Grah.

[kyrielle]

Woman gets power shut off for one penny.

Seriously, can anyone tell me that all of that cost less than a penny to do? Wouldn't it have been easier to just add the penny and a nag onto her next statement? O.o

Comments

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I've heard of places smart enough to roll over anything not worth chasing up - the cutoffs vary from one dollar to ten.

Guess this wasn't one of them.

[mika-vumner.livejournal.com]

Seems a bit more.. but her initial bill was over $1k. How long was she /behind/ on her bill?

I /might/ see why they would do it. Maybe. Sorta. Hmm.. yeah. :P

[kyrielle]

Oh, agreed, the initial amount she owed was ridiculous - she must have been pretty far behind. I can't understand pursuing the penny regardless, though. It cost them more than a penny to do so, I'm sure - probably a fair bit more - so they're out money, net. Plus bad publicity. It would have been much cheaper and more business-sense to roll the penny onto her next bill...and use the fact that the next bill contained a past-due amount (however small) to make it pay-immediately-in-full or somesuch crap. :P (Not much nicer, but a lot more business-sane.)

[pheon.livejournal.com]

I think that this is the unintended consequence of many years now of "zero tolerance", first in law, then in schools, now in business. The people doing it are not allowed to use discretion.

And I agree with the_s_guy about there being places that are smart enough to roll over tiny amounts. The company we use for long distance does that. They provide low rates by charging our credit card directly. If the the total for the month is less than $5, they simply roll it over to next month.

[kyrielle]

Yep.

I think we may use the same long distance provider - if not, they use the same scheme - 'cause I get the same thing. GTC telecom?

It just makes sense: if it's not worth collecting, don't collect it. It's not like you can't bill her next month, folks. :P

[pheon.livejournal.com]

Yup. GTC Telecom. I think we got the referal from you.