Well this ordeal makes three now in the past few years, I know I didn't handle it right, but in the end nobody really cares, least of all me, sorry for the complaint session but here goes anyhow.
We've all had it happen, places we've done business with for decades, thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business and the place get sold off to someone larger and before you know it, your a number, not a person, pretty typical as of lately and maybe I'd had enough but these last two got me.
The first one was a company that started their own financial institution and the local dealers no longer handled the accounts, payments to be made to some corporate office states away and anything charged on the account, payments had to be mailed in, not tough, almost any idiot can handle that, guess I'm not a normal idiot, I must be some sort of special idiot who just couldn't achieve it on time, even if I mailed off the payment the day I got the bill, always a late fee charge on my account, every single time, I tried to send it off certified with signature confirmation, nothing seemed to work. So I opted for plan B, cancel the account, take the business elsewhere, runner up business number two can seem to cash my check on time and I've never had a single late fee yet in over two years now.
But this next one got me, done business for decades, and I mean like almost 40 years, they know me, always have, when we have issues, I register a complaint and things move forward, but it seems I overlooked a bill I forgot to pay, so their billing department called, didn't recognize the woman at all so I asked who she was, was told her name and what she wanted, asked what it was for and was told after some hassle, which seemed to be an inconvenience to her, but got told anyhow. OOPPs my bad, totally forgot, said I was sorry and when I went by there again I'd drop in and pay it, not much anyhow, a few hundred bucks and I figured that was it, about to hang up and I got blasted with questions, so being in the wrong I was cordial and started to answer them while standing out on a jobsite and doing work. They started pretty simple like, when are you going to stop by, answered with the truth, have no real idea, is this bill going to bankrupt the company and put you over the edge which went unanswered and she kept badgering me for a time and day I'd pay it. Well I know bookkeepers have a bad job collecting, not a job I'd want ever but since she was persistent I told her the truth, I'm in the middle of nowhere, been here for weeks, get up before dawn and go make it back home long after the sun goes down and a couple hundred bucks isn't something I'd lose sleep over and when I got that far I'd take care of it, pay my interest and service charges and do better next time. Then as they say the conversation turned ugly pretty quickly, seeing how I'm old enough to be her dad, maybe even grandpa and she's not yet old enough to legally drink, didn't feel it was quite right to get a half arshed lecture about responsibility from her which she seemed to feel I needed and so I got anyhow over the phone, which was ok to a point, but then came the lecture about reading my bills and paying them on time, promptly told her the next time I went in to get something, the parts guy would tack it onto my parts list and it would get paid anyhow in full then, which could be in a couple days, maybe a week, a month at most and seeing how I'd done maybe 40k in business there this year alone, paid in full each time, didn't feel too concerned over it, probably do another 10-20k before years end, being a month late on 200 bucks wasn't alarming, I'd pay it in full when I got that far.
Well then I was told people do mail in the bill when notified via phone, the mail still worked I was told.............................................. ..... long pause on my end and I told her I'd have to remember to do it when I got home, seeing how I'm not responsible enough to pay on time, doubt I'd remember it when I got home that night to do it, which was followed by a lecture on setting a reminder on my cell phone and how all responsible ADULTS should know how to do that......................................... which brought about a conversation on cell phone usage and how I could set a text message reminder on my phone to remind me to pay the bill.............................................. .................................................. ................... followed by I don't text message anything, anyone for any reason, I talk to them, which brought about the next topic of conversation which was email alerts she could send me and the use of a credit card and on line banking........................................... .................................................. ............................................ Well I'd had about enough so I told her I'm totally in the wrong, I know that, it hasn't happened often, won't happen again and I'd do better in the future and promptly hung up.
Well a few minutes later the remaining phrase rang in my mind "Is there anything I can do to help get this bill paid quicker" So I called her back and reminded her of her statement and she said absolutely anything to correct the delinquent account........................... ok anyhow I went onto to tell her, it would save valuable time on my part looking for the bill at home, or even to remember about it when I got that far, I know it was kinda out of the ordinary to even ask, but it wouldn't cost her a thing, take only a second of her time and she said sure whatever it is considered it done. I told her to call me that evening to remind me of it and with the amount I had no pen or paper on me now to jot down the address or amount. A very long pause on the other end and knowing it wasn't a good thing to even ask, I was somewhat ashamed to even have asked it, but then came the response I wasn't quite prepared for, I'd thought I'd heard them all while trying to get paid myself, but she spurted out reasons why she couldn't do as I asked, dozens of them, none I can print here and most I'd never heard before from even the worst dead beats I'd ever had the misfortune to do business with in the past. Now to tell me no would have been one thing, but to come up with total BS excuses as to why she couldn't was another altogether. The more excuses she came up with the madder I got, so to add insult to injury I told her it was simple, just text message herself a reminder, email herself the reminder, set an alarm on her phone to do it at such and such a time, any responsible adult should be able to do it, and pretty much retold her what she told me moments before, turns out she didn't take it well and hung up on me.
The longer I've had to think this over, the less sympathy I have for any billing department anywhere or anyone trying to collect a bill no matter the circumstances, but one thing did happen, if you make a person mad enough, they do remember, so I did get the payment sent off via a registered letter and now I'm wondering if I go back to do business there again, can't imagine what it would be if I were delinquent for months or even years on an account or was a new person doing business there.
Well word must have gotten out as to what a ***** I was and my local store called me to ask what's up, had a chat and asked what now?? Well after a long pause on the other end I was asked how I wanted it handled to which I replied, first and foremost I was in the wrong, I owned it and didn't get it sent in on time, totally my problem and responsibility but from then on maybe it went over the top a bit on their end and there was a long silence on the other end and after a few minutes was asked, will you do business with us again and what will it take to get you back into the door, we appreciate your business and don't want to lose you over this.
What would you do??
Well while your thinking about it, I'll tell you what I did, I asked how much for a cash discount I get the next time and every time I come in the door, what's my business paid in full each time worth to them? 2%, 5%, 10% or how about I put down 10k or 50k on account and we just draw off it till its gone...............long pause on the other end again and I went on to tell them, yea I'd like to RECIEVE half of what they CHARGE each month or about .75% per month, I'd take care of billing them and they could pay me with a check each month for the interest on the unused balance, didn't get much of a response followed by I'm thinking on it, you might want to as well and said have a nice day.................goodbye.
Well not sure who's more in the wrong on this one, or if I should be thankful, upset, ticked off, go elsewhere, close my account and trade off some equipment to a different brand, demand someone get canned over this, demand an apology, apologize to someone over this or what for sure to do??
We've all had it happen, places we've done business with for decades, thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business and the place get sold off to someone larger and before you know it, your a number, not a person, pretty typical as of lately and maybe I'd had enough but these last two got me.
The first one was a company that started their own financial institution and the local dealers no longer handled the accounts, payments to be made to some corporate office states away and anything charged on the account, payments had to be mailed in, not tough, almost any idiot can handle that, guess I'm not a normal idiot, I must be some sort of special idiot who just couldn't achieve it on time, even if I mailed off the payment the day I got the bill, always a late fee charge on my account, every single time, I tried to send it off certified with signature confirmation, nothing seemed to work. So I opted for plan B, cancel the account, take the business elsewhere, runner up business number two can seem to cash my check on time and I've never had a single late fee yet in over two years now.
But this next one got me, done business for decades, and I mean like almost 40 years, they know me, always have, when we have issues, I register a complaint and things move forward, but it seems I overlooked a bill I forgot to pay, so their billing department called, didn't recognize the woman at all so I asked who she was, was told her name and what she wanted, asked what it was for and was told after some hassle, which seemed to be an inconvenience to her, but got told anyhow. OOPPs my bad, totally forgot, said I was sorry and when I went by there again I'd drop in and pay it, not much anyhow, a few hundred bucks and I figured that was it, about to hang up and I got blasted with questions, so being in the wrong I was cordial and started to answer them while standing out on a jobsite and doing work. They started pretty simple like, when are you going to stop by, answered with the truth, have no real idea, is this bill going to bankrupt the company and put you over the edge which went unanswered and she kept badgering me for a time and day I'd pay it. Well I know bookkeepers have a bad job collecting, not a job I'd want ever but since she was persistent I told her the truth, I'm in the middle of nowhere, been here for weeks, get up before dawn and go make it back home long after the sun goes down and a couple hundred bucks isn't something I'd lose sleep over and when I got that far I'd take care of it, pay my interest and service charges and do better next time. Then as they say the conversation turned ugly pretty quickly, seeing how I'm old enough to be her dad, maybe even grandpa and she's not yet old enough to legally drink, didn't feel it was quite right to get a half arshed lecture about responsibility from her which she seemed to feel I needed and so I got anyhow over the phone, which was ok to a point, but then came the lecture about reading my bills and paying them on time, promptly told her the next time I went in to get something, the parts guy would tack it onto my parts list and it would get paid anyhow in full then, which could be in a couple days, maybe a week, a month at most and seeing how I'd done maybe 40k in business there this year alone, paid in full each time, didn't feel too concerned over it, probably do another 10-20k before years end, being a month late on 200 bucks wasn't alarming, I'd pay it in full when I got that far.
Well then I was told people do mail in the bill when notified via phone, the mail still worked I was told.............................................. ..... long pause on my end and I told her I'd have to remember to do it when I got home, seeing how I'm not responsible enough to pay on time, doubt I'd remember it when I got home that night to do it, which was followed by a lecture on setting a reminder on my cell phone and how all responsible ADULTS should know how to do that......................................... which brought about a conversation on cell phone usage and how I could set a text message reminder on my phone to remind me to pay the bill.............................................. .................................................. ................... followed by I don't text message anything, anyone for any reason, I talk to them, which brought about the next topic of conversation which was email alerts she could send me and the use of a credit card and on line banking........................................... .................................................. ............................................ Well I'd had about enough so I told her I'm totally in the wrong, I know that, it hasn't happened often, won't happen again and I'd do better in the future and promptly hung up.
Well a few minutes later the remaining phrase rang in my mind "Is there anything I can do to help get this bill paid quicker" So I called her back and reminded her of her statement and she said absolutely anything to correct the delinquent account........................... ok anyhow I went onto to tell her, it would save valuable time on my part looking for the bill at home, or even to remember about it when I got that far, I know it was kinda out of the ordinary to even ask, but it wouldn't cost her a thing, take only a second of her time and she said sure whatever it is considered it done. I told her to call me that evening to remind me of it and with the amount I had no pen or paper on me now to jot down the address or amount. A very long pause on the other end and knowing it wasn't a good thing to even ask, I was somewhat ashamed to even have asked it, but then came the response I wasn't quite prepared for, I'd thought I'd heard them all while trying to get paid myself, but she spurted out reasons why she couldn't do as I asked, dozens of them, none I can print here and most I'd never heard before from even the worst dead beats I'd ever had the misfortune to do business with in the past. Now to tell me no would have been one thing, but to come up with total BS excuses as to why she couldn't was another altogether. The more excuses she came up with the madder I got, so to add insult to injury I told her it was simple, just text message herself a reminder, email herself the reminder, set an alarm on her phone to do it at such and such a time, any responsible adult should be able to do it, and pretty much retold her what she told me moments before, turns out she didn't take it well and hung up on me.
The longer I've had to think this over, the less sympathy I have for any billing department anywhere or anyone trying to collect a bill no matter the circumstances, but one thing did happen, if you make a person mad enough, they do remember, so I did get the payment sent off via a registered letter and now I'm wondering if I go back to do business there again, can't imagine what it would be if I were delinquent for months or even years on an account or was a new person doing business there.
Well word must have gotten out as to what a ***** I was and my local store called me to ask what's up, had a chat and asked what now?? Well after a long pause on the other end I was asked how I wanted it handled to which I replied, first and foremost I was in the wrong, I owned it and didn't get it sent in on time, totally my problem and responsibility but from then on maybe it went over the top a bit on their end and there was a long silence on the other end and after a few minutes was asked, will you do business with us again and what will it take to get you back into the door, we appreciate your business and don't want to lose you over this.
What would you do??
Well while your thinking about it, I'll tell you what I did, I asked how much for a cash discount I get the next time and every time I come in the door, what's my business paid in full each time worth to them? 2%, 5%, 10% or how about I put down 10k or 50k on account and we just draw off it till its gone...............long pause on the other end again and I went on to tell them, yea I'd like to RECIEVE half of what they CHARGE each month or about .75% per month, I'd take care of billing them and they could pay me with a check each month for the interest on the unused balance, didn't get much of a response followed by I'm thinking on it, you might want to as well and said have a nice day.................goodbye.
Well not sure who's more in the wrong on this one, or if I should be thankful, upset, ticked off, go elsewhere, close my account and trade off some equipment to a different brand, demand someone get canned over this, demand an apology, apologize to someone over this or what for sure to do??
Corporate biling, is larger really better
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