What Inept Billing Software Have You Encountered? 219
Chris asks: "I am a Sprint customer signed up for automatic payments, and over the past week I've found that Sprint has a computer system that does three ridiculously inept things from a programmers standpoint. First, they send a 'Do not send payment...this amount will be charged' bill then a 'Disconnection Imminent' notice for the same amount, within a week of each other. When customer service is called about this, everything appears fine to the customer service rep, and they assure the client that everything is fine. Finally, the computer system shuts down the customer's cell phone for lack of payment, even if the customer has a credit card on file and has given Sprint authorization to use it. What's the worst experience Slashdot users have found with billing systems that don't make any sense?"
Don't blame the computer... (Score:1, Insightful)
And by the way, have you ever tried to write a phone billing system? There's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
Some places just make it hard to give them money (Score:4, Insightful)
Take a look at credit card company websites, if you're paying online, both of the ones I've used make you jump through extra hoops to reschedule your payment to transfer now instead of at the last second before the due date (that many more days of interest, plus the chance that something goes wrong at the last second, and bam! Late fees!).
Re:No charge.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Don't blame the computer... (Score:2, Insightful)
Were you a business strategist for Microsoft?
Just because something is difficult, that's no excuse for not getting it right before unleashing it upon the world.
Hands down... (Score:3, Insightful)