Some people will go to great lengths to avoid paying for good work, even when it’s clearly in their best interest.

When one homeowner refused to listen to the expert’s advice, he ended up with more than just an unfinished fireplace — he got a house full of smoke.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

Didn’t pay for fireplace. Ended up with a house full of smoke.

A friend of mine use to install wood stoves and sell firewood. He still sells firewood, but stopped bothering with fireplaces.

This 1 guy bought a fireplace and wanted it installed. My friend did this, but told him he would need a higher chimney for better air drawing.

But the customer wasn’t one to listen to good advice.

The guy refused it (I’m assuming maybe he didn’t want a higher chimney for the look), but my friend kept insisting.

The owner said no and when the fireplace was done, he complained it was hard to get a fire going (due to the chimney being too short, leading to poor drawing of air).

So the handyman fixed the issue, but the customer still refused to pay.

My friend came with a chimney extension and it worked fine, but he decided he didn’t want to pay still, even though the job was done, and done well.

So later the handyman saw an opportunity for revenge.

So a few weeks later, my friend was passing through the area and saw nobody was home, but there was a fire going to keep the house warm (owner must have been at work).

So my friend climbed up onto the roof and got his chimney extension back.

It was a plus, but not enough to cover everything that was installed and the time put in.

The revenge worked even better than he anticipated.

Where things get funny is that once he took the extension off the chimney, due to poor drawing of air, the house started to fill up with smoke as the fire burned.

The owner must have come home to a thick smoke filled home. Try getting that smell out of stuff. Lol. Probably a layer of soot on everything.

He bets the customer is punching the air now at his foolishness.

To my recollection the owner did not have any pets, so no lives were harmed, but when everything you own is black and reeks like smoke and your home is freezing in the middle of winter, I bet you would have rather have paid someone for their products and services.

I hate people like that. When they know from the point they hire you, no matter how good of a job you do, they will try to find some reason not to pay you.

The customer’s little plan backfired quite spectacularly, didn’t it?

What did Reddit think?

While the revenge was satisfying, surely there’s a better way to handle it that involves less liability.

This commenter hates to think how poorly this revenge plot could have gone.

Even with revenge, there are some lines better left uncrossed.

Never mind the moral implications; There could have been legal consequences as well.

Reddit may not have approved of the handyman’s antics, but hindsight is 20/20.

Sometimes even people who try to save money end up paying the price in unexpected ways.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.