GopherM
Darwin was right
In March 1992 a man living in Newton near Boston Massachusetts received
a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He
ignored it and threw it away.
In April he received another and threw that one away too. The following
month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they
were going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00 by return of
post. He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error
and told him they'd take care of it.
The following month our hero decided that it was about time that he
tried out the troublesome credit card figuring that if there were
purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous
predicament. However, in the first store that he produced his credit
card in payment for his purchases he found that his card had been
cancelled.
He called the credit card company who apologized 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 the credit card company only the previous
day the latest bill was yet another mistake 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 stating 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 play the company at their own game
and mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his
account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the
credit card company nothing at all.
A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was doing
writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank
replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing
software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY
of their customers that day because the check for $0.00 was causing the
computer to crash.
The following month the man received a letter from the credit card
company claiming that his check had bounced and that he now owed them
$0.00 and unless he sent a check by return of post they would be taking
steps to recover the debt. The man, who had been considering buying his
wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.
a bill for his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He
ignored it and threw it away.
In April he received another and threw that one away too. The following
month the credit card company sent him a very nasty note stating they
were going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00 by return of
post. He called them, talked to them, they said it was a computer error
and told him they'd take care of it.
The following month our hero decided that it was about time that he
tried out the troublesome credit card figuring that if there were
purchases on his account it would put an end to his ridiculous
predicament. However, in the first store that he produced his credit
card in payment for his purchases he found that his card had been
cancelled.
He called the credit card company who apologized 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 the credit card company only the previous
day the latest bill was yet another mistake 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 stating 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 play the company at their own game
and mailed them a check for $0.00. The computer duly processed his
account and returned a statement to the effect that he now owed the
credit card company nothing at all.
A week later, the man's bank called him asking him what he was doing
writing a check for $0.00. After a lengthy explanation the bank
replied that the $0.00 check had caused their check processing
software to fail. The bank could not now process ANY checks from ANY
of their customers that day because the check for $0.00 was causing the
computer to crash.
The following month the man received a letter from the credit card
company claiming that his check had bounced and that he now owed them
$0.00 and unless he sent a check by return of post they would be taking
steps to recover the debt. The man, who had been considering buying his
wife a computer for her birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.
