Thursday, January 26, 2012

The height of idiocy!

The height of idiocy!      

"In March 1999 a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in NSW,  Australia) 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 that  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 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 them 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. 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 gas 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 had 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 two hours to convince the clerks at the local courthouse that he was not joking.

They subsequently helped 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 thisThe  gas company was ordered to: 

[1]   Immediately rectify their computerized 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 dishonor fees incurred by the man.


[3] Pay the bank dishonor fees incurred by all the Westpac clients whose cheques had been 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.  Who employs these idiots?? 

This story can also be read on the ABC website.

Remember, these "people" walk among us and breathe the same air as we do.  What is worse, they breed!

This is a true story. And not a joke…!

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