17 Witty Comeback Stories That Prove Good Will Always Triumph Over Evil

There is a saying, according to which, revenge is a dish best served cold. But something else happens when that small act of revenge is directed at people who manage to exhaust the patience of others with their abusive behavior. In these cases, getting even proves to be very sweet. In a Reddit thread, users share stories of how they settle scores to keep the scales of evil and righteousness evenly balanced.

Bright Side made a compilation of several of these stories, in which each “evil” deed received its deserved due. In the end, justice always wins.

• My boss used to have me do personal work for him. I was an executive assistant, and I used to stock his fridge and cupboard with snacks, book his work and personal travel, write up reports for his side business, buy his wife’s Christmas, Valentine’s, and anniversary presents. Plus, you know, handle clients and his emails and actual work for the company. One time when booking his wife a trip to the tropics, I put down her email for the confirmations to be sent to. She called me and screamed at me about how she can’t afford to get junk email. She didn’t work outside the home so I don’t know why she thought her email was that important. I soon quit and about a year after quitting, I used her email to enter every sweepstakes and “enter now to win a computer” I could. Every mailing list for every website. I probably signed her up for at least 50 mailing lists. Deal with that spam. © SylkoZakurra / Reddit

• Many years ago, around 1998-99, my husband and I moved to a new city and we had a landline as cellphones weren’t widely in use at the time. We had caller ID.

  Late one weeknight, we were startled awake at around 2 a.m. by the phone ringing. Heart pounding, I anxiously answered. It was a woman asking for Jim. I told her she had the wrong number and hung up. She rang again and argued that this was Jim’s number. I told her that it may have once been his number, but it was my number now and there was no Jim here.

  It took at least an hour for me to relax enough to get back to sleep and I was tired at work the whole next day. I was annoyed, of course, but these things happen, and I got over it. Until it happened again a few nights later. And again a few nights after that. And then a fourth time.

  After that fourth time, I was no longer annoyed... I was super mad. I couldn’t get back to sleep at all. I decided that, as long as I was awake, I might as well make good use of my time. I used the caller ID to call this woman to remind her that Jim STILL wasn’t at this number. I called her at 3:45 a.m. and again at 4:30 a.m. to remind her that Jim no longer had the phone number 555-XXXX. I called at 6 a.m. and before leaving for work at 7 a.m. For the next week, I called each morning when my alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. and again before I left for work at 7 a.m. If I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, I’d call her as long as I was up. Each time I could tell I woke her up — it was glorious. “Don’t forget, Jim is no longer at 555-XXXX!”

  Then, after a week, I stopped. I never received another call from her, either, so I guess my reminders worked. © RumBunBun / Reddit

• Quick and simple petty revenge. I leave the grocery store this morning after getting my family’s essentials and as I’m loading my car, the lady next to me takes off her gloves and throws them on the ground. So I say: “Miss, don’t litter,” I’m given the sailor salute and she gets in her car. So I just walk over, pick up her gloves, lift up her windshield wiper, jam them through it, and smack it down. I can see her shouting and going crazy in her car. Don’t care. Get in mine and drive off. © waldo06 / Reddit

• I noticed that my Spotify had a PS4 with a German name connected to it, which is odd because I don’t have a PS4. Spotify was unable to disconnect me from it using my account, so I decided to take it into my own hands and blast Attila at full volume on their PS4 at midnight, Germany time. I think they may have been in the game since they let it go for a few seconds then attempted going to the next/previous songs and pausing it a few times (to no avail). Eventually, they uninstalled Spotify and I changed my password, but heck that felt good. © goldenjumper11 / Reddit

• We bought a house a couple of months ago and the sellers insisted that we pay several small fees that are customarily covered by the seller. The total was $187 and in comparison to the house price we weren’t going to walk away over something so small.

  We renovated the house and there was a table/credenza thing that had been built into the entryway. After the demo, we were planning on throwing it out. When one of the neighbors noticed we had put it outside to be thrown out, they texted the old owners to see if they wanted it as it was something they said they had loved about the house.

  The old owners texted me, saying since we were getting rid of it anyway, surely we wouldn’t mind if they came by and picked it up instead?

  I told them that, interestingly, we had recently gotten an offer from someone else to buy it... for $187. Since it was theirs originally I told them we’d be happy to part with it... for $188. They dropped off the check and picked it up a week later. © ParkShipPirate / Reddit

• A few years ago we had some new neighbors move in next door. Nice enough people, but we had a problem with them. The husband traveled a lot and his wife was afraid of just about everything: the dark, thunderstorms, you name it. The problem was the floodlights over their garage doors. She would leave them on all night, every night, even though you couldn’t see them from inside of their house. They were positioned such that they would shine into our bedroom at night. We were not able to block them effectively with our curtains. So we asked them politely, several times, if they could turn them off at night since they served no effective purpose. They adamantly refused. I offered to pay for a timer that would control them. No way they would consider it. The solution that I arrived at was to simply loosen them up enough that they wouldn’t come on. Since they couldn’t see them from inside the house, it was about 5-6 months before they realized that they were not working. They screwed them back in. I waited a couple of weeks and unscrewed them again. Another few months went by. Finally, one day, my neighbor asked me if I ever had any trouble with my outdoor lights. I told him yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I said that they would loosen up occasionally and I would have to retighten them. I blamed it on the vibration from the traffic on our street. He said that he had the same problem. I told him that I finally just gave up and left them off. He eventually did the same. We were happy with the final outcome and we were able to keep peace in the neighborhood. © up***t / Reddit

• This happened during my freshman year in college. We were 4 to a dorm, with a shared kitchen. I bought a brand new set of dishes —service for 8! 8 plates, 8 bowls, and 8 mugs. And I bought a flatware set! 8 big spoons! 8 little spoons! 8 forks! 8 butter knives!

  I told my roommates they could feel free to use my dishes because I had such a large set, as long as they washed what they used when they used it. So simple! They agreed!

  About 2 months in, I had HAD IT. EVERY time I’d go to the kitchen to eat, every single plate, bowl, mug, fork, knife, and spoon would be sitting in the sink. Dirty. I asked —a few times— that they take care of the dishes they used. Wait, did I say dirty? Oh, no. Not just dirty. They wouldn’t even bother to scrape or rinse them. They had food caked and dried on, so that regular washing couldn’t get rid of it. They’d have to sit in hot soapy water for hours, THEN be scrubbed.

  So I soaked and scrubbed and dried them. And then I packed every last one up and brought them back to my parents’ house. Didn’t even warn them I was doing it, either. Just took them all home. I bought myself plastic flatware and paper plates and kept them hidden in my room. Refuse to wash the dishes I bought and allowed you all to use? Fine. No dishes for you. © lesmax / Reddit

• I don’t mind when my roommates borrow my stuff. We’ve all been there. All I ask is that they replace what they take. You drink my milk? Just buy me a new milk. It’s as simple as that.

  Unfortunately, my roommate doesn’t seem to get this. She keeps taking my stuff and when I ask her to please replace everything she takes, she’ll buy one new thing and “forget” to do it the next time despite having more money than me.

  I finally snapped when I wanted to wash my clothes but only found an empty box that used to contain my laundry detergent. I don’t buy fancy or expensive stuff and I don’t care about brands. After using the last of my powder a week earlier, she could literally have bought the cheapest no-brand laundry detergent in the world and I would have been fine. I just snapped. I had told her over and over to not use my laundry detergent if she wasn’t going to replace it and I just had enough.

  I bought a new box of laundry detergent, some Dylon machine dye, mixed it with a bit of the powdered laundry detergent, and dumped it into the old box. When the dye is dry it looks like powdered detergent, especially if you’re not expecting it. I took my new box of laundry detergent to my room and waited.

  A week later I came home from work and saw her laundry hanging outside, all with a mysterious pink color all over it. She stomped up to me and demanded to know what I had done. I told her I was going to dye my own clothes and someone had told me the shade would be lighter if I mixed it with powder (lie), then asked her why she had used it when it had clearly been in a box with my name on it, and when I had told her not to use it because she never replaced it?

  I don’t think she believed me but she finally got the message. She almost never takes my stuff and when she does she’s quick to replace it. © nothemisme / Reddit

• I was in the pharmacy waiting to pick up my prescription when someone shouted something at me. I pretended to not hear them and they shouted again. They ended up getting frustrated and tugging on my arm. I twisted around and immediately recognized who it was — a guy who had bullied me for over 10 years. So rather than get angry I thought I would mess with him and see what happened.

  Him: Hi, I heard you were at [local university] Me: I’m sorry but I don’t know who you are, do I know you from somewhere?

  He immediately deflated. It was glorious to see, I had to stop myself from smiling.

  Him: It’s me, [his name], from school. Come on, you know me. Me, with a confused face, acting 100%: I’m really sorry but I don’t know you. Did we go swimming together maybe? Him: ...No I don’t think so. Me: I’m really sorry but I just don’t know who you are. I think you should go to the back of the line, sir.

  I got on my phone and just blocked him out. He looked lost and eventually went to the back of the line. I got my prescription, ignored him, went to my car, and drove off. I literally screamed for joy and also because I was about to break down. It was a wonderful feeling to see him like that and to feel like he had no power over me. To make him feel like he hadn’t had a huge effect on my life. © tryclosetomybest / Reddit

• When I was younger, my sibling and I used to play harmless pranks on one another. For the most part, it was all in good fun, but occasionally it would end up getting annoying. There was this one period of time where we would leap out around corners and do our best to give each other a good fright. I startle easily, so this quickly got on my nerves.

  One night, I was leaving my room when I saw a shadow around the corner by the stairwell. I paused, remembering that I had a full glass of water on my bedside table, and decided I should probably bring it downstairs.

  My sibling leapt out at me laughing, I screamed loudly, and swung the glass forward, completely drenching them. The best part was that I was the “victim” and how was I supposed to know to be careful? My sibling was angry because they suspected it was on purpose (I really got them good) but to this day there is no proof. © haunted-willow / Reddit

• This is a tale of my 2 siblings and it happened circa the late ’80s. My brother thought it would be amusing to put Vicks VapoRub in my sister’s little pot of lip balm. Being winter in Canada, she took it with her on the school bus and shared it with her friends. By the time they arrived at school, they all had swollen, numb lips, and watery eyes. She was not amused. As it was the ’80s, my brother had a love affair with Final Net hairspray. The kind that you pump out like a fire extinguisher. His hair was a crystallized edifice that could withstand gale-force winds. He is a native and has very thick, very black hair.

  My sister topped up the bottle with hydrogen peroxide. Over the course of a few weeks (and a few more top-ups), his hair started to slowly turn orange. It was so gradual that you didn’t notice until it was all you could see. We kept our lips zipped and it eventually grew out. I found out decades later that my mother actually took him to medical specialists trying to find out what was going on. 😆 © WillowmereCottage / Reddit

• I’ve been enrolled in a cooking school for over a year and my mom has never been supportive. She’s always making snide comments about how I should’ve been a nurse or a lawyer. When I do make something, she always criticizes it. I’ve cooked 3-course dinners for the family and they always get positive reviews, except for from her. She had a party for her work friends, I made a whole tray of my specialty take on homemade meatballs. Everyone kept going back and getting more, so much so that they ran out.

  I figured if I wanted to get her to compliment my cooking, I’d have to trick her. I cooked her a meal, one of her favorites from scratch, dressed it up to look professional, and put it in a generic to-go box. As I cooked, I had my boyfriend take a video of me preparing it, start to finish. I called her and told her that we were eating at this diner (that doesn’t exist), that they had her favorite meal, and asked if she wanted us to bring her one. Of course, she said yes. I brought the dish and she started eating it and complimented how good it was. After she was almost through with the meal, I asked her for her honest opinion, so we could write a review on Yelp. She went on for 10 minutes about how great it was and then I sprung on her that I had cooked it.

  Her tone changed. She put the fork down and said she was lying. My boyfriend showed her the video, she googled the restaurant, and it didn’t show up. She started pointing out flaws with the meal, like how there was too much sauce and it was really spicy and burned her mouth. I asked her why she almost finished the whole thing if it was so spicy. She didn’t say anything, so I just asked her if she was ready to admit it. She said no, so we left but I spotted her eating it from the other room. I asked her again and she laughed and finally told me that I’m a good chef. © ThrowRA-Barber / Reddit

• In my last year getting my degree, I scored a paid contract at a scientific organization where I was shown into a large empty office and told I could base myself there. I was the only student on this project, so I had the whole office to myself, with about 6 desks. All of the desks were the same and mine had no better view than anyone else’s.

  All went well for a couple of weeks until a few other students moved into the room. 2 of them were perfectly reasonable and set themselves up at other desks. The third decided he liked my desk. Mine had my stationary on it, my posters on the wall around it, a clock, a telephone...

  So one day I come in and this guy is sitting at my desk. My stuff was packed up and pushed to one side to make room for his stuff. I made some comment about it being my desk and his response was yeah, I won’t be here for long. I set myself up at another desk that day, although over the next few days I could tell my stuff had been moved around and unless I got to the building by a certain time, he would steal my desk again.

  Unfortunately for that guy, one of the things I brought from home was a “Talking Wizard” talking calculator clock. Basically a black plastic box with a button. When you pressed the button, it would say “It is nine oh five A M.” The clock also had an alarm. When you set it, it would say “BEEP BEEP BEEP It is nine oh five A M BEEP BEEP BEEP It is nine oh five A M” and would keep repeating this for 30 seconds very loudly. I set the alarm to go off mid-morning, put it in my desk drawer, and locked it. For extra pettiness, I also changed it to the wrong time.

  They were sturdy desks. It was not possible to dismantle them or open them with a different key. I then took the key home and didn’t come back for another 3 working days. When I returned I sat at my desk, opened the drawer, and turned the clock off before it could go off. When this guy came in he saw me and said, “Can you turn that clock off? There’s something locked in the desk and it scares me every day.” I said something snarky like “Sorry, it does sometimes go off when other people sit at my desk.” He never stole my desk again. © valiantfreak / Reddit

• So this happened a few years ago when I worked at a huge well-known clothing store. I was working the cash register and it is company policy to check IDs when customers use credit cards and spend over $60.

  A woman comes up to the register and has this massive pile of clothes. After scanning all of her clothes, her bill racks up to around $400. At that point I let her know the total and she hands over a credit card that clearly doesn’t have her name on it, so I tell her that she’ll have to provide an ID as per the company policy. You can see then she gets agitated and says that she doesn’t have an ID to provide because the card is in her husband’s name. I say, “Oh okay, I’m sorry ma’am, I cannot accept this form of payment would you happen to have another card?” At that point she starts to freak out, she asks me if her husband can provide proof over the phone, and I say no. That’s when she decides to go CRAZY, she screams at me, and then shoves the massive amount of clothes over the counter, flips me off, and storms out of the store. My coworkers all came over and asked if I was okay to which I said yes, but that I needed to have someone jump on the register for me.

  A few hours later the lady comes back with her husband demanding to have all of the clothes back that she had earlier. This is where my revenge comes in. See, when I jumped off of register earlier that day it wasn’t to compose myself, it was so that I could put back all of the clothes she threw over the counter at me, so that when she came back (they always do) she’d have to go look for it all over again. When she came back she had to stand in line for a super-long time, only for her to then greet me with a, “Where are my clothes at?” I reply with these sweet words, “Oh ma’am unfortunately all of the clothes that you picked out have been put back onto the racks.” Seeing that woman’s face when I told her it had all been put back was euphoric to me, and seeing her take another 2 hours picking it all out again was even better. © sunnytut / Reddit

• When my wife and I got married, our first apartment was in a house that had been subdivided into 4 units, 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs. The basement had a coin-operated washer and dryer that all the tenants shared. By chance, our apartment had the only indoor basement stairs. All of the other tenants needed to use the outdoor stairs to access the basement.

  One night, the neighbors directly above us decided to watch an action movie at 3 a.m. Loud explosions, rock music soundtrack, gunfire sounds, everything. I’m a plumber, and I have worked in the construction trades for more than a decade, so I understand how most residential construction works. I knew each apartment had its own electric service, so I walked downstairs, and flipped their main breaker off, killing all power to their apartment, and none to anyone else’s. I counted to 30, and turned it back on again, then went upstairs and fell asleep in my now peacefully quiet bedroom, while all their appliances and electronics rebooted. Worked like a charm. © mezekaldon / Reddit

• I had a neighbor that had a dog that barked from about 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. NON STOP. They worked nights I believe. They kept it outside. I knocked numerous times, and they said: “Dogs bark, what do you expect?” Their house was directly behind mine, we shared a divided wall. I recorded their dog for a full day. The minute they brought him in, and I felt like they were sleeping, I popped my phone into the dock and played it on my stereo full-blast facing their yard at 9 a.m. They came over, raving-mad, to my wall by about 12, asking me to shut my dog up. I said, “It’s your dog, I recorded him, since you miss out on what dogs do. I’m just playing the radio at the normal allowable city time and I will do this every day.” They started bringing the dog in at night after that. © Your_acceptable / Reddit

• My partner is a really nice guy and when people come up to him for favors, he will gladly do things for them including giving away the password to our Wi-Fi. Some of his cousins are a bit rude and disrespectful. They spend hours on the front porch playing massive multiplayer online role-playing games without as much as a hi or hello. Sometimes they would stay until 11 p.m. playing games. Well, since I am the one paying for internet, I’d had it with them so today, as they were playing their games, I restarted the terminal from the comfort of my computer again and again and again making them lose the match. I could have told them to leave, but seeing them lose their game was even more satisfying. © ChocoPancit / Reddit

And you, do you have any original revenge stories you’d like to share with the world?