Security News > 2022 > February > Power company pays out $3 trillion compensation to astonished customer
British power companies, which, for better or worse, are privatised rather that state-run, are required to pay out compensation to customers who did not receive the service promised in their contract.
Let's hope that the software code controlling Northern Powergrid's power delivery has been reviewed and tested more thoroughly than the account compensation software that runs when power delivery fails.
That's because the company recently issued some of the most astonishing refunds ever offered to customers anywhere.
According to a report on the Guardian website, 74 customers received absurd payments of this sort, which Northern Powergrid blamed on software that consumed the customer's meter ID instead of the compensation amount.
If the misaligned column used as the payment amount had been "Time of last meter reading", then customers might have received cheques for, say, £1430 and have cashed them in good faith, only to be chased to refund the amount later on.
At least Northern Powergrid apologised to affected customers, thanked them for reporting the glitch, and promised to figure out what happened.