The Gas Man

A true story from the Land of Oz!

You thought Telstra was bad? Just read this one!

In March 1999 a man living in Kandos (near Mudgee in NSW) received a bill for his 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 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 the 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 stating that he had 10 days to pay his account, or else 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 he 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 therefore could 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 them a cheque by return mail, they would take steps to recover the debt.

The man then tried to file a debt harassment claim against the gas company. It took him nearly two hours to convince the clerks that he was not joking, but convince them he did. They subsequently provided statements, 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:
The gas company was ordered to:
(1) Immediately rectify their computer accounts system or show cause, within ten 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 costs.
(5) Pay the claimant a total of $1,500 per month for the five- month period March to July inclusive as compensation for the aggravation they had caused their client to suffer.

Thanks to Dallas for sending me this one!