[lfjokes] When nothing doesn't equal nothing

[Simondo]

Presenter: Derek Guille
Thursday, 24 January  2002
A piece as read by Derek Guille on his afternoon program on Thursday 24th
Jaunary, 2002. 

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, 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 and 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 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 be taking steps to 
recover the debt.  

The man then tried to file a debt harassment claim against the gas 
company.  It took him nearly 2 hours to convince the clerks that he was 
not joking but convince them he did. They subsequently provided 
statements which were considered substantive evidence of the aggravation 
and difficulties the man 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.