Counting the cost of keying errors
When a system requires perfection from operators, the consequences can be deadly.
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There is no such thing as a foolproof computer system, but software can be designed to fail gracefully or disgracefully.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Tim Harford
Receiving a demand for a parking fine is always annoying. Even more so when you know you paid for a ticket. But there it was, the letter from Euro Car Parks demanded payment, and they had photographs to prove it.
It took 10 minutes for me to send evidence showing that at the time and place in question, the ticket machine had charged the price of an evening’s parking to my debit card. After pondering this for a while, Euro Car Parks took a different tack: It withdrew the demand for payment of a fine, and, instead, demanded a £20 ($35) administrative fee for all the trouble I had caused it.
