I was amazed to hear about the pre-pay fuel pumps not working due to the date.

Me too! So many questions!

This event happens every 4 years, so this date change is nothing unusual.

I remember the millennium bug fiasco, where strict warnings were broadcast that computers may fail on the year 1999 to 2000 date change. Companies were panicking, one of my customers at the time insisted we run tech checks and send a report to them to prove our systems could cope.

Y2K was a real issue, and a one off. I don’t understand how a system that is otherwise functional could break when Feb 29 hit. It’s gotta be either time-related encryption. Or maybe a stupid hard coded value, though I still can’t imagine how that could cause an issue.

I wonder how the pumps system handles daylight savings?