Much Ado About Nothing

Having compassion with our American friends who now must live with reruns of Leno and Letterman, I would like to share an article that I found. I assure you that this is a legitimate news item. Perhaps you've heard, "to err is human, but to really mess things up you need a computer." Well, I'm not sure if that is always true. The article is available with the Daily Mirror and Ananova.

An energy company threatened to take a Manchester man to court - over an "unpaid" bill for £0.00p.Dave Abrams, of Wythenshawe, was astonished when he received the letter from Powergen, reports The Daily Mirror.

Mr Abrams, who is in his 50s and lives alone, switched energy providers from Powergen to npower several months ago.He heard nothing from Powergen until the legal warning notice came through the door.

The letter, dated October 19, warned Mr Abrams he owed the company £0.00 for gas and electricity and said if he did not pay up he would be visited by a debt collection agency.It added that he could also be taken to court and, as a result, may find it difficult to obtain credit in future.

Mr Abrams said: "I was a bit nonplussed when I received the letter. I couldn't understand why they'd sent it, as I was on a pre-pay meter."

Powergen later confirmed the letter was sent in error. But it then told Dave, in his 50s, he owed £502 after paying too little when prices went up. Dave protested he was on prepay and Powergen admitted his meter should have been recalibrated. To reflect the blunder, his bill was cut to £300 to be paid within two years. But furious Dave had had enough.

Dave said: "I couldn't believe it when they phoned to apologise for the original bill, then told me I owed £500. I said I'd see them in court. I'm astonished they're so hopeless."