Pretty picture shared to remind me to focus on the good things and not the bad.
Gah. Some days, people suck. I mean, really suck.
I don’t normally rant about anything related to Blogomania here. Matter of fact, I don’t really rant about Blogomania at all – it is actually fairly smooth 99.998% of the time. People need hosting, I set up their hosting, their sites run.
Back in 2004, there was a problem with the online registration form. Depending on web browsers or on the type of computer people were using, the form broke and they didn’t get sent through to PayPal to pay for their hosting. No problem, we normally set them up, sent them the link, they paid, all was good in the world. A little inconvenience, but we could never duplicate the problem to fix it, and eventually it just stopped happening.
Fast forward to today. A client wrote that he wanted to shut his site down. No problem. Close the account on the server. Go into PayPal to find his payment subscription and make sure it is cancelled. Can’t find it. Write him and ask for the e-mail address, as sometimes PayPal is weird about searches on names. He sends it. Repeat search. Find that he has no payment subscription. Ever. Odd, but look around some more – and discover that he is one of those people that we set up when the form failed.
Problem is, he never got a payment link. So he has been hosted for 17 months without any payment at all for the hosting.
Ugh. I write to him, explain the mistake, point out that it is entirely my fault for not catching it – oh, 16 months ago. Ask him if he would be willing to pay a small, greatly reduced portion of the fee. I offered to take payments. Anything. I considered not writing at all, since I have nothing to hold over him – I can’t suspend his account as it is already closed, and … well, it is my own fault. I was just hoping to maybe make up a small portion of the lost fees.
He wrote back that I offered no proof, he really didn’t see any reason to pay anything. A “better luck next time” sort of response. Uh, hello? The proof is right there in HIS bank statements, or in HIS PayPal account – he hasn’t paid a thing. I can’t log into these things to show him this proof, and I already told him everything I know, down to the date he initially signed up. It wasn’t a ton of money, but still – I guess I just didn’t expect that response. Whatever. Sigh. At least his account is closed and gone.
People. I normally have a lot of faith in the good of mankind, but it has been really rocked tonight. Oh well, karma is a bitch sometimes, and they always say that what goes around comes around.
12 replies on “Some Days, People Suck…”
What an *sshole! Most people would have the good grace to admit they’d profited by the mistake and at least make a token repayment!
What a jerk. I believe in Karma as well. He’ll get what is coming to him.
Amy
People are getting so selfish these days. It’s all about them and no one else. I also believe he will get what’s coming to him. It may take a while, but it will happen!
I am not sure I would pay at this point. I hate to sound like I do not appreciate the work and business someone does for me, and I am one that makes sure my bills are paid and on time. However, if someone came to me for 16-17 months worth of something that I had not budgeted for and it was not my fault, I might have a hard time paying for it. If it were for a month or 2, I would probably change my mind.
It is sad that there are people out there like that – those who always want to get something for nothing, regardless of who it hurts. Humanity is far from perfect.
Its too bad too. I would have offered to pay something as a show of good faith.
Yeah….I know, a lot of people suck….
It sucks to be sure. To be honest, I’d have a hard time coming up with a coupla-hundred for an out-of-budget expense. Especially if I was cancelling a service (which is usually a sign that there are unresolved issues).
BUT, I would try to work out some kind of arrangement, maybe split the difference or something.
Yep! Karma is a bitch! He will get what he deserves.
To address the points that Don & Dell raised – I thought of those exact same things. I even pointed out to him that I understood that coming up with just shy of $170 might be hard, so I cut the amount down to $100 (less than my costs) and offered the option of paying it out over many months. I then told him that I was open to other options too, let me know what he thought.
I was more “put out” by the attitude of his response more than anything else – saying how I hadn’t given him proof, etc. (As Mike said later, I can’t prove a negative – he didn’t pay, and his own bank statements reflect that.)
I will admit to being behind on resolving some billing issues – I put the service end of things first, and if I am pressed for time the billing falls to the wayside. This hurts only me though – as he proved – so it is the first thing that will be addressed once this semester is over.
Yes, karma will get him! Don’t worry yourself too much over it =)
wow, that sucks. he could have at least kicked you 100$ or something. and let me know how much k and i owe you for our sites–we’re happy to pay what we owe you on a plan of some sort and get back to the quarterly billing (i promise i won’t delete another credit card from my paypal account!).
Don’t even get me started on “people sucking” right now. I’m dealing with a step-mom from hell… actually, I’ve been dealing with her for about 8 years, and she would make your non-paying a**hole look like a saint. It wears you down, but we have to remember that we are above people like that — keep looking to the positive and remember that there ARE good people out there. Like YOU Christine. Hang in there.