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
thispoint, 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.
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