Tuesday, August 15, 2006
What a day
What a day
Monday 14 Aug, 2006 3:25 pm
Overall, it was not a bad day but it was exceptionally busy and incredibly productive however, it did bring one really frustrating event. Remember my post about Spence Property Management with whom I never wanted to do business with again? As fate would have it I am forced to anyway. Oh I tried, I even wrote the property owner and requested to send the checks directly to them as specified in the lease. The Skillern's never responded so I took that as a decline and had made arrangements for the bank to send the rent checks by mail to Spence Property Management on schedule. No problem, I don't have to go in there and it's only for a few more months.
Then, today, I received a call from you know who. Yep, W. Bruce Spence of Spence Property Management called me to inform me that my check was returned. (WHAT? I just checked the account from which that check is drawn and there is nearly $4,000.) He said the bank reported that the check had a missing or incorrect routing number printed on it. Sure enough, it did. He then informed me that I was responsible to pay the late fee of $10 per day plus the $15 retuned check fee. Oh boy... I was in shock, but I stayed calm refusing to allow myself to be agitated by this person again.
After ensuring Spence understood that the returned check was not due to insufficient funds, (politely I might add), he agreed to "only" charge me $5 per day. I remained calm and without agreeing to the fee pressed for more answers and asked, "what if I refuse to pay the late fees and bring the original amount?" To which he replied, "then I would turn your check in as a fraudulent check and would be prosecuted as a felon." Still keeping my cool, I reiterated that it was a printing error by the supplier, he argued that I would still be prosecuted as a criminal for passing a "bad check."
As you might imagine from my previous post, I was exceptionally frustrated by this. I kept my cool and listened to his instructions to bring a cashiers check or cash in today because accepting another check for a check was against the rules (who makes the rules? Oh yeah.). I was able to keep from telling him that there was no way on earth I would be prosecuted by the state if the routing number was mistakenly misprinted on the check and I was willing to make good on the full amount immediately. I did not explain to him that he showed me clearly that it was within his ability to waive the service fees on behalf of the client if he so chose to but refused because, in his own words, "that's how I make money." I didn't explain to him that this attitude of taking all he can get at the expense of the client was the worst example of small business I have ever seen. No, I simply hung up the phone and started to think it through.
In my review of the situation, I really wanted to take him on. I wanted to make a huge issue out of but in the end, who cares? It's 70 lousy dollars (more) and a lesson learned. It's not his fault the check weren't printed properly. It's not his fault that the money isn't in his bank account. No, in the end the responsibility is mine. I should have verified the routing numbers, account numbers and all information printed on the checks before I used them. No, the burden is squarely on my shoulders when it comes to verifying the accuracy of work that I have performed. I was still tempted to fight but that would simply lower me to his level and I won't do it.
I'm sure he didn't want to make the call, and when I realized it was him, I didn't want to be talking to him either. He was much less insulting this time than the last, but still remained stubbornly immovable when faced with an exceptional situation. He was harsh and even made threats (at my invitation when I asked the question) that I'm quite certain were unfounded. My opinion of him and his business practices remain unchanged but my resolve to never do business with him must be broken due to the misprinted check.
I was fortunate that the postal worker was running late today because I was able to retrieve the outgoing mail which included printed checks. Whew.
Also, I scanned an original check and deposit slip from USBank as well as the printed ones and sent an email to my buddy at NEBS. They are reprinting the checks once again for free in their effort to provide 100% satisfaction. Carrie Manke called me twice to make sure she understood and let me know the order was placed. In the mean time, I fixed my business card layout and emailed my order for 500 business cards. She deserved it for providing exceptional service.
The lessons in and through all of this are simple. A small business person is going to be exposed to many kinds of vendors and other businesses. We must interact with some that we don't necessarily want to do business with. Allowing the unreasonable people to make us loose our cool will reflect poorly on us and our business. I say, let the jerks be jerks and move on. Share your experience with others and avoid doing business with them, but don't allow them to affect your own integrity. How easy it would have been to get all bent out of shape with Bruce Spence, it would have been fun if nothing else, but at the end of the day... what for? Another lesson is to choose your battles. I was so very tempted to make an issue out of this just to call his bluff, but why? I know I'm right and I know I don't want to deal with him anymore. Why give him an excuse to invade my life further? For 70 bucks? Eh, no.
