You haven't had two periods in a while?! That's good news, right?

That's insane in an era where any old Joe can pay all of his bills online with a click or two. The fact that companies are still operating this way is pretty astounding.

I smell IT/E-Business consulting opportunities!

I doubt such numbers refer specifically to the cost of printing and mailing a single check. I'm going to guess that my employer, for example, cuts maybe 100 checks a week--that's accounts payable; payroll is handled outside. And the printing and mailing process takes a person maybe 2 hours. (I'm guesstimating here based on what I've seen & questions I've gotten.) I doubt bigger places spend proportionally more time or effort.

I expect the figure was arrived at by calculating time spent by various people to follow whatever procedures are in place to approve the payment in the first place. (I could be wrong, of course.)

I agree with your analysis, SD. Please also keep in mind that this exchange happened about 15 years ago. The fact remains that the 15 cents worth of popcorn and peanuts that went out the door is the least element of the cost of such a transaction.

Which is why most companies simply give people vouchers etc these days regardless of what the complaint is. It's cheaper just to do that than to have a detailed complaints process set up.

Hijackers!

A good night's sleep.