[geeks] timesheet and invoicing software

[Sridhar Ayengar]

wa2egp at att.net wrote:
>  -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Bill Bradford <mrbill at mrbill.net>
>> On Thu, Feb 23, 2006 at 02:39:20AM +0000, wa2egp at att.net wrote:
>>> He wrote a check for $0.00 and
>>> sent it in.  No more problem.  I imagine there were some raised 
>>> eyebrows at the bank though. :)
>> I photoshopped out my address, but this is otherwise legit:
>>
>> http://www.mrbill.net/images/funny/swbt.jpg
>>
>> It cost them $0.27 to mail it.
>>
>> Bill
> 
> And God knows how much to process it internally.....
> Maybe you should up the ante and give them your 2 cents. :)

Has anyone seen the story about the $0.00 check?  Probably apocryphal, but:

In March of 1992 a man living in Newton, Massachusetts, received a bill 
in his as yet unused credit card stating that he owed $0.00. He threw it 
away.

In April he received another and tossed that one, too. The following 
month the credit card company sent him a nasty note stating they were 
going to cancel his card if he didn't send them $0.00. In retrospect, he 
probably should have let them do that. Instead he called the company and 
was informed that (are you ready for this?) the problem was the result 
of a computer error. They told him they'd take care of it.

The following month he reasoned that, if other charges appeared on the 
card, then it would put an end to his ridiculous predicament. Besides, 
they assured him the problem would be resolved. So he presented his card 
for a purchase. It was declined. Once again he called. He learned that 
the credit card had been canceled for lack of payment. They apologized 
for (here it is again) another computer error and promised they would 
rectify the situation.

The next day he got a bill for $0.00 stating that payment was now overdue.

Assuming that this bill was yet another mistake, he ignored it. But the 
following month he received yet another bill for $0.00 stating that he 
had ten days to pay his account in full or the company would take 
necessary steps to recover the debt. He gave in. He mailed in a check 
for $0.00.

The computer duly processed it and returned a statement to the effect 
that his account was paid in full.

A week later, the man's bank called him asking him why he wrote a check 
for $0.00. He explained the problem at length. The bank replied that the 
$0.00 check had caused their check processing software to fail. The bank 
could not now process ANY checks from ANY of their customers that day 
because the check for $0.00 caused a computer crash.

The following month the man received a letter from the credit card 
company claiming that his check had bounced, that he still owed $0.00 
and, unless payment was sent immediately, they would institute 
procedures to collect this debt.

This man, who had been considering buying his wife a computer for her 
birthday, bought her a typewriter instead.

Peace...  Sridhar