Michael Pascoe writes:

There’s something strange happening at
American Express and the front line troops can’t explain it: the Amex computers
have started harassing the dead.

And not just the recently deceased, but the
very, very dead. Amex call centre staff are suddenly being phoned regarding
letters sent out by the company’s computers to long-cancelled accounts.

For example, an American Express statement
of account addressed to a woman who died 17 years ago demanded payment of $35. “Your account is seriously overdue and has
been cancelled. Please pay the total balance immediately,” writes the anonymous
computer in its first attempt to communicate with the dead in at least 15
years.

The call centre staff can’t explain it and
advise binning any such letters.

American Express, you can’t leave the
planet without it.