Frustrations!
They Make My Head Hurt!
January 15, 2015
My day was filled with frustrations as I sat at the computer doing the last chores to get it current on the bookkeeping program. Finally finished and tense from all the stress, I left the office late in the afternoon to take a deposit to the bank. After about a week of gray, drippy, skies, it was so refreshing to see the clouds breaking up and blue sky smiling through - or was that me smiling?
The air was clear and clean after days and days of washing and it was beautiful! Sadly, there are not good places in the downtown area to get good photos of the sky as telephone lines and power lines crisscross the area, but I got a few photos. Then again the sunset was awesome but I was hemmed in by buildings and power lines and couldn't get photos to share, but enjoyed it personally.
This morning I went to the office a little earlier than usual knowing that I was almost finished with updating the files in Quick Books. I only needed to enter the December items and then balance the checkbook. The deposits were easily entered, the checks were entered with no problems, and then the automatic withdrawals and electronic transfers began my headache.
As I started balancing the checkbook, I ran into a problem right away. When we run credit cards from our customers for their payments to us, they are in the machine until I do a "closing" to send those to the company that handles our credit card machine. My first closing for the month didn't show up on my bank statement. There was a deposit for an amount that I didn't have any record of, but not on the closing that I had all the paperwork to show that I made on the 4th of December.
Ron was out on a job while I was wrestling with this discrepancy so I was interrupted several times to wait on customers. I never want to think of customers as interruptions because without them, we cease to be a business, but I sure was feeling that way as I worked on the problems. There was also a small withdrawal on the bank statement that I had no record to explain.
About 2 hours later I finally figured out what they did, but still have no idea why they did it the way they did. I am not even sure I can explain it but I will try to keep it brief. When you pay with your credit card, it costs the business where you are shopping, some money. An assortment of fees apply. If you have a corporate card it is a high fee plus a percentage of the sale. If you use a debit card there are fees and the percentage. Master Card, Visa, and Discover all charge different fees to me when you pay me (or any business owner) with a credit or debit card. We won't take American Express because of their fees and rules, and don't usually take Discover (someone has to pay for that money you get back and part of it is me). All that being said, the company we are now using has lower fees for themselves - the others from MC, Visa, etc. are set by MC and Visa, etc.
So, our fee total for the previous month was not very high but the first use of the machine for the month was a debit card. The company took a portion of their fee from that transaction but the transaction was not high enough to cover the whole fee, so the rest was taken from that first closing. That was the small withdrawal that I could not identify (about $15). That plus the first transaction (the debit) subtracted from the amount of my fist closing was the amount of the deposit I could not place. So that deposit plus the other two items totaled my first closing that did not show up on my bank statement in the amount that my paper work showed! (I told you I doubted I could explain this.) Anyway the final amounts were correct. The statement balanced. But I do not like the way this company handles it. I can't understand why they do it that way. Why not just deduct the amount we owe them and be done with it on the first of the month?
This is one of the many places where my lack of hearing on the phone is a problem. I would have just picked up the phone, called the company and asked why they did what they did and have been done with it. They have the right to withdraw from my account the amount I owe them. I don't argue that. Just make it one withdrawal for the total and let the deposit show what the paperwork told me the deposit was. Do you now have a headache? The fees are lower with the new company so I will learn how they function, but in the meantime, Yikes!
By the time I had done all of that and prepared everything to send to our accountant, I was exhausted mentally and my new computer has no games to distract me! I thought I had solved all the problems. Wrong! When Ron ordered this computer to replace my crashed one, I thought I let him know all I needed in it. Somewhere there was a gap in communication. When Ron backs things up, he uses a flash drive. I use a DVD-R. He did not order a DVD-R drive on the computer. So yes, I could back them up on a flash drive or whatever you call it, but I don't like to do that. I am okay if I can do both. So it took a while to convince him that was a necessity for me. I back up my accounting and photos and share photos on CDs. I had been waiting for the new computer to be able to share the photos from the wedding with family members, but I had to be able to burn the CDs. After work Ron went to Best Buy and bought what I need and he will install it soon and make his wife happy.
Then I returned to the office to put things away and left to go by Mom's house. She has been getting great birds at her feeders lately and I hoped to get some photos, but it was too late in the evening. I did watch the antics of a cute little wren as he hopped around her deck and seems to have made his home in the bamboo wind chimes.
As I left her house there was a magnificent sunset, but again the buildings and power lines were in the way, but I enjoyed it. The evening was spent on the computer and reading.
At work, I realize I am doing very well hearing the customers. I do often have to have them repeat, but normally get it the second time. Sometimes I miss it the first time because they were too soft spoken or talked too fast. Sometimes they are asking for something unexpected. Right now we have a steady stream of mostly Winter Texans coming in to ask for our little calendars which we buy to give to our customers.
A few days ago a couple came in and asked for me. They had heard from a relative about my Cochlear implant and the man wanted more information because his hearing is very bad. He wears two hearing aids and seemed to understand most of what I said, so I am not sure if he will qualify, but I encouraged him to talk to his doctors and see what they think. Also, his particular type of hearing loss may not be helped by a Cochlear implant. There are different causes for hearing loss and some at helped in other ways than with the Cochlear implant. There are other types of implants and types of surgeries that may can help those people.
As we talked, I could tell that many things I mentioned to them surprised his wife. During the conversation, I took my Cochlear sound processor off to show it to them and after putting it back on, I asked if they noticed that when I took it off I talked louder. They said yes. I told them that when it is off, I can not hear myself and so I don't have any idea how loudly I am talking. I explained that is also true with a person with limited hearing - they talk louder than others because they have no idea how loudly they are speaking. His wife looked a little sheepish as I suspect she had not understood that her husband did not talk loudly on purpose, but that what he was doing is normal. That happened with several things that I mentioned. We had a good discussion and I hope that I have helped them and he promised that he will immediately make an appointment to see if he can somehow have more help than what he is getting with his hearing aids.
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