Bob CollinsIf I were to create a new NewsCut category, it would be “buggy whips,” stories that are about an old-fashioned and irrelevant world that exists in the present.
Take Wendy Dodek’s problem with Fidelity Investments, which rejected her $6,500 check (buggy whip No. 1) for her Roth IRA even though it was mailed (buggy whip No. 2) before the April 17 deadline.
The problem? Buggy whip No. 3, the postmark. It was smudged and unreadable, the Boston Globe says.
It seems like a good time for some decent customer service (buggy whip No. 4), particularly since she’s been a customer for more than 30 years. But she got a form letter instead.
It said IRS rules require Fidelity to verify that it was sent in on time, which it couldn’t do because of the postmark.
It turns out, however, that all the information is on a phosphorescent bar code the post office applies to the backs of envelopes. But Fidelity had already destroyed the envelope by the time a Globe reporter intervened on Dodek’s behalf.
