The Letter of the Law

I had a letter from my landlords yesterday. I can't quote it exactly as I threw it away in disgust (DOH) but I can give you the gist of it.

Please to remember that this comes on expensive embossed paper, and had a first class (38p) stamp on it.

"Dear Sir,
Thank you for your recent rent payment of £761.17 for the month of March. Unfortunately you made a mistake in calculating the final monthly payment of the year, and you owe us an addional 4p. Please could you send us this and bare (sic) in mind that the amount is £761.21 in future payments."

This, from someone who signs herself with the Full "Ba Hons, (Lancaster)" on all letter - to show how intelligent and well educated she is.

With headed paper at 10p - laser printing at 15p per sheet, 10 mins on minimum wage at £1.25 and the stamp at 38p - this cost them at least £1.88 to ask for 10p.

Needless to say - I shan't be sending a cheque. Yes - I know I have wasted almost as much time as they did on this topic - but I couldn't resist.