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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (2830)	11/22/1998 8:13:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

' The continuing adventures of my hydro company 'From: Jo Anne Slaven <slaven@rogerswave.ca> za 22:37 Subject: The continuing adventures of my hydro company My most recent hydro bill arrived in the mail on Thursday, November 19. I expected to see a different type of bill, since they were supposed to have their new system running by now, but alas! it's the same old 2-digit-year format. The bill contained a "balance forward" of $3.53 (late payment charges from the previous bill). I got out the previous bill, then fired up my on-line banking software and checked my last payment amount and date. Yes, I paid the last bill on time. Yes, I paid the correct amount. So I called them. Me: There's a balance forward on my account, but I paid the full amount on time last month. Them: Our records show that your payment was received 3 days after the due date. What payment method did you use? Me: On-line banking. I'm looking at my transaction record right now, and it says that the correct amount came out of my account on the due date. Them: Well, I'll reverse the charge, and I'll have someone look into why we received it late. Me: Is your new system installed yet? Them: We're running it parallel now, doing some testing. Now, I don't know if you all remember, but 2 months ago, they told me the new billing system was supposed to be up and running this month. It's not. They're testing it now. I detect a bit of deadline slippage. And why the heck didn't they get my on-line banking payment until 3 days after the payment date? Everyone here knows the "death by a thousand paper cuts" analogy. I'm beginning to feel a bit of that right now. Every month, it's 10 minutes of my time and 10 minutes of the hydro company's time, just to straighten out my account. Come 2000, how much time will I need to spend on the phone "straightening out my account" with VISA, the bank, insurance, cable, phone, taxes, and the fifty other companies I deal with? Inconsequential stuff, if it only happens every once in a while. Very disruptive, if you have to deal with it on a daily basis. Jo Anne