dlf@ea.UUCP (08/10/84)
#N:ea:4700002:000:1884 ea!dlf Aug 10 15:58:00 1984 I recently started using Western Union's (WU) easylink system which has an information retrieval system with it. You can retrieve information about the stock market during the day and get daily summaries of the market activity at the end of the day. I found a problem with the volume reported by WU. The field in which the volume data is reported is only 4 spaces wide and when the volume traded is more than 9999, the first digit is truncated and the reported volume is the last 4 digits. As an example, on August 3, 1984 the volume of IBM as reported by the Wall Street Journal was 32592, WU reported the volume as 2530, quite a difference!! I contacted WU to try to get the problem straightened out because I need accurate information, but got the royal run around. They transferred me here and there, gave me different numbers to call, didn't return my calls, and basically avoided the problem. I even had two different people offer to send someone out to fix my machine (where do they get these people!). I have gotten to the point that they've made me mad, so I thought a little bad publicity might get some action taken to straighten out the problem. It certainly seems to me that a company that is trying to convince people to use their communication system ought to be able to communicate among themselves. I have talked to my attorney and he informed me that WU could be liable for any losses I might have in the market because of the inaccurate information that they supplied to me. If anyone from WU reads this, the sole purpose of this note is to get the problem corrected. I would like someone to call me and tell me how long it will take to correct the problem, because as I said before, I need accurate information. It shouldn't be to hard to find my telephone number, there's at least a dozen people with your company who have it. dlf