A Small Victory: Getting Your Money Back

Last Monday I walked out of the high school where I am volunteering for my final project...and my car was NOT in the spot where I had left it.  I had a moment (or, rather, a good ten minutes) of panic thinking that it had been stolen.  Thankfully, it turned out that it had just been towed- the street sweepers had run through the area that day and apparently there were signs out that said "No Parking 4/28" (although they certainly weren't visible when I parked there that morning)!

So, my beloved car wasn't in a chop shop being sold piece by piece, but it WAS in an impound lot, and I was going to have to pay the towing fee to get it back, plus the cost of a traffic ticket and a cab to get there (it was pouring rain and storming; otherwise I might have tried to bike or take public transportation, but, while there's a lot of crazy things that I'll do to get out of debt, getting struck by lightning isn't one of them!).  Once I got to the impound lot I explained my concern to the cashier- I had not seen a single "no parking" sign or I wouldn't have parked my car there!  The cashier gave me the procedures to follow, so this morning I walked down to the Hennepin county government center and was able to get the citation forgiven, and will hopefully be getting a refund for the towing fee.  Almost $200 saved!!

I have been on both sides of this situation before- I have been the one entitled to a refund, and the one with the possible power to give the refund.  Unfortunately, I have let my fear of looking foolish or being an annoyance stop me from standing up for myself...and, I have also seen people make complete fools of themselves and ruin their chances at getting a refund.  After years of working in customer service, I've learned some things about getting your money back- in light of my experience this morning, it seemed fitting that I share them here!  If you have wisdom from your own experience, feel free to share in the comments!!

• Get organized beforehand!  Have everything you could possibly need with you, including the receipt, the credit card you used to make the transaction, the defective product (or pictures of what's defective, if it's a large item), the bill or bank statement, etc.  Also, make sure you have a form of ID with you- many businesses will need it to give you a refund on your credit card!
• Read the fine print! Make sure that you are really eligible to get your money back- if the coupon was expired, if too many days have passed since the incident, if there was a "no refund" policy written somewhere, than it's probably not worth driving to the business and wasting your time. 
• Be positive! With a for-profit business, say something nice- you've had great experiences there in the past, the cashier or waitress gave you great service, you have always loved their products, etc.  Let them know you are a valuable customer and that giving you this refund is a good business investment!  Even if you are dealing with the government (as I was today), going in with a positive attitude will make people more willing to help you and work with you.  On the other hand...
• Never, never NEVER resort to bullying or intimidation!!!  I've heard/seen this advice in so many different places: "Raise your voice!"  "Lean over the counter and get in their face!"  "Yell and scream until they get you a supervisor- if they say the supervisor isn't available, they're lying!"  "Read their nametag out loud and then threaten to sue them!"
  This is the WORST possible advice because:
  -From a legal standpoint, no one is required to do business with you or offer you service if they are feeling threatened or verbally abused by you.  If you are doing business over the phone, the employee has the right to hang up on you if you go too far (and the definition of "too far" varies from one company to another); if you are face-to-face, the employee is fully justified in calling security (or the police!) if he/she feels unsafe.
  -From a psychological standpoint, the employee helping you will be scared, angry, annoyed, or any combination of those emotions.  Whatever they feel, their focus shifts from helping you to getting rid of you, especially if you are scaring away other customers (no parent is going to stick around the grocery store and make a five-year-old listen to you cussing out a cashier!).  I have seen employees, managers, and business owners refuse service to irate customers because they would rather have them leave their business forever than deal with walking them through the refund process.  In the end, a lot of people who resort to bullying miss out on refunds that they probably would have gotten if they had gone about it in a different manner.  And, finally...
• Follow the instructions given to you!  Returning a pair of shoes or getting an extra charge removed from your restaurant check shouldn't be complicated- however, getting a refund on a major purchase, fixing a banking error, or resolving a legal issue will be a multi-step process.  Pay attention and take notes on the steps you need to follow, and COOPERATE!!  On the day that I went to the impound lot, I listened to another woman repeat over and over, "What, I can't park in my own driveway?!" despite the cashier's repeated explanation of the steps she needed to follow to get a refund.  Don't waste your time arguing with someone who is trying to help you- it won't get you your money any faster!

So, some financial updates: As I was walking downtown this morning the strap on my purse broke- it started breaking over Christmas break, and at that point my can-fix-anything-dad was able to prolong it's life a bit, but nothing manmade lasts forever, right?

After lugging my purse home like I was carrying a baby or small animal, I transferred my stuff to my old purse that was in the back of my closet:

Yeah, it's fun and colorful, and I purchased it in Mexico so it makes for a great conversation piece- but it's also a real pain.  It's too big, it has short shoulder straps (so I have to either hold the straps in my hands or repeatedly push it into place on my shoulder- I prefer the long strap that can be worn across your body!), and it's just one big open space where everything is floating around loose- there are no compartments to organize it.  However, IT'S FUNCTIONAL!

I hate how expensive purses can be, but I also hate being without a practical one.  However, given my current financial situation, unless I find my dream purse for under $10, I am resolving NOT to buy a new purse until I have paid my parking and subletting fees, and made all payments due on debts!  So, when you see me, yes, I am aware that my purse is huge and flashy- but it was it's not costing me anything to use it!  So, I will deal with the minor inconvenience of not having a practical purse for a while.

On a happy note, I went through my apartment and listed a ton of stuff online that I want to sell before I move and made about $70 worth of sales recently (minus the cost of shipping the things I sold)...more on that in a future entry!  However, this improves my financial situation a lot!!!

Upcoming expenses:
$80.00 Parking fee (Covered by the cash I had previously and the money that just came in!)
$150 summer subletting fee (could be more if the place I'm looking at subletting falls through!)
$270 to my university
$42.00 traffic ticket Canceled!!

So, those are my updates for today...back to final projects and summer-job hunting!!!