Me: "Sally, your debit card is being declined due to lack of funds."
Sally: "Well, did you try taking it out on the 1st?"
Me: "No. The 1st was a Sunday, so we attempted to take it out on the 2nd."
Sally: "Well, the money was there on the 1st. It's not my fault if you didn't take it out on the 1st. I don't have any more money now."
Me (in my head): "So you know nothing ... nothing at all about money management? No one ever taught you how to subtract bills? or how accounting works or money in general?"
This happens to me more and more. Honestly, I feel so sorry for these people. It's like they walk into a store and just decide, "Well, if there is money left on my card, I guess I can buy something. Let's roll the dice."
Comments
I have a few tenants on auto-pay that I have to process their payment separately for various reasons (only get paid on a certain day, etc.) For these, instead of setting up auto-pay I just save their credit card information and set a reminder in the Sitelink Calender.
I came in this morning to this note from my assistant.
(customer was on auto-bill, but went delinquent after card expired)
(john doe) finally paid. He came in with the whole “I got a notice saying my account is in pre-lien?!” attitude. I told him his card expired all the way back in November 2018, and his response was “well that is a very old card, I don’t even use it anymore.” Super helpful.
I asked if he had a new (valid) contact number and he said "I wont give it out because I get too many spam calls"
I asked if there was a better way to get ahold of him after he informed me he “just throws away our paper letters because they are redundant”.
I asked if email would be better, he doesn’t use that email anymore… It was a fun conversation.
We updated a few things though so hopefully it should be all set now
Do you know if it was really an actual company to begin with?
We have had people claim to be a "business" in order to leverage discounts or after hour access, which is why we now require a business license/tax ID during signup.
I guess it could have just gone under, but you would think there would be a "Google trail" to find it.
Let us know how that turns out! I mean if nobody pays for it it'll eventually go to auction, but who knows what's in the unit & I'm super curious!
I-43 Storage
@websterb -- I'm laughing because almost that EXACT same conversation just happened with one of my tenants!!!
The 20th- Received a very confusing call from tenant. First she explained that her auto bill credit card was declining because she "has no money" but she wanted to "arrange the payment on the 3rd" I explained that there will be fees added by then as the grace period ends on the 24th. I also told her that we cant schedule a future payment...she will have to call us when she wants the card run. Then she said "oh ok ...ill be there before that"
the 26th-Tenant came by the office to ask if she could pay her bill on the 3rd when she (gets) her check. When I gave her the total she was very surprised and upset. She claims she called Josh on the 20th and asked him to run her credit card on the 3rd. I told her that "promising" to make a payment isn't actually "making" a payment & didn't stop the late fees on the 25th.
Today -Tenant came in to pay past due amount. She started being very aggressive with me "I was on auto pay and shouldn't have fees" I explained that she WAS on auto bill, but the card kept declining and she told me she wouldn't have funds until the 3rd. I explained that unless she made the payment AND THEN told us to put the card back, it wasn't going to be automatically billed (since we couldn't know when she actually had funds) She immediately started crying and stating that its NOT her fault we don't listen to her and doesn't understand why she has to pay a late fee since she called and said she couldn't pay.
I-43 Storage
Storage Forum sure helps put things in perspective and realize you are not alone with these situations.
I hate that. You try to work things out with people, you bend over backwards to do the best you can and they still don't follow along and do what they say they are going to... And then they blame you and give you a bad review.
Those people frustrate me
We bill 1st of the month I always tell my customers the auto billing will run between the 1st & the 3rd, My coworker dose not like to run the auto pays for some reason,so that covers us if I'm off on the 1st or 2nd.
If a customers card will not go through on the 1st I rerun it every 2 days until the 9th (our 1st late fee hits on the 10th) I'll call them on the 9th to let them know the payment did not go through yet & they need to be in before the close on the 10th or I will try to run the card on the 11th & charge them the late fee and keep trying it every 2 days till the rent & fees are paid.
depending on your state & the wording in the lease he is in violation for not updating his contact info. you could terminate his lease and point him to the closest lake then tell him to jump in.
What really gets me is the attitudes they give every time.