"my library doesn't charge"

[depechemodefan]

People call/email us asking for copies of obituaries, which we charge to make copies. Sometimes people request info. (like who is next of kin) on the obit but don't want a copy. We give info. for free.

Sometimes we get requests where the person wants the date of death, so we either go to ancestry.com (we have a subscription which the public can access) or go to the online Texas Death Roll.

Here is this request:
I am looking for two obituaries and I am hoping you can locate them for me and either mail or email a copy to me. The first is for... the second is for Jane Doe (nee Dee) who was born about 1915-1916 and died between 2001-2011 in X. I'm hoping you may have a data base that will contain Jane's death. I know that our local library does not charge for this service and I am hoping you will be able to do this for no charge. Any help that you can give me is very much appeciated. Thank You SC


Aw, you think if you mention that your library let's everyone else jump off the bridge we will too? Just ask if we charge if you worry about being charged.

[Lucky Charm]

If their local library doesn't charge for this service why are they calling you?

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Probably because their local library is too poor from giving customers free stuff to have what this customer actually needs...

[Librarian]

same problem over here, not with obits but with member fee. A somewhat bigger library about 10kms away doesn't charge a member fee (but their late-fees are ridiculous! over 10 times what we charge per day late)

we charge a fee less than 5 euros for a full year - you pay for nothing else unless you make copies, print something or are late returning your materials.

guess what a shitstorm we sometimes have to get past because of it... "but library X doesn't charge!" "but no one told me about it!" "you should have a discount for the elderly!"

[Legal Eagle]

their local library probably doesn't charge for giving Obit info from the local paper but doesn't have the access/resources to find this information but in the SCs mind both services are equal.

[EricKei]

"but library X doesn't charge!"

...Good for them.

[depechemodefan]

The request is vague in that I'm not sure if she is saying her library doesn't charge for the look up of the date of death or making a copy.

I can't speak for every library, but I think most libraries would have access to Ancestry.com for the customers for free, so twat waffle's library could have looked the death date for free.

Oh, just noticed she is from Victoria B.C. maybe they only look up date of deaths in Canada.

Still, That's CANADA! I don't see Canadians paying, out of their own good will, our taxes to run this library.

I didn't find date of death anyway, so maybe ding-dong thinks "oh, my local library has always given me good service, but this time they failed. Maybe the other library will find the info." I wonder if she will complain we weren't trying hard enough (and I tried really hard).

[Eisa]

She probably would have been better off just asking if you charged for that.

My local library has no membership fees and late fees are 10 cents a day for books. 25 cents if it's an inter-library loan book, though.

I do recall a few weeks ago checking out--there was a girl who had moved back, I think, so wanted a new library card. She had over $20 in overdue fines! To her credit, she did not argue, but she was pretty dumbfounded she'd racked up that much.

[depechemodefan]

Update

Twatwaffle so far hasn't paid for the one obit...which is three frickin' dollars.

Sat. she emailed us again, saying she wanted the obit for X, and she added, of course, "I know that our local library does not charge for this service and I am hoping you will be able to do this for no charge."

What, you think the answer will change? dumbass. I wanted to send an email to the idiot, "we already told you, it'd $3. No, we are not going to do something stupid and send it to you for free. " Other people from Canada have paid us, so I imagine anyone can get something from the bank to pay for an item from another country. No, we don't have paypal yet
I told management about this and they told me just act like we never heard from her before and tell her the normal spiel about the $3.

[Andara Bledin]

I told management about this and they told me just act like we never heard from her before and tell her the normal spiel about the $3.

Good for management. I think I'd do the same.

^-.-^

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Yup...if she can play dumb, so can you

[Ironclad Alibi]

Update

Twatwaffle so far hasn't paid for the one obit...which is three frickin' dollars.

Sat. she emailed us again, saying she wanted the obit for X, and she added, of course, "I know that our local library does not charge for this service and I am hoping you will be able to do this for no charge."

I would tell her that she is not going to get another obit until she pays the $3 she owes, and that any future obit will be $3 in advance. So if she wants another obit, she needs to send in $6.

[depechemodefan]

Good for management. I think I'd do the same

My point of reminding the twatwaffle is so she knows we know she's trying to game us. Management doesn't want to remind her so not to make her feel bad. Hopefully twatwaffle gets the message that we are charging $3, but that is doubtful. I expect to hear from her next month, wanting the obit for free.