Paying £300,000 instead of £3,000, and other mix-ups

A recent Magazine article about great miscalculations - inspired by the French railway company's purchase of trains that are too wide for many platforms - prompted readers to share their own mistakes.

The piece example where a little error has had large repercussions. Your stories were rarely on such an epic scale - but equally embarrassing.

John R, Woking: While working as an accounts assistant for a large sportswear company in the UK, I paid a foreign supplier £300,000 ($500,000) instead of £3,000 ($5,000) for some samples. I realised my mistake on my last day working there but did 'fess up to the boss before I left the building. He already knew.

Nigel Parsons, Sheffield: In the summer of 1973 I spent many days chipping concrete off the ends of a new half-Olympic 25m swimming pool in Chester-le-Street because the surveyor laying it out had forgotten to allow for the thickness of the tiles. Not urban myth, I was there!

Paul Belmonte, Edinburgh: While working as a hotel night porter, I miscalculated the adjustment of the automatic wake up system for British Summer Time, meaning some guests arrived for breakfast at four in the morning, instead of the 06:00 start they'd asked for!