Pay Your Bill On Time & in Full, Butt Munch

[dalesys]

Too bad we can't apply the Pinocchio solution. Act like? Then be!

[wordgirl]

One of my former bosses who ran a comic/sci-fi bookstore had a great response to someone like this.

Boss was a large, unflappable dude with an endlessly inventive brain; so much fun to work for. Pre-Internet, he had a comic-subscription service set up; pay so much a month/year and the issues of your favorite books were put into a scavenged post-box setup that was accessible even when the shop was closed. Customers used a key to open "their" box and get their weekly fix and there was a drop box for payments; it was very popular because the shop's clientele tended toward the night-owl population and there were always waiting lists for a box..

Every now and then folks would be late paying; boss usually gave them a few issues' grace and a reminder before he stopped putting the comics in and then locked them out of their box. This generally worked out because those who didn't stay current could lose their box.

One day a dude came into the shop all mouth-foamy and outraged because he'd come the night before and his box was empty. Boss checked; Guy was a few weeks overdue (about to lose his box, in fact) on his 5-6 subscriptions. But Guy was FURIOUS that Boss wouldn't "be patient" about payment and keep the pipeline flowing until/when Guy got around to paying him.

In a very mild and reasonable tone, Boss asked for the guy's key "so he could check it out." Guy handed it over and Boss put it in his pocket and said "We're done here."

Guy went off on a profane rant that insulted Boss, the store, the employees ... everything ... and capped his arguments with something along the lines of "This is no way to treat customers!" Boss just looked at Guy and said, in exactly the same calm tone of voice, "You're not a customer. You're a shoplifter. GTFO."

[Argabarga]

I was down at city hall today to pay my local taxes for the year, and noticed one of the windows was marked "Refuse Bills"

Shoulda stood in that one, and then I could just do like the SC did

[taxguykarl]

If only it were that easy

[crinklestein]

This reminds me of my days working for the phone company. One call stands out in my memory. Customer's phone was shut off for nonpayment. Customer calls in complaining. I look through the account and find that payment hadn't been made in 3 months. I explain this to the customer and then explain that it was disconnected for nonpayment. She acts indignant.

SC: "Well I didn't think you'd turn it off! I mean, come on!"
ME: "What did you think would happen if you didn't pay your bill in 3 months?"
SC: "I don't know but I didn't think you'd turn it off!"
ME: "Do you rent or own your home?
SC: "Rent. Why?"
ME: "What happens if you don't pay your rent for 3 months? Don't they evict you?"
SC: "....Yeah..."
ME: "Do you have a car payment?"
SC: "Yeah."
ME "What happens if you don't pay your car payment for 3 months? Don't they come and repo the car?"
SC: "Yeah..."
ME: "Great. So what happens if you don't pay for your utilities for 3 months?"
SC: "I guess they get shut off."
ME: "Excellent! Now we're learning. Would you like to make a payment to restore your service or shall we just let this sink in for a bit?"

She paid her bill.

[Sparklyturtle]

Years ago I went to a small church in California. We found out the treasurer was embezzling because our electricity got shut off. After kicking everyone involved out of the church, we appointed a new treasurer. He got the bills all current, and things went along smoothly for awhile, until we discovered that our electricity had again been shut off when some of us had gathered for Wednesday night prayer meeting. So, the treasurer called the local power company, and got it turned back on. He told us what had happened: The person who shut the power off had a job to do in the church's neighborhood, and figured that since the church was invariably late with its bill he'd just shut the church's power off while he was there to save himself a trip, not knowing that everything had been caught up and the church was current. So, when he'd called the local power company he was told, "Oh, Joe turns power back on, and he's on vacation so you'll have to wait until he comes back to get your power turned back on." The new treasurer was a professional accountant who looked just like Colonel Harlan Sanders of KFC fame, and he told us that he went to the company and spoke to a few people and got the manager out there to turn our power back on the very next day. The manager was horrified about what had happened, as he'd been the one the treasurer had talked to to get the church's bills current so he knew what was going on.

[wolfie]

The person who shut the power off had a job to do in the church's neighborhood, and figured that since the church was invariably late with its bill he'd just shut the church's power off while he was there to save himself a trip, not knowing that everything had been caught up and the church was current. So, when he'd called the local power company he was told, "Oh, Joe turns power back on, and he's on vacation so you'll have to wait until he comes back to get your power turned back on."

WTF? An employee of the power company screws up, shutting off the church's power, and the church is expected to wait until a particular employee is back from vacation to get their power back? Why can't the guy who shuts off power turn it back on?

[Minflick]

I think it WAS the person who turned it off that they were expected to wait to return from vacay to turn it back on....! Or, so I read it. And, HELL NO....

[XCashier]

Yes, but 4 legged asses are still better behaved than 2 legged asses.

Not to mention far more intelligent and much nicer company.

[Pixelated]

WTF? An employee of the power company screws up, shutting off the church's power, and the church is expected to wait until a particular employee is back from vacation to get their power back? Why can't the guy who shuts off power turn it back on?

Yeah. I hope that employee got a strip torn off him/her when they returned from vacation. That is totally unacceptable.