I am shaking my head in disbelief at this moment. Disbelief that, in this horrid economy where businesses and individuals are struggling to stay afloat, a small business would give me such a hard time about paying my bill.
Allow me to explain.
Approximately four weeks ago my SO and I arranged to have a service provided. The date of service, which was also prearranged, was scheduled for two weeks ago. The service was completed, to our satisfaction, on the agreed-upon date.
Fast forward to this day.
Among my listed tasks is catching up on all bills so that, as we are in and out over the coming days, outstanding statements are paid in a timely fashion, even if that means paying well ahead of a due date.
Having received no bill from this small business, which I believe is a franchise operation, I called the number listed and explained what I was trying to do. The woman answering the phone was very pleasant.....which is a positive trait for anyone answering a phone dealing with the public. Pleasant but quite confused as to what to do about my request. She explained that a bill would have been left in our front door immediately upon completion of the service rendered. When I politely replied that no bill had been left with us, which she seemingly disbelieved, she said she would call me right back.
After ten to fifteen minutes, my phone rang and a different person, in a different location was on the line. After nearly ten minutes of polite questions, one of which was, "Did you sign up for this or did you just go out that morning and ask them to provide this service?", the helpful person could not find our name or address in their system. I told her that, while I was all for getting something for nothing, I did want to pay them. She then replied that she needed to find the original list of homeowners who signed up and she would call me right back. (Keep in mind that I am trying to pay this bill.) After another five minutes or so, she did phone back, saying that she had found the list and she gave me the amount owed. It was as if I had to insist, for well-over thirty minutes, that a service from this company had been provided to my address.
The only conclusion that I can reach is that this company has more business than it can handle and that cash flow is not a problem. After receiving the amount owed, I did ask her, with due respect and politeness, if I could be assured that since they had so much trouble finding me in the first place, how could I know that my payment would be credited to the correct name and address???????
A good question, don't you think?
Ancora imparo
