Alyssa's ramblings...

Annoyances.

You Are 20 Years Old

20 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

I was hoping to receive a startling revelation about my immaturity / maturity (take your pick), but instead I found that I act a whole ONE year younger than I really am. Shocking, I know.

*Rant Mode Alert!*

Sometimes I get sick of people who can’t manage their money wisely. One of our contractors (who brings in his invoices sporadically, but usually about once a week) has just come into our office and asked for his payment for the last job he did for us. He said he needs it today, as he has to pay his girlfriend some money (because she’s short on cash this week) and owes some money to someone else.

Now I understand being in debt and all, but I’m not controlled by my finances. I make a budget for every paycheque, and although sometimes (*cough cough* most times) I go over budget, I always pay off the crucial things before even looking at anything else. I don’t live paycheque to paycheque.

But anyway, the problem is, we need two signatures on each cheque we write out, my boss’ and mine. The boss is out in a meeting, and I don’t know when he’ll be back. This guy is adamant he needs it within, well, 15 minutes from now, as the banks close then. Aaargh!

What makes it worse is that he put his invoices in on Monday, a mere two days ago! He insists that it has always taken only two days before, so he assumed the cheque would be ready. While I highly doubt this (as I do a cheque run no more than once a week), the only way this would have happened is by pure coincidence. It’s totally unreasonable to assume that a company would pay every invoice within a two-day period.

Now this fellow is waiting outside in his car, just in case my boss comes back soon. I bet he’ll come upstairs any moment now, telling me that he’s desperate, and needs the money today. Three words – NOT MY FAULT. What am I supposed to do? Frustration setting in.

While I’m in rant mode… here’s part of a phone call I received today:

Me: Hello, Alyssa speaking.
Him: Hi, can I speak to {boss}?
Me: He’s out in a meeting at the moment, can I get him to call you back?
Him: Yes please. Can you ask him to call Rick?
Me: What’s your phone number there?
Him: {phone number}
Me: And what was this regarding, Rick?
Him: Audio Visual requirements.
Me: Which company are you from?
Him: {company name}
Me: And is this for the conference?
Him: Uh, yeah.
Me: Have you spoken to him before?
Him: No.

As a receptionist, I have a responsibility to filter calls, especially ones to my boss. But when someone like this calls, a person who only gives tiny little spurts of information, and only when he is asked a direct question, I naturally get suspicious. This is what someone is usually like when they’re cold-calling us, trying to sell something. They realise that they could make their sales pitch to me, but I’d just say that I need to run it past my boss anyway. So they somehow find out my boss’ name, and ask for him directly, like they know him and he’ll know exactly what they’re talking about. So if someone speaks like this, and is from a valid company, and has a valid reason for calling, chances are they still won’t get through. On the other hand, I love when people call and say:

Them: Hi, this is {name} from {company}. Could I speak to {boss} please?
Me: He’s out in a meeting at the moment, can I get him to call you back?
Them: Yes please. It’s {name} from {company}, and my number is {phone number}. I’m calling about {subject}.
Me: Not a problem; I’ll pass the message on to him. Thank you!

Yes, ten times quicker. And easier. And I don’t have to pry the information out of them, which is always a bonus. :o)

--------------------

*UPDATE*

My boss just came back, and the man came up and got his cheque. The bank has probably closed, but he’s hoping it’s open until 4:30 instead of 4:00. He apologised for the misunderstanding. He said that the other contractors had also told him that they’re usually paid within two days. I don’t know of any contractor that would apply to. Hmmmm. But it's all good. BUT, I told him (and I've told another contractor) that I usually do a cheque run every Friday, so now I'm kind of committed to doing that. D'oh! In reality, it was kind of 'whenever I could get around to it', combined with 'whenever my boss was available to sign cheques'. Oh well, it'll be good for me. :o)

posted by Alyssa @ 4:13 PM