The Price of Stupidity

[D.L. Gomez]

What a world!!!  New South Wales, Australia, on Thursday 24 January 2002, Derek Guile broadcast this story on his afternoon programme on ABC radio. In March 1999, a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee, in NSW) received a bill for his as yet unused gas line, stating that he owed $0.00.  He ignored it, and threw it away. In April, he received a similar bill, and threw that away as well. The following month, the gas company sent him a very nasty note stating that they were going to shut off his gas if he didn't send them $0.00 by return mail.  He called them, talked to them, and they said it was a computer error, and that they would take care of it. The following month, he decided that it was about time that he tried out the troublesome gas line, figuring that if there was usage on the account, it would put an end to this ridiculous predicament.  However, when he went to use the gas, it had been cut off.  He called the gas company, and they apologised for the computer error once again, and said they would take care of it. The next day he got a bill for $0.00, stating that payment was now overdue. Assuming that, having spoken to them the previous day, the latest bill was yet another mistake, he ignored it, trusting that the company would be good to their word and sort out the problem. The next month he got a bill for $0.00.  This bill also stated that he had 10 days to pay his account, or the company would take steps to recover the debt. Finally, giving in, he thought he would beat the company at their own game, and mailed them a cheque for $0.00.  The gas company computer duly processed the cheque, updated his account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the gas company nothing at all. A week later, the bank manager called our hapless friend and asked him what he was doing writing a cheque for $0.00.  After a lengthy explanation, the bank manager replied that the cheque for $0.00 had caused their cheque-processing software to fail. Therefore, the bank could not process any cheques they had received from any of their customers that day, because the cheque for $0.00 has caused the computer to crash. The following month, the man received a letter from the gas company, claiming that his cheque had bounced, that he still owed them $0.00 and, unless he sent a cheque by return mail, they would take immediate steps to recover the debt. At this point, the man decided to file a harassment claim against the gas company.  It took him nearly 2 hours to convince the clerks at the local courthouse that he was not joking. They subsequently assisted him in the drafting of statements which were considered substantive evidence of the aggravation and difficulties he had been forced to endure during this debacle. The matter was heard in Magistrate's Court, and the outcome was this: The gas company was ordered to :- 1. immediately rectify their computerised accounts system or show cause, within 10 days, why the matter should not be referred to a higher court for consideration under Company Law; 2. pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by the man; 3. pay the bank dishonour fees incurred by all the bank clients whose cheques had bounced on the day our friend's had been processed; 4. pay the claimant's court costs; and 5. pay the claimant a total of $1500 per month for the 5-month period, March to July, inclusive, as compensation for the aggravation they had caused their client to suffer. AND ALL THIS OVER $0.00.   --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.476 / Virus Database: 273 - Release Date: 4/24/03