The Price of Stupidity

[ZC-Cruiser]

What a world? (country NSW)... On Thursday, 24 January 2002, Derek Guille
broadcasted this story on his afternoon program 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 another bill and threw that one away
too.
The following month the gas company sent him a very nasty note stating they
were going to cancel his gas line 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 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 who apologised
for the computer error once again and said that 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, so he ignored it, trusting that the company would be as
good as their word and sort the problem out. 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 have to 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 computer duly processed his account
and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the gas company
nothing at all.

A week later, the manager of the Mudgee branch of the Westpac Banking
Corporation called our hapless friend and asked him what he was doing
writing cheque for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank manager
replied that the $0.00 cheque had caused their cheque processing software to
fail. The bank could therefore not process ANY cheques they had received
from ANY of their customers that day because the cheque for $0.00 had caused
the computer to crash.

The following month the man received a letter from the gas company claiming
that his cheque has bounced and that he now 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 debt 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 the Magistrate's Court in Mudgee 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 Westpac clients whose
cheques had been bounced on the day our friend's had been.
[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.

This story can also be viewed on the ABC website.

[Steffo]

My God.. I did not know whether to laugh.. or just sit here amazed....

[Casper]

Very funny but it doesnt surprise me.

Just yesterday I had a huge argument with True Energy (TXU) in regards to an outstanding amount. They wanted to get nasty about on overdue amount and I wasnt feeling very nice myself. They claimed we had missed payments and owed them over $360, which they demanded immediate payment of.

End result, they own US $80.....which I demanded IMMEDIATE payment of!

Whats the bet TXU were the installers of the gas line :

[bindi]

OMFG, that is incredible... I am the same as Steffo, do I laugh or sit here amazed? I voted for the latter. :voldar02:

[Donut Queen]

Wow. That's all I can say. Reminds me of my recent call to Centrelink about why I didn't receive my payment. The lady says, 'Well our computer system is what we call "offline" at the moment.' Yes, I know what offline means. That's not exactly a good excuse.

[Heeno]

what a joke, good thing is though the gas company got screwed over for their stupidity :

[XAGSV8]

My mother in law had the same problem but with a very well known finance company. They send her letters and threatened court action if the $0.01 she owed them was not payed. I told her to go in and give them $0.05 and ask for $0.04 change. After about a year of this common sense got the better of them and they dropped the case.

[NAK302]

you should see the bull$hit that happens when this occurs with the CSA. it's no wonder some men top themselves.

[ZC-Cruiser]

Originally Posted by nak351

you should see the bull$hit that happens when this occurs with the CSA. it's no wonder some men top themselves.

Yes.
And and why is it that the calculation of CS is based on the NCP's income rather than the actual cost of raising the child? - no wonder some men resign from work and go on the dole...

2 kids = 33% of gross income in CS - that's about 50% of net income after tax is taken out.

Anyhow, there are supposed to be big changes coming up soon...