this is so tragic its funny Coin Operated Government Bad: News Item: The state of Washington, Department of Employment Security, threatened to sue Sandi Byron for the 5 cents they say they overpaid her six years ago that she has so far not paid back. Worse: News Item: Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, engaged the services of a collection agency to collect the one-cent still owed to them by Gloria Benavides-Lal, threatening to destroy her credit record if she doesn't pay. The hospital refuses to disclose how much they are paying the collection agency. Always striving to make every cent count. Boston Globe 16-Jul-04 http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/20...owing_a_nickel/ New York Daily News 15-Jul-04 http://nydailynews.com/front/story/212409p...9p-182889c.html
In the Washington case it was an automated letter that a computer sent out to everyone with unpaid balances: In the NY case, it was certainly another case of a computer sending all unpaid accounts en masse to a collection agency, and the agency generating the threatening letters by computer. In other words, we're not talking here about bureaucrats deciding to pester people for a nickle or a penny; we're talking about bad computer programming, and in the WA case, an unimaginative employee who was probably trained not to think for himself/herself. When I was working on the farm, for minimum wage, I used to say, "You're paying me to work, not to think. If you want me to think, you've got to pay me more."
Yeah, there is a downside to automation. I got a check from the medical prescription company this week. 15 CENTS! Something about being wrongly charged a dispensing fee sometime between July 2002 and June 2003 (so much for promptness). I imagine it cost them minimally 50 cents to send us 15. You'ld think they could just credit the account. We have 7 "ongoing" prescriptions. I'm sure we could whittle that 15 cents down to nothing in about .0000001 days.
I got a bill for 1 cent from Ameritech (now SBC) a few years ago for some long distance charges. I decided just to pay it. It took a 33 cent stamp to mail it. Later, I had Sprint for long distance. I was overcharged for something, and I called for a credit. To my surprise, their automated system allowed me to request the credit (and the amount) and it showed up on my next bill. Took less than a minute. Shows the difference between the incumbent local phone company and the competitor. Nate
