It has always been a classic mismatch: impervious electronics v. mortal flesh. The computer bills the consumer incorrectly. The consumer writes a letter of protest. The computer ignores the message and all further pleas while grimly sending out tougher and tougher dunning notes and threatening to whistle in the lawyers. The hapless customer may struggle for years to break through the cordon of computers and get to a human being who can understand the problem.
But the day of reckoning for the computer is nigh. Under a bill signed last week by President Ford, a creditor will be required to answer...