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Yes really.
Had CW, but after talking to SC for a half-hour plus on two different occasions, she pawns him off on me.
The problem is that his checkbook doesn't balance with his account balance.
I do not particularly want to take this over as checkbook balancing issues can be the stuff of nightmares. Large stacks of poorly written checking account registers, with multiple scrawled numbers, many scratched out, and horrible math skills with a customer declaring that our computer is adding WRONG even after several examples of their arithmetic mistakes have been found. But CW looks at me with wide eyes and swears this is not one of those cases. She just can't get though to the customer and she is at her wit's end trying to figure out how else to explain this.
So, I go ahead and take over for her. And wow. Just.... wow.
I am not making up or simplifying these numbers.
The customer has a balancing form that states the following:
Statement Ending Balance: $105
plus deposits after statement end date: $200
subtotal: $305
minus withdrawals after statement end date: $100
new balance: $205
This matches the transactions and balances in his account since the statement end date. And again, I swear, I am NOT over-simplifying this.
His problem?
$105 does not equal $205.
Me: ummmm... yes. Because you ended the month with $105, deposited $200 and took out $100. That means your current balance is a hundred more than when you started, or $205. Exactly as your own math shows. Exactly as the current balance in the account shows. *Which he agrees with.*
SC: But the statement ending balance is $105, while I has $205. So what happened to my hundred dollars?
Me: ... the hundred dollars is in your account. As I just showed you. *he agrees with me again that the current balance in his account is showing on the computer and on the balance receipt I printed for him that the money in the account is the $205.* The extra money was put in after the statement ended.
SC: Yes, I understands that, but the $105 does not equal $205. The balance on the statement should be $205.
Me: Your own register shows that the balance as of the last day of the month was $105. The $200 deposit and $100 in withdrawals happened after the end of the month, so will show on the next statement.
SC: I knows that. But when I'm making certain my checkbook balances, I'm supposed to be able to take the statement ending balance, add deposits since that date, subtract withdrawals since that date, and get my new balance.
Me: Yes. And that's exactly what you did *go over his own math again for him again*. So your new balance is $205, just as you have written down.
SC: But the statement ending balance says $105. I'm missing a hundred dollars. $205 minus $105 is a hundred dollars.
...
...
I went around and around with this customer. Finally, I got a fresh copy of the exact reconciliation sheet that he was using at home (we have it on the back of our statements), and I realize that the form has one additional step. So I write it out for him:
Statement ending balance: $105
Add deposits since end of statement: $200
subtotal: $305
subtract withdrawals since end of statement: $100
new balance: $205
subtract current balance in checkbook $205
this should (and does) equal $0
Me: See, you were subtracting the statement end balance again instead of what you have down in your checking register.
SC: *stares at the sheet* That's the right number now. I told you $205 didn't equal $105.
He is now happy and goes home contented that his checkbook balances.
...which I guess makes him more really confused instead of sucky, but I've dealt with a lot of pounding heads into brick walls and he had to have one of the thickest sculls I've run across with balancing issues.
Had CW, but after talking to SC for a half-hour plus on two different occasions, she pawns him off on me.
The problem is that his checkbook doesn't balance with his account balance.
I do not particularly want to take this over as checkbook balancing issues can be the stuff of nightmares. Large stacks of poorly written checking account registers, with multiple scrawled numbers, many scratched out, and horrible math skills with a customer declaring that our computer is adding WRONG even after several examples of their arithmetic mistakes have been found. But CW looks at me with wide eyes and swears this is not one of those cases. She just can't get though to the customer and she is at her wit's end trying to figure out how else to explain this.
So, I go ahead and take over for her. And wow. Just.... wow.
I am not making up or simplifying these numbers.
The customer has a balancing form that states the following:
Statement Ending Balance: $105
plus deposits after statement end date: $200
subtotal: $305
minus withdrawals after statement end date: $100
new balance: $205
This matches the transactions and balances in his account since the statement end date. And again, I swear, I am NOT over-simplifying this.
His problem?
$105 does not equal $205.
Me: ummmm... yes. Because you ended the month with $105, deposited $200 and took out $100. That means your current balance is a hundred more than when you started, or $205. Exactly as your own math shows. Exactly as the current balance in the account shows. *Which he agrees with.*
SC: But the statement ending balance is $105, while I has $205. So what happened to my hundred dollars?
Me: ... the hundred dollars is in your account. As I just showed you. *he agrees with me again that the current balance in his account is showing on the computer and on the balance receipt I printed for him that the money in the account is the $205.* The extra money was put in after the statement ended.
SC: Yes, I understands that, but the $105 does not equal $205. The balance on the statement should be $205.
Me: Your own register shows that the balance as of the last day of the month was $105. The $200 deposit and $100 in withdrawals happened after the end of the month, so will show on the next statement.
SC: I knows that. But when I'm making certain my checkbook balances, I'm supposed to be able to take the statement ending balance, add deposits since that date, subtract withdrawals since that date, and get my new balance.
Me: Yes. And that's exactly what you did *go over his own math again for him again*. So your new balance is $205, just as you have written down.
SC: But the statement ending balance says $105. I'm missing a hundred dollars. $205 minus $105 is a hundred dollars.
...
...
I went around and around with this customer. Finally, I got a fresh copy of the exact reconciliation sheet that he was using at home (we have it on the back of our statements), and I realize that the form has one additional step. So I write it out for him:
Statement ending balance: $105
Add deposits since end of statement: $200
subtotal: $305
subtract withdrawals since end of statement: $100
new balance: $205
subtract current balance in checkbook $205
this should (and does) equal $0
Me: See, you were subtracting the statement end balance again instead of what you have down in your checking register.
SC: *stares at the sheet* That's the right number now. I told you $205 didn't equal $105.
He is now happy and goes home contented that his checkbook balances.
...which I guess makes him more really confused instead of sucky, but I've dealt with a lot of pounding heads into brick walls and he had to have one of the thickest sculls I've run across with balancing issues.
).
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