Don’t be passive:
These are things you should know:
1. What is the billing cycle for your storage unit? Does your employer pay an entire year in advance? Will they pay quarterly? Monthly?
2. When will the storage unit send out the bill?
3. When is the next bill due?
4. When was the last bill paid?
You don’t know do you???!!!!
I didn’t either.
Here’s what you can do.
1. Find out who will send the bill from the storage unit and at what cycle.
2. Find out who is paying from your employer.
3. Call after each billing period (once a month, once a quarter) just to make sure the bill was paid. Put a sticker on your phone, a memo on your e-calendar, an alarm on your cell phone – whatever works!
4. If there is a lot of turnover with your employer –arrange to pay yourself and get reimbursed later (hey, it’s better than losing your stuff, right??)
Make it a habit to just do it. Think about it one little international phone call every month or three could save you a great big investigation (and a little bit of heartbreak)!
Showing posts with label Storage Tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Storage Tip. Show all posts
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Storage Tip Number 1
I realize that we are partially responsible for this loss and I plan to include tips on this blog that might help someone else prevent such a loss.
The truth is I took a lot for granted. The companies responsible for paying for our storage are international corporations. They have history of moving people around the globe and taking care of the details – like storage.
We still don’t know if it was an accounting mix-up or actual theft that led to the loss (investigation is underway). But, in hindsight, I was pretty naïve to just blindly trust an unknown unnamed person in AP somewhere with the security of our things.
My sister enlightened me to the fact that things can go wrong. She at one time worked for a national builder of new homes at one of their show homes. She said, “Someone in accounts payable left and the phone got shut off. The company had money to pay the bill. What company that is selling houses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and has paid thousands in advertising to promote their homes and their phone number WANTS the phone shut off? The phone company sent notices. I tried to prevent it. But there was no one taking care of things at corporate.”
Storage Tip Number 1: Befriend the AP person responsible for paying your storage bill. This goes beyond knowing the bill cycle and checking to see if the bill was in fact paid each month, quarter or year. Notice the first word in the tip – BEFRIEND. If someone is your friend you know their name, phone number, e-mail, birthday. You know if they have pets. We are beyond e-mail and phone 101, here. I’m not suggesting you pick up the phone, hunt down the person, and ask them a list of questions. Start small – send e-mails to check on your storage. Be polite, respectful, friendly. And most important, keep in touch regularly.
The truth is I took a lot for granted. The companies responsible for paying for our storage are international corporations. They have history of moving people around the globe and taking care of the details – like storage.
We still don’t know if it was an accounting mix-up or actual theft that led to the loss (investigation is underway). But, in hindsight, I was pretty naïve to just blindly trust an unknown unnamed person in AP somewhere with the security of our things.
My sister enlightened me to the fact that things can go wrong. She at one time worked for a national builder of new homes at one of their show homes. She said, “Someone in accounts payable left and the phone got shut off. The company had money to pay the bill. What company that is selling houses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and has paid thousands in advertising to promote their homes and their phone number WANTS the phone shut off? The phone company sent notices. I tried to prevent it. But there was no one taking care of things at corporate.”
Storage Tip Number 1: Befriend the AP person responsible for paying your storage bill. This goes beyond knowing the bill cycle and checking to see if the bill was in fact paid each month, quarter or year. Notice the first word in the tip – BEFRIEND. If someone is your friend you know their name, phone number, e-mail, birthday. You know if they have pets. We are beyond e-mail and phone 101, here. I’m not suggesting you pick up the phone, hunt down the person, and ask them a list of questions. Start small – send e-mails to check on your storage. Be polite, respectful, friendly. And most important, keep in touch regularly.
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