04 February 2009

Epic math illiteracy at Verizon


This is a 3-minute recording of a phone call made by a customer to Verizon. They had quoted him a rate of 0.002 cents per kilobyte; what they charged him was $0.002 per kilobyte. They think it's the same thing - and they are adamant about it.

Note - this isn't really a failure of Verizon. It's a failure of the educational system in whatever country this occurred, that workers are released into the real world so totally devoid of an understanding of decimals.

p.s. - yes, I know the word in the title should be "innumeracy" rather than "illiteracy"

Credit to Failblog, via the Neatorama Upcoming Queue.

2 comments:

  1. and so the fall of the great American Empire is exemplified
    in a more subtle, yet no less meaningful way.
    'Go technology!' We allow our children to be so distracted from reality, these consequences result

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ironic title for your post.

    ReplyDelete