Over-reliance on technology can be a problem for both businesses and individuals -- at least if you don't take into account the repercussions of those technologies. On a recent visit to Connecticut, I encountered two situations in which technology got in the way.

One situation was a visit to Wal-Mart. Normally, when I relate Wal-Mart to technology, I'm telling about how greatly they've done something; but in this case, the tech was missing. Specifically, my wife tried to buy a fly swatter. I don't know how much they normally cost, but it can't be much. In this case, the price was all guess work because there was no bar code or price tag.

The cashier couldn't scan the product so her supervisor, my wife and the other customers in line came up with a price of $1. But then the cashier accidentally rang in the $1 twice -- and couldn't remove the second item without her supervisor. A full 30 minutes later and she was out the door.

On the same weekend, we checked into a Fairfield Inn by Marriott. The desk clerk and her manager were helpful, but we threw them for a loop with a request to cash in six $50 Marriott gift cards for our stay, which would not cost as much as the $300 total face value of the six cards.

Even as I handed them the gift cards, the clerk asked for my credit card. Since the gift cards would cover the full amount of our bill, I told her that I didn't want her to reserve the $300 from my credit card. Whenever a merchant reserves an amount on your credit card, it won't allow that amount to be used for other purchases -- and I was in Connecticut, in part, to do some shopping.

After several minutes, the manager said he would reserve only $100, for "incidentals" that we might need to pay while staying there. I don't know how we could spend money on incidentals, since the restaurant was open only for a free continental breakfast, and there was no store. Maybe they expected me to rent $100 worth of in-room movies during our two night stay.

Two days later, while checking out, our total bill was less than the value of the gift cards; so we were due a refund. However, Marriott policy says no cash refunds for gift cards. We'd have to get a refund on my credit card. This also turned out to be a hassle; and I had to wait a week to receive my refund by mail on a gift card.

The workers involved in these two situations did their jobs well enough but were hampered by holes in the way their technologies were implemented -- unlikely scenarios that the companies might not have anticipated.