The Lord of the Ringer: How a Petty Prank at RadioShack Turned Into $3,500 of Revenge
Do you remember RadioShack? The smell of solder, the endless bins of resistors, the thrill of flipping through their Sunday catalog? Now imagine that nostalgia mixed with a dose of high school drama, a dash of Lord of the Rings, and a $3,500 lesson in karma. Yes, this is the tale of “Dave”—the party crasher nobody wanted, and how one fateful get-together turned him into the unwilling protagonist of a petty revenge saga for the ages.
Let’s step into the wayback machine, when flip phones ruled, data was a luxury, and the only thing more iconic than a cellphone’s ringtone was the trouble you could get into with it. Settle in: this is the story of The Lord of the Ringer.
Fellowship of the Phone: RadioShack, Ringtones, and Retro Shenanigans
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of RadioShack, our story’s hero—a self-described “18, perpetually stoned, and quite helpful” sales agent—worked the counter, slinging early smartphones to the masses. It was a golden age for tinkerers and techies. As u/crimedoc14 fondly recalls, “I miss RadioShack. When I was a kid… it was my dad’s favorite place. He was an electrical engineer and he just loved going to that store.” For many, RadioShack wasn’t just a store; it was a temple of DIY dreams and family memories, from battery club punch cards to build-your-own multimeter kits.
But while most customers were eager for advice on resistors or the latest flip phone, there was always that one guy who brought chaos instead of curiosity. Enter Dave, the kind of friend who wasn’t really a friend—more a recurring nuisance, tolerated at parties until adulthood made it clear he was best left behind. As the OP, u/NO-MAD-CLAD, put it: “everyone cut him out of their lives like cancer” after school.
You Shall Not Pass… Up a Good Prank
At one fateful get-together, Dave’s signature move—showing up uninvited and already sloshed—ended with him faceplanting in the kitchen and, crucially, dropping his brand-new cellphone. Opportunity knocked, and the group answered: the phone made the rounds, each person adding their own touch of mischief. The OP set Dave’s ringtone to Gandalf’s legendary “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”—an inspired nod to Lord of the Rings and a subtle jab at Dave’s party-crashing ways.
But as any true fan of petty revenge knows, one does not simply prank and walk away. Someone took it to the next level: they managed to download the entire high-definition Lord of the Rings trilogy onto Dave’s phone, filling its memory and—thanks to the astronomical data rates of the early 2000s—racking up a $3,500 bill. As u/Invaliduser- summed up, “as a person who lived in the middle ages of cell phones, that is awesome!!!!”
Commenters delighted in the nostalgia and the audacity. “You totally Daved him,” quipped u/CoderJoe1. Others debated the timeline, but as the OP clarified, flip phones and LOTR coexisted just fine: “The trilogy ended in 2003. They were still selling flip phones well beyond then.”
The Two Towers: RadioShack, Revenge, and Regret
When Dave stormed into RadioShack, fuming about his bill and demanding justice, the OP found himself at a crossroads. He could have called the carrier and fixed everything—after all, he’d done it before for others. But after years of Dave’s antics, empathy was in short supply. Instead, he handed Dave the customer service number and let karma do its work.
Not everyone thought the punishment fit the crime. “Ouch. Your bit was fine. What the other person did was downright criminal,” noted u/Arokthis, raising a fair point about the $3,500 price tag. Even the OP admitted, “I do feel a little bad for the call center worker that had to deal with him next.”
Still, the community relished the poetic justice. “I hope he had to pay every penny. Fuck Dave,” the OP signed off. And while the real hero might be the anonymous friend who orchestrated the trilogy download, the story’s heart lies in its nostalgia for simpler tech and simpler times.
Return of the Shack: Nostalgia, Nerds, and a Community Remembers
If there’s a second hero in this tale, it’s RadioShack itself—a place where so many learned, tinkered, and made memories. “They used to sell these cool kits… different activities with batteries and wires and capacitors and resistors and who knows what else,” reminisced u/crimedoc14, drawing out the bittersweet realization that both RadioShack and some friendships are best remembered, not revived.
Other commenters joined the nostalgia train: “I used to pine after the remote control cars and robots,” shared u/Iwasgunna, while u/DedBirdGonnaPutItOnU recalled building a “hallucination machine” with a 555 timer chip and some LEDs. Even former Shack employees like u/Hash_Swag_have_none chimed in, remembering the thrill of selling real radio equipment and the annoyance of dealing with cellphone drama.
And of course, the story sparked a torrent of inside jokes and pop culture riffs, from “Dave’s not here, man” to HAL 9000’s iconic “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Because if there’s one thing Reddit loves more than a good revenge story, it’s a shared laugh at the expense of a well-deserved villain.
Conclusion: What’s Your Petty Revenge Story?
From the hallowed aisles of RadioShack to the absurdity of a $3,500 bill, “The Lord of the Ringer” is a reminder that sometimes, the best revenge is as simple as a ringtone—and a little help from your friends (or enemies). Whether you’re Team Prank or think the punishment went too far, the story struck a chord with anyone who’s ever wanted to give a party crasher a taste of their own medicine.
So, what’s your favorite tale of petty revenge? Did you ever change a friend’s ringtone, or pull a prank that spiraled out of control? Share your stories—and your RadioShack nostalgia—in the comments below!
Original Reddit Post: The Lord of the Ringer