Y2K Wallops New Yorkers With 5-Digit Late Fee

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http://www.koin.com/sh/technology/stories/national-technology-20000102 -222143.html

Y2K Wallops New Yorkers With 5-Digit Late Fee

Store Owner Recalculates Charges The Old-Fashioned Way

COLONIE, N.Y., Posted 5:21 p.m. EST January 2, 2000 -- The Y2K bug made a comic cameo appearance Sunday morning at an upstate New York video store, when it socked a customer with a five-figure late fee.

One of the first customers of 2000 at Super Video rental in suburban Albany returned a tape and was told that it was 100 years late. The damage -- $91,250.

Store owner Terry J. Field said a computer glitch was at fault.

Field joked that he had been tempted to collect a couple of late fees and head to Florida for the winter. Instead, he recalculated the charges the old-fashioned way -- with grammar school math and a ball point pen.

Then he let the customer rent another video for free.

-- foo foo (foo@bar.com), January 02, 2000

Answers

"Instead, he recalculated the charges the old-fashioned way -- with grammar school math and a ball point pen."

Good thing the store owner was there. For most of the clerks, this probably would have been beyond them.

-- do they still (even@teach.grammar), January 02, 2000.


LOL....I just hope I don't get an IRS bill like that! They charge penalities with interest!

-- Mello1 (mello1@ix.netcom.com), January 02, 2000.

Ditto!

-- PA Engineer (PA Engineer@longtimelurker.com), January 02, 2000.

That's video rental store number 2 that I've read about. I suppose its mostly because video rental stores operate during the weekend whereas HUGE number of businesses are closed for the New Years weekend. Things are going to pick up steam next business day. I guarantee it.

I wonder how much its going to cost this store owner to get the problem fixed or replaced? That'll probably affect his bottom line for the month. AND unless he knows how to do it himself there might be a bit of a wait, eh? Multiply this situation times tens of thousands across the nation. Anybody beginning to see an impact?

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), January 02, 2000.


Guy, NO!!

-- Crono (Crono@timesend.com), January 02, 2000.


MOST HAVE ALOT OF TIME ON THEIR HANDS TO DO AN OCCASIONAL CALCULATION

-- 8TH MAN (SSTOLOWSKI@TNNS.NET), January 02, 2000.

Typical.....typical.

Notice the manager had to do it? Was willing to do it?

How many will not notice a smaller error? Or fail to correct it properly? Or correct it improperly and cause the store to lose money, customers, future sales?

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), January 03, 2000.


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