Okay - How often does this happen to you?

i43storage

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."

1833

lol people are amazing.yes I have had it happen and I very nicely tell them that's fine just know you are locked out of the gate on the 2nd and your unit will be over locked on the 6th and a late fee will be added to your account until payment is made  have a great day.

MegumiM

 LOL! I have surprisingly never had this happen. An easy way to avoid this in the future is to set up Sitelink's new feature "set and forget". In the Setup menu, go to Program Defaults. Then choose the tab Batch. From there you can set it to automatically process Invoices and Auto-Pays. You'll get an email verification and you can see if any were declined.
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.

storagestation603

@MegumiM That is a really neat feature that I did not know Site Link now had! But I can see that maybe being an issue at times. For instance what if the tenant moves out of the Unit and then their card still gets charged...then you are faced with an upset customer and having to do a refund. We do the Automatic CC ourselves each day after I've done a walk through of he facility to make sure the tenants are still present. 

Orkocean

It has a checkbox to not run scheduled move outs. If a customer decides to up and move out and not give you what i'm sure is a required move out notice then it's their own fault and they can wait for the refund. 

Pat

Our lease says to give 15 days notice. We remove the auto charge when they give notice.  Move out with out notice for auto charges is rare here, so take each one if they come.

jesswsm

HAHAHAHA This sort of thing happens all of the time. My favorite was at the beginning of this month. Called a tenant because she is about to go into prelien, and her autopay was declined. Her response was "well we did a lot of shopping for the holiday's, it must be the banks fault."

teamcapitola

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

Orkocean

Sounds like an older lady I had a phone conversation with at a Florida location a few years back.. her card had expired and she was in lien by the time we finally got her to return a call. She couldn't comprehend how we did not have her new card info as the bank sent her the new card awhile back, and thought the bank would of sent us one as well..... That was a long drawn out conversation trying to explain how things work.

JamesStorage

I have a very similar problem going on right now. The unit has been auto-billed for years and the card was recently changed because the person doing the payments quit. (Company unit) The only number we have that doesn't ding up invalid is a Fax number that doesn't belong to that company anymore, and the email and physical address are both vacant/nonexistent. 

teamcapitola

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!

i43storage

@JamesStorage - Ohhh, that does sound like an interesting unit to get inside of. 

Faye

I agree, I'm curious now too. Please keep us posted. 

Orkocean

Oh I bet it's just treasure troves FUUUULLLLL of customer paperwork!

Faye

Orkocean said:

Oh I bet it's just treasure troves FUUUULLLLL of customer paperwork!

You are probably right

JamesStorage

@teamcapitola there actually is a google trail, and the company is real, but oddly there's no general phone number for it, and the former payment officer didn't have one that's not a direct number. I thought that was weird

Matt_Rogers

This is why i require a actual person in the office to move in to the unit with a added c/o "said business". I have had to work hard to find the actual owner of someone who is responsible (like A/P dept.) if the trail grows old. I have had to rely on alternate contact too many times to get the message to the owner due to the various reasons stated above. Better too much info then not enough, it's only a problem when it's a problem... ha ha!

websterb

Received a call @ 7:30 pm Sunday on my personal phone, ( facility office is closed on sunday's)  from a friend who's daughter has a unit at our storage. She was locked out and wanted to know why. I proceeded to tell her for non payment., due date was the 21st. Then the husband of the daughter calls stating that he spoke to me on the 15th stating he couldn't make the payment on the 18th (gets paid on Friday's) but could probably on the 25th, never received a call.  Well,,,,, he wanted to know why I didn't apply payment? I explained that we can not arrange a payment with the term probably, I explained I could set him up on automatic monthly payment, or he would have to call the day he wants payment applied. Deep breath...........

teamcapitola

@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.

i43storage

@teamcapitola; I'm sorry to say that I have learned trying to list actual FACTS to some tenants who only understand their own world is useless.  Absolutely a waste of time.  As hard as I try, in the end, I need to simply accept the limited brain capacity of the tenant. 

Storageinasnapp

I find it both amusing and sad to know that this kind of stuff happens to others and not just me. 
Storage Forum sure helps put things in perspective and realize you are not alone with these situations.

Faye

Storageinasnapp said:

I find it both amusing and sad to know that this kind of stuff happens to others and not just me. 
Storage Forum sure helps put things in perspective and realize you are not alone with these situations.

Yes it does. I so appreciate this forum.

JamesStorage

@teamcapitola I wish people would realize that a promise to pay is not the same thing as making a payment. I have to deal with that one a lot. That and the "I'll pay you when I pay you" people. Those drive me up the wall. 

Orkocean

I love the ones who try to play workers against each other. "well i talked to so and so and they said this"... I'm sorry but anyone I have ever trained or worked with knows EVERYTHING related to the account/tenant gets notated in the customers account. And I know word for word what is said on every lease presentation someone I have trained gives. Been quite a few times I have gone to bat for my employees when tenants try to make accusations about crazy stuff promised or rules not gone over. 

CVSSSTORAGE

@Orkocean I put everything in the notes as well due to that same reason. I had a guy come in who was in pre lien. He asked when he had to pay before getting another fee. I let him know his pre lien expired on Saturday at 6pm when we closed but if he came in on Sunday before we closed he would be ok. He comes in Monday at 930 and says I told him to come in Monday by 9 and he knows he is 30 minutes late but they should stand by their employee. Notes said I told him Sunday. He put a negative review on us for lying about fees... Now when he calls I give him his balance and tell him to check his pre lien for his last day. 

Matt_W

@CVSSSTORAGE - He put a negative review on us for lying about fees... Now when he calls I give him his balance and tell him to check his pre lien for his last day. 

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

JamesStorage

@teamcapitola @Faye @i43storage @Orkocean The wait is over. Not what I was expecting. Several thousand dollars worth of server equipment, including full sized powerbanks, batteries included

MrFugate

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.

MrFugate

teamcapitola said:

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

 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.

TCBlossoms

We have a tenant that is constantly late on rent and rude to top it all off.  Last month it was we were inconveniencing him by contacting him about being late on rent, because he would then have to hang up the phone and move money around just so he can pay his bill.......I fought the urge to say in the most snarky manner  "oh well I am just so incredibly sorry for the inconvenience of you having to pay your bills and pay them on time, although that's what I have to do with my bills every month." 
What really gets me is the attitudes they give every time.

JulieA

I had an elderly lady in this morning with a check for May rent.  In the past we noticed she was dating her checks for the 1st and bringing them to the office 7-10 days in advance.  We have explained to her that we can't hold a predated check. And that we can't process the payment.  We have this discussion monthly.  This morning she said she dates it the first because she doesn't want us to apply two payments to April Rent because she already paid April.  She just stood here for 15 minutes trying to understand how she was going to pay on the 1st and she didn't want to be late.  She has money in her account but wouldn't change date on the check so I could process payment for May and give her a receipt that said it was for May!  And regardless of having the funds she said it will mess up her budget system because she already used the money for April rent and then there won't be any payment in May and then she would be afraid she forgot to pay!!  Still shaking my head! 

CVSSSTORAGE

@JulieA we have a gentleman who has been here since like 2009. He is a pain, always corrects us about everything. I have told him multiple times when he is due, yet every month he says I am not late yet. We emailed you, we sent letters and even spoke to your mother. He was thinking his due date was the day he was late. So again I explained it to him and then when he told me how little I know about math I told him I will gladly change your pay date to the 17th for you to help you remember to which he replied he was not an idiot and would remember. Guess who is late again? 

JamesStorage

@CVSSSTORAGE We a have a similar tenant right now. He lives on the collection list. As in he's never been off it for more than one day. Usually he just ignores our phone calls, but lately he's taken answering the calls and then putting us on hold while he "looks things up" He always pays a few days before auction though, so roughly every three months

JamesStorage

@TCBlossoms The attitudes I get astound me sometimes. You can always tell who feels entitled. I'd just settle for them sending me to voicemail.