Gee, Thanks Cingular
After I got my education discount from Cingular, I ended up with two account numbers and some confusion ensued. In the end, I guess I had a bit of a balance left over, so they generously sent me this check:
By Jonathan Ping | Frugal Living | 3/18/06, 1:37pm
March 18th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
They actually wasted money to print and mail a check for 2 cents? *smh*
March 18th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
I’ll give you a penny for it!
March 18th, 2006 at 2:49 pm
I also had a $0.02 balance on my old Chase card, but they just took it away after couple months. No check, no nothing. Cheap bastards! =) Actually, I’m glad they did it.
March 18th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
couldnt they just credit the account?
oh well, i doubt the mail even touch the hand of a person. sorta.
March 18th, 2006 at 4:09 pm
The cost of printing the check is probably more than the discount!
March 18th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Great example of corporate waste…
March 18th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Rather than corporate waste, I think it’s a better example of bad software requirements engineering. It’s a pretty rare case, so it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to their CEO’s compensation.
March 18th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
I agree on the software part, but I suspect they just would rather send it out than pay a human to deal with it. Or they could just automatically zero it out, but then someone might call them up and ask about their 2 cents. That again would use up a human CSR working for at least $10/hour + 800 number charges. Ah well
I’m just looking for someone with a check for ONE cent!
March 18th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Well, you got your 2 cents worth out of that check
March 19th, 2006 at 1:22 am
A few years ago a long distance company I had used before sent me a bill asking for 2 cents. Of course they spent more than 20 cents just on the stamp to mail me the bill. I didn’t pay and they kept sending me a bill every month. After a year I got bored of it and finaly sent them a 2 cents check!
March 19th, 2006 at 2:57 am
What a waste!
March 19th, 2006 at 1:34 pm
A “waste”? Its more then you had two seconds ago. And what happen to “its free money”. I’ll take anyone $.02 check who don’t want them. Send them my way.
March 19th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
It’s not free money, it’s money that they owed me in the first place. They just chose to send it to me very inefficiently, instead of simply crediting my other account. Either way, I found it amusing =)
March 19th, 2006 at 8:44 pm
Jonathan, I researched http://www.evreward.com.
I found a website who would give you 4 cents for each bid on eBay (NOT necessarily the winning bid! No matter how much you bid, could be just ONE cent) Do you have some experience on this?
March 20th, 2006 at 8:33 am
A few months ago, I actually received a 1c check from chase. For fun, I deposited this in my bank along with other checks and did get the credit for it. It’s amazing how much that 1c ended up costing everyone – Chase, My bank et all the processing / clearing centers included!!
March 21st, 2006 at 4:17 am
Just a suggestion for the next time you get a two cent bill, write a check for 3 cents and later ask for your penny back. *smiles innocently* If they have the gall to send you a 2 cent bill, or anything that small, send them the check with a penny more and await your refund (This works especially well for those who do not use that account anymore or it’s the last bill.)