Called my auto insurance Co. yesterday to pay an invoice with my VISA. Last year I paid by VISA with no problem whatsoever. Yesterday, the girl I was speaking with practically begged me to send in a cheque rather than use my card. I insisted on using the card and asked why I shouldn't.....she said "the computers have been updated and we are having a lot of problems. I'll try to put your payment through, but you should check back in about 7 days to see if it worked".

No proof that this has anything to do with Y2K remediations, but I am certainly suspicious.

-- Sheila (sross@bconnex.net), April 01, 1999

Answers

Sears (tire and battery) cash registers "got improved" - and promptly failed to read signatures right - so the clerks have had to use the old mechanically imprinted receipts.

Y2K related? Maybe yes, maybe no. A valid example of failure? Yes.

Got a 1098 form form the University yesterday - listed expenses and receipts for the graduate QA classes last year - and it had twelve errors in it. School claimed the "magnetic report" to the IRS was correct, but they couldn't print a valid form because of "new computer errors". (I hope the IRS understands when I get auditted again by Clinton's IRS.)

Y2K related? Maybe yes, maybe no. A valid example of typical failure getting passed from one system to another? Yes.

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (Cook.R@csaatl.com), April 01, 1999.

I had to phone in to MCI the other day to pay a bill by credit card. They told me it would be 72 hours to process the card and could no restore the service until then. I pressed them and asked why it would take so long when it gets done instantly at the point of purchase. They claimed that they did not have the right machine to do it instantly. I pressed more and they suddenly said they would restore the service right away because "I was a good customer." Y2K related?

-- Steve F (smfdoc no spam@aol.com), April 01, 1999.

As has been discussed before on an earlier thread, no company in its right mind would ever admit that a computer problem is related to Y2K. Why? Because to do so would be to put the blame on short-sighted Chief Executive Officers who refused to pay for remediation (beginning remediation earlier would have done nothing to contribute to profit margins), until someone scared the h--l out of them.

Expect lotsa spin.

How can you find out the truth? From low level employees.

Memorize this question: "Would I be wrong to assume this has something to do with fixing y2k problems with your computers?"

Before you ask this question, chummy up to the employee and assure them you don't want to get them in trouble--you're just curious.

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), April 02, 1999.