When it comes to money, I want to be like my mother when I grow up. But when my father passed away a few months ago, my life sort of stopped. And when that happened, I wrote three checks without first depositing money into the checking account. The bounced check fees totaled over $100. Ooops.
But you know me. I like my money, and I will humble myself repeatedly and to no end to keep as much of it as I can. So I took my bounced check notice to the bank last week and asked the nice receptionist if I could have each fee credited to my account. I explained the reason for the oversights and mentioned that I had been a good customer for nearly two decades and had never bounced a check on the account.
The nice lady pulled up my account and told me she was authorized to credit two of the fees. Never one to give up, I nicely and with my best smile asked if she was sure she couldn't credit all three, and suggested maybe she could check with a manager to see if the request could be approved. She disappeared behind a door and returned a few minutes later to announce that all three fees had been credited to my account.
Goes to show you:
1. You never know unless you ask.
2. Some rules really were meant to be broken.
3. Always take your case to the decision maker.
4. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
