THE PRICE OF STUPIDITY.

(Author Unknown)

Thursday, 24 January 2002, Derek Guille broadcast 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

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,

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 a 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 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.

 [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 true story can also be viewed on the ABC website. 

Life's tough, it's tougher if you're stupid