Even if you're a customer service droid, you need to be able to divide by 100 and keep your units straight. If you don't, in this glorious internet age, someone may record the conversation to shame you and your company. In the case of Verizon, not just one, but several customer service representatives and managers were caught being unable to distinguish between 0.002 cents per kilobyte and 0.002 dollars per kilobyte, even when it was explained to them repeatedly:
G: Do you recognize that there's a difference between “point zero zero two dollars” and “point zero zero two cents”?[pause]
M: Point zero zero two dollars?
G: Do you recognize that there is actually...
M: ...and point zero zero two cents.
G: Yes, do you you recognize there's a difference between those 2 numbers?
[pause]
M: No.
G: Okay, is there a difference between 2 dollars and 2 cents?
M: Well, yeah, sir..
G: Well okay, is it.. is there a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents?
M: .002 dollars and .002 cents.
G: Yes, is there a difference between..
M: Sir, sir, they're.. they're both the same if you, if you look at 'em on paper-wise
The entire blog is dedicated to Verizon's bizarre math problems (eventually resolved, after much work and public humiliation), for those that want the entire story.
