All for $0.0

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 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, 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 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

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.

Well! well! well!
I thought only we Indians had the monopoly on idiodacy.
We have got good company.
I wonder, if pointing out the above by Prakash is the reason why the Australians are so annoyed with Indians and are bashing them up without provocations.