life. 

      While this database engineer's job was a little more complex than that, ultimately, this particular fix was his equivalent of turning things on and off again. However, as always, the stuck-up frozen gears of bureaucracy got in the way of his easy job, but scored him an extra bundle of money in his coffers. Sidelining his important, high-priority projects, he sought to comply with accounting's demands; no matter how long it would take, he would save them at least $0.20 in parts… Too bad it cost them $200 in labor. 

    • My company wasted $200 of my billable time so we could save zero dollars on a $5 cable

      I work as a senior datbaase administrator at a medium-sized logistics firm. My internal billing rate for client projects is fifty dollars an hour. Last
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • week, we had a minor emergency in our server room. A cheap, three- foot Ethernet cable routing to a legacy backup server finally kicked the bucket. It was a simple fix. I went
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • online, found the exact cable on Amazon for four dollars and ninety- nine cents, and submitted a quick purchase request to our finance and procuremnt department, expecting
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • them to just approve it so I could get it shipped to the office. Two hours later, I got an email from a junior purchasing clerk. She
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • informed me that my request had been flagged because it did not comply with the company procurement guidelines. Apparently, any hardware purchase, regardless of value,
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • GESELE
      via Getty Images (Dragos Condrea)

      Database admin getting frustrated at work, as portrayed by a model. 

    • requires three separate, formal, itemized paper quotes from authorized vendors to ensure we are getting the best market rate. I replied, explaining that this was a five-dollar cable, that
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • the server was currently offline, and that spending time sourcing quotes for a five-dollar item was a massive waste of resources. She replied with a copy- pasted section of the
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • handbook, stating that there are no exceptions to the three-quote rule. I looked at the email, smiled, and decided to comply maliciously. I
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • stopped working on my high-priority database migration project, logged my time as administrative procurement compliance, and began my quest for three paper
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • quotes. Sourcing a formal, physical paper quote for a single five- dollar Ethernet cable is surprisingly difficult. Most commercial vendors laughed and hung up. I had to
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • physically drive to a local electronics shop, wait in line, and ask the manager to write up a formal quote on their letterhead. Then I called two other regional distributors, got
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • transferred through five different departments, and finally convinced them to email me formal PDF quotes, which I printed out.
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • Cheezburger Image 10636426496
      via Getty Images (Dragos Condrea)

      Database admin getting frustrated at work, as portrayed by a model. 

    • The entire process took me exactly four hours of active work. I compiled the three quotes, scanned them back into our system, and submitted the package along with my timesheet.
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • The quotes were for $4.99, $5.20, and $5.50. The purchasing clerk approved the $4.99 option within ten minutes, proud that we had saved twenty-one cents compared to the second option.
      via Zion01_Reboot
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    • I checked our internal billing system this morning. My four hours of administrative time were fully approved and billed to our internal department budget,
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • costing the company exactly two hundred dollars in labor. I am currently staring at the five-dollar cable that finally arrived today,
      via Zion01_Reboot
    • wondering if I should write up a formal three- page impact report on the quality of its plastic packaging.
      via Zion01_Reboot

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