And the beat goes on…Human error..

Yesterday morning, we spotted this white mass in a tree hanging over the pool, only 15 feet, 4.5 meters from where we sit each day, waiting for visitors. It turned out to be a tree frog’s nest that magically appeared overnight. For more photos, please click here.

We can’t ever entirely relax. We must always attend to something, often centering around handling errors we discover along the way, usually made by companies and their staff.

Sure, from time to time, we make errors, and when doing so, most often, it costs us money. Whether our mistakes incur costs to us or others, we immediately get to work to resolve them. It falls in line with our philosophies and integrity in doing so.

But, when others make errors causing us to lose money or time, we won’t sit idly back and let the loss be absorbed into our lifestyle or financial scenario. We’ve chosen to stay on top of these errors as quickly as they are discovered.

On Monday, when we met Vicki and Jerry for lunch when Tom and Jerry went to pay, they discovered the restaurant’s credit card processing was down after they’d taken both of credit cards to determine the transaction wouldn’t go through in either case.

Instead, both Tom and Jerry paid cash. Shortly after we left, I received a message that a transaction for $30.30 was processed on our card. Jerry discovered the same. 

The next day, I checked online and saw the charge was in a pending status. I called the restaurant at the golf club only to be told the charge wouldn’t show up as paid and would be gone from a “pending status” in a few days.

I carefully watched the account and found that it became an actual charge yesterday when it left the “pending status.” I called the golf course again, only to be left on hold for 20 minutes. Jerry experienced the same.

This morning I checked to find a credit on our card for the $30.30. Finally, I got a live answer and asked for the name and number of the club manager. I called him directly. He profusely apologized and said it would be resolved immediately. Jerry experienced the same.

Overall, I spent no less than an hour dealing with this. How ridiculous! Also, recently we were overcharged for a rental car. We’ve spent no less than two hours attempting to resolve this issue and now must wait another ten days until it’s handled. Ridiculous!

I marked my calendar to follow up in 10 days. Why is it necessary to continue to be required to spend our time resolving issues generated by others? I bet many of you can relate to this.

We carefully watch every transaction for fear that something will be incorrect. One can’t ever be too careful, especially when we often find errors that those less diligent may have easily missed. 

This isn’t exclusive to the US. We’ve found such issues all over the world. Ironically, since we’ve been in the US, it appears there have been more than usual. Is it that we’ve had a little more time to be diligent or…the “nature of the beast?” Lots of transactions…lots of errors.

Believe me, we don’t like to focus on the negative, nor do we like writing about it here. But, for those who travel, frequently making credit card purchases, it’s imperative to be diligent and suspiciously search for errors.

I always remind Tom to get a receipt, regardless of whether it’s a cash or credit card transaction. One can later go over a cash receipt and find we were charged for an item we never ordered. A more straightforward step is to review the receipt before ever leaving the premises carefully.

We’re attempting to get all of these situations behind us in the next 40 days before we leave for India. It’s a lot easier handling issues while here than it will be with sketchy WiFi and long-distance calling.

This morning, I finished grocery shopping for Tom’s birthday dinner and the side dishes we’re bringing to Mary and Eugene’s for Christmas Day dinner. It’s a good thing I shopped today when the market wasn’t overly busy yet. Most likely, it would have been crowded by tomorrow.

Have a fantastic Friday evening!

Photo from one year ago today, December 20, 2018:

Yesterday, it was hot at 42C, 108F, and “Little” needed to cool off. The water in the cement pond was most likely hot as well but cooler than the air temperature.  It was after it had cooled down that he lumbered out of the pool and then, only then, was he looking for a good meal. We complied with pellets, ice-cold diced carrots, and diced apples.  He took one last dunk before he left for the evening. For more photos, please click here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *