She glanced at it and mistook the total for the approximate amount of the eatery's normal monthly bill - about $1,280, she said Sunday. "I just looked real quick. With auto pay, I never have a problem."


Er...

1280.00 vs 1280000.00

Order of magnitude difference!

three orders, in fact

this is why you don't sign on to an autopay scheme, ever

/get your bill, read it, then act accordingly

RTFarticle: get your bill, read it, then act accordingly

FTA: After Chaivann called Xcel late Thursday, she said, the company took care of the problem quickly.

Xcel figured out how much the restaurant really owed, wiped out the bill and has promised to pay any overdraft charges, Chaivann said.

At least it didn't end up with the bill's recipient getting reamed.

haemaker: Er...

1280.00 vs 1280000.00

Order of magnitude difference!

Reminds me of Verizon. One one-hundredth of a dollar (one penny) does not equal one one-hundredth of a penny.

the_be_sharps: haemaker: Er...

1280.00 vs 1280000.00

Order of magnitude difference!

Reminds me of Verizon. One one-hundredth of a dollar (one penny) does not equal one one-hundredth of a penny.

Whatever dude, difference of opinion.

Oh. And, Xcel Energy is my power company, so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

Zulgaines: the_be_sharps: haemaker: Er...

1280.00 vs 1280000.00

Order of magnitude difference!

Reminds me of Verizon. One one-hundredth of a dollar (one penny) does not equal one one-hundredth of a penny.

Whatever dude, difference of opinion.

The nice thing about pure math is it is absolutely NOT a difference of opinion.

0.01 cent does not equal $0.01

0.02 Cents = 0.02 Dollars? (new window)
is all I could think of

It's funny that the comments below the article are blaming the bank and Xcel. The bank is a little shady for accepting such a huge charge when it would put the account $1 million in the red. And, Xcel did make a mistake in billing. But honestly, anyone that autodrafts payments is at fault. This mistake would have been caught early, with no damage to anyone's credit, etc, with a standard bill. It's not like paying a utility bill takes several days. It's just 20 minutes a month, tops. It's not hard to remember, either. I just don't see how you can be -that- lazy.

OgreMagi
The nice thing about pure math is it is absolutely NOT a difference of opinion.

0.01 cent does not equal $0.01

They're both the same, if you look at them on paper...

/I don't know, I'm not a mathematician

Funny, but that would have put me $1.28 million into the hole. I would have just closed the account and opened a new one: then send a letter to the CEO demanding a cashier's check. Then move to Paraguay. Profit.

OgreMagi: Zulgaines: the_be_sharps: Reminds me of Verizon. One one-hundredth of a dollar (one penny) does not equal one one-hundredth of a penny.

Whatever dude, difference of opinion.

The nice thing about pure math is it is absolutely NOT a difference of opinion.

0.01 cent does not equal $0.01

One is commonly offered the sum of $0.01 for a person's thoughts, which are most often opinions. Considering that the mathematical difference between the two values is 0.99 cents, and unless somebody can redeem a manufacturer's coupon for cash value, that is effectively one cent. Therefore, this value is effectively equivalent to a person's thoughts.

Ergo, it is a difference of opinion.

Was the bank Chase? Cause those people will fark you at any and every opportunity.

/dnrtfa

Then you just declare bankruptcy, get a new SSN, and move to Jamaica with Bernie Madoffson.

delsydsoftware: The bank is a little shady for accepting such a huge charge when it would put the account $1 million in the red.

Obviously you're not familiar with how the ACH system works.

This mistake would have been caught early, with no damage to anyone's credit, etc, with a standard bill.

This mistake was caught early, as it says in TFA. No credit was harmed, and Xcel offered to cover any bounced check fees.

It's not like paying a utility bill takes several days.

Obviously you're not familiar with the US Postal Service and the standard check-clearing process. A check could take over a week to clear the bank if mailed. Most folks would like an instantaneous charge.

It's just 20 minutes a month, tops. It's not hard to remember, either. I just don't see how you can be -that- lazy.

There's these things called "computers" and they're designed to make our lives easier by automatically carrying out repetitive, mundane tasks. If this means saving 20 minutes per week for the small businessperson or busy working homeowner, all's the better.

/end snark

'Xcel Energy charged you $1 million.' "

Xcel spokesman Joe Fuentes said Sunday he couldn't talk about customer accounts.

"We hope that the customer is satisfied with the service we give," he added.

How about motherfarkin NO.

Considering the BS crimes out there and the number of relatively innocent people in jail, some white yuppie banker needs to be introduced to a large horny felon named Bubba over this "mistake".

aphexcoil5: Oh let's see how long $1,280,000 could power a 100 watt lightbulb.

.08 Cents average per kilowatt.
.08 Cents to run a 100 watt lightbulb for 10 hours.
1280000 / .08 = 16,000,000 kilowatts or 16 Gigawatts (what a good sized nuclear reactor produces in a given day)

She could run that lightbulb for 160,000,000 hours or 18,264.84 years.

Did you factor in the cost of buying new lightbulbs? 'Cause those bastards burn out more frequently at my house than every eighteen thousand years.

delsydsoftware: It's funny that the comments below the article are blaming the bank and Xcel. The bank is a little shady for accepting such a huge charge when it would put the account $1 million in the red. And, Xcel did make a mistake in billing. But honestly, anyone that autodrafts payments is at fault. This mistake would have been caught early, with no damage to anyone's credit, etc, with a standard bill. It's not like paying a utility bill takes several days. It's just 20 minutes a month, tops. It's not hard to remember, either. I just don't see how you can be -that- lazy.

While I agree that paying bills is fast and easy (I look at mine every month before sending payment), I don't think laziness is the issue. We've learned to trust that automated systems rarely screw up, so people shift their thinking to other things when doing mindless chores... such as paying bills.

aphexcoil5: 16 Gigawatts (what a good sized nuclear reactor produces in a given day)

Or, as I like to think of it, 13.22 bolts of lightning.

platkat: such as paying bills for TF subscriptions.

Where'd you go? Were you on a sponsorship?

I gave up on automatic bill paying in 2001 when I had to move suddenly. I had trouble with EVERY utility trying to end service.

But worst than any of those was Earthlink. getting rid of them took legal action, and finally closing that checking account.

Instead of letting them automate my payments, I have the utilities that allow online payments send me paperless bills via email. I pay them online and save on checks and stamps. I have a file I save the payment confirmation emails to. Easy, but still looking everything over myself instead of trusting the people who are in it for my money.

You know I think people are missing something here.

"After Chaivann called Xcel late Thursday, she said, the company took care of the problem quickly.

Xcel figured out how much the restaurant really owed, wiped out the bill and has promised to pay any overdraft charges, Chaivann said."

Major props to the company for doing the right thing!
They owned up to the mistake and are working to make it right.. how often do you hear about that happening?

the_be_sharps: Obviously you're not familiar with the US Postal Service and the standard check-clearing process. A check could take over a week to clear the bank if mailed. Most folks would like an instantaneous charge.

"Instantaneous charge" != autopay; I don't have autopay for my utility bill, and I do it online in about 5 minutes. I can set the payment for a certain day if I want (e.g. closer to when it's due) and it will happen automatically, but I still have to manually initiate the process once each month.

I'm not quite sure what the problem people have with autopay is though. To me, this is a fine example of things working -- no lasting damage, and sounds like relatively little hassle in the interim.

the_be_sharps: platkat: such as paying bills for TF subscriptions.

Where'd you go? Were you on a sponsorship?

Haha... Kat is banished to literland and the_be_sharps is on the scene! My subscription ran out a few days ago. I'm still not working regularly, so it doesn't feel right to re-up right now.

/Threadjack

This was the evil plot in one of the Superman movies. The one with Richard Pryor, I think.

He_Hate_Me: OgreMagi
The nice thing about pure math is it is absolutely NOT a difference of opinion.

0.01 cent does not equal $0.01

They're both the same, if you look at them on paper...

/I don't know, I'm not a mathematician

Sigh. Let's try this again.

0.01 cent equals 1/100 of a cent.
$0.01 equals 1/100 of a dollar, which is equal to 1 cent
1 cent DOES NOT equal 1/100 of a cent

That dollar sign ($) means something.

This is not a mundane detail, Michael!

I love how some Farkers think they're better than everyone else because they don't use auto-pay. It's a farking convenience. So stop being such pretentious assholes.

neongoats: Was the bank Chase? Cause those people will fark you at any and every opportunity.

/dnrtfa

yes

about second part

delsydsoftware: It's not like paying a utility bill takes several days. It's just 20 minutes a month, tops. It's not hard to remember, either. I just don't see how you can be -that- lazy.

True, it's not difficult or time consuming. Some of us are forgetful though. The number of times I've had someone try to charge me a million dollars (zero) is way less than the number of times I've forgotten to pay a bill on time (a handful).

Most bill-pay systems let you specify a limit for each bill. Best of both worlds - my electric bill gets paid so I don't forget, and million-dollar charges don't go through.

RobertBruce: I gave up on automatic bill paying in 2001 when I had to move suddenly. I had trouble with EVERY utility trying to end service.

But worst than any of those was Earthlink. getting rid of them took legal action, and finally closing that checking account.

Did you try calling them to cancel, so we could get a bonus when we didn't cancel you?

/Used to work for earthlink, left for a less stressful job.
//In the army

Autopay is only smart in one scenario, as far as I'm concerned. If you work on salary, if your bills are within a reasonable margin every month (not gas or electric bills, for example,) if you have 2 checking accounts, and you auto-transfer bill money to the bill account every payday. Anything else is begging for a costly lapse of attention.

delsydsoftware: It's funny that the comments below the article are blaming the bank and Xcel. The bank is a little shady for accepting such a huge charge when it would put the account $1 million in the red. And, Xcel did make a mistake in billing. But honestly, anyone that autodrafts payments is at fault. This mistake would have been caught early, with no damage to anyone's credit, etc, with a standard bill. It's not like paying a utility bill takes several days. It's just 20 minutes a month, tops. It's not hard to remember, either. I just don't see how you can be -that- lazy.

Japan is nice. You can pay bills at any convenience store you happen to go to.

aphexcoil5: Since Obama took office? Quite a lot.

Obama killed my dog.

OOOPS. I do wonder what the penalty charge was for being a million in the red.

James F. Campbell: aphexcoil5: Since Obama took office? Quite a lot.

Obama killed my dog.

Lucky. He raped my dog. Then made ME rape my dog. Then he made me pay a tax for raping my dog. THEN he killed my dog.

RTFarticle: this is why you don't sign on to an autopay scheme, ever

/get your bill, read it, then act accordingly

Very good advice RTFarticle - never sign up for autopay. This is especially true for the elderly. A mistake on autopay (and there are many mistakes) can send someone on a fixed income into unnecessary panic. If you have a family member or friend who has trouble with the mechanics of paying his or her bills, offer to help them. There is nothing worse than seeing your 87 year old Aunt have a near stroke when autopay paid all her utility bills twice, and finds out when she tries to pay for her groceries, there is no money in her account.

I'm still paying my bills the old fashioned way, and will continue to do so until paper billing is no longer an option - which is coming sooner rather than later. I scrutinize all my bills (I even read the meters and double check their math), and have caught mistakes more times than I can remember, especially from the farking gas company. It's much easier to resolve disputes before they get your money.

yarnothuntin: James F. Campbell: aphexcoil5: Since Obama took office? Quite a lot.

Obama killed my dog.

Lucky. He raped my dog. Then made ME rape my dog. Then he made me pay a tax for raping my dog. THEN he killed my dog.

Was your dog named Bush?

I was told there would be no math!

/Obama killed my dog, them raped it.

*THEN*

James F. Campbell: aphexcoil5: Since Obama took office? Quite a lot.

Obama killed my dog.

I heard he eats babies...

I heard he eats babies...

Only on Tuesdays. High in cholesterol, you know.

/Obama flayed my dog, and used its skin to create a yiffy fursuit.
//then yiffed it

OgreMagi: Sigh. Let's try this again.

0.01 cent equals 1/100 of a cent.
$0.01 equals 1/100 of a dollar, which is equal to 1 cent
1 cent DOES NOT equal 1/100 of a cent

That dollar sign ($) means something.

So easily trolled.

Cucullen: How about motherfarkin NO.

Considering the BS crimes out there and the number of relatively innocent people in jail, some white yuppie banker needs to be introduced to a large horny felon named Bubba over this "mistake".

Damn straight, lets throw people in jail if they make a typo! Clearly rape would be appropriate too!

LOL MALE RAPE IS FUNNY

I wonder how big of a finance charge he's going to have to pay the company for the inconvenience of them fixing the error

Cucullen: 'Xcel Energy charged you $1 million.' "

Xcel spokesman Joe Fuentes said Sunday he couldn't talk about customer accounts.

"We hope that the customer is satisfied with the service we give," he added.

How about motherfarkin NO.

Considering the BS crimes out there and the number of relatively innocent people in jail, some white yuppie banker needs to be introduced to a large horny felon named Bubba over this "mistake".

Corporate entities are generally very cagey about what is released to the media, and would rather respond with "no comment" until they know all the truth.

This always comes across to the public that the company MUST have something to hide since they are obviously afraid of the truth and are therefore 100% guilty.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Any transaction that would cause you to go over should cause the transaction to get declined, but it doesn't because they want those overage charges right.

So, like if my buddy gets his own business then can he just overcharge my account like a million? I'll do the same to his. It's not really fraud the way I see it because the banks are allowing it to happen because they want those overages. If they're not gonna add a few extra lines of code in their system to make sure the transactions don't go a million in the hole then that's really their fault the way I see it.