Coin Operated Government

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