On 1/8/08, 10 years after he placed a call to Microsoft tech support, they called Brian back to see if his problem had been resolved. Are they just that backed up? Latent Y2K error? Phishing attempt? The truth is much more banal, and potentially, more frightening. See if you can figure out the solution before continuing on to the answer…

Here’s what happened. The original call was placed on January 7th, 1998. The rep meant to put in a note to have someone call Brian back the next day, but instead of typing “1/8/98” they probably typed “1/8/08.” Most likely because 9 and 0 are right next to each other on the computer keyboard and their finger slipped. The result? A followup call a decade late!

Imagine all sorts of the fun mistakes customer service reps can make just by mess up one digit….

Microsoft Y2K bug circa 1998? [BIC’s Bickerings]
(Photo: Getty)

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