Some companies just don’t understand compassion, even in the face of tragedy.

What would you do if a service provider harassed your grieving grandmother about returning TV equipment that had been destroyed in a wildfire?

This frustrated family member found themselves in the exact situation.

Here’s what they did.

Want to harass my grandmother? Enjoy paying for your box of ashes!

So, about five years ago, there was a wildfire in my area.

It was pretty devastating, and almost everyone in my community lost their homes, including my grandmother.

She had lost her husband of almost 40 years earlier in the year, and now her home that he built was burned to the ground.

My family and I had just had our house built, and the lack of grass from the foundation saved everything except for our wooden porch, so she came to live with us when it was deemed safe to return.

She called to have all her TV/Phone services canceled about a week after the fires and ended up getting choked up on the phone.

She was an emotional mess, but she’s a strong person and managed to handle the call.

Cable companies can be ruthless about getting their equipment back.

About a week after the call, she receives a letter demanding that she mail the TV equipment in or she would be charged for replacement for all of it.

She called and explained that the equipment was gone and that it had burned along with her home.

I could hear the CSR getting substantially louder while explaining (again) that it all needed to be mailed back.

Once again, my grandmother is getting frustrated and emotional, and the CSR is getting louder/ruder.

They called twice more over the span of a week.

I answered the phone and asked for them to send me the box and mailing labels as we would not be paying for shipping and the lady agreed.

They probably didn’t expect this.

So, what did I do?

When I received the box, I scooped up ashes and bits of burnt wires from my grandmother’s homesite, boxed it up, and shipped it to them on their dime.

Then I called and filed a complaint about the calls placed to my grandmother, which I was assured would be followed up with, and I never heard from them again.

I do feel bad for whoever had to open it, but it seemed appropriate at the time and got the point across.

Can’t imagine why they would want burned equipment back.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit had to say about this.

This person has a similar story.

Apparently, even in a natural disaster, these companies still want their equipment.

Great advice!

Easy to see where they got this idea.

They definitely didn’t see that coming!

Hopefully, they’ll think twice before demanding equipment from someone who just lost everything in a fire.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.