The 35-cent hassle
July 9, 2004
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Posted by Aubrey Turner
I have an American Express card that was issued by my company for business expenses. Normally, business expenses are submitted through an online system we have that then sends payment directly to AmEx. Somehow I guess I messed up the last submission, because I got a bill from them for $0.35. It seems like it would almost cost them more than that to process the bill, but a debt is a debt. Anyhow, it isn’t worth the hassle to me to try to mess with the online system at work, so I decided to just pay it from my BankOne online payment system. They’ve recently upgraded their software, and along with that upgrade they’ve added a new criteria to their validity checks. All payments must be at least $1.00. I know in the past I’ve paid a bill of less than $1.00, so this is definitely new. Anyhow, this means that I had to send AmEx $1.00, which means I’ll be carrying a tiny credit on the account now.
This isn’t really significant in any way, but it’s the kind of nagging little detail that annoys me. I want the balance to be $0.00 and have done with it.
Categories: Random Ramblings
My father (a physician) once received a Medicare (or Medicaid?) check for $.02. Postage was significantly higher. He posted it on the lobby bulletin board with a note reading, “your taxes at work.”
You’re definitely not alone. I get several calls a day from people a little frustrated that the account they recently closed still appears to contain money. This amount is usually between about ten cents and ten dollars. It’s because of accrual accounting and residual dividend reinvestments, but it sure can bug people to have to, in effect, close an account twice.
That reminds me of a situation about ten years ago. We were paid on a weekly basis and for some reason our checks didn’t make it that week. Because I had some bills coming due I needed that check, so I put in for an emergency advance, which I was able to get in a couple of days. They automatically deducted the advance from my pay a few weeks later and sent me a paycheck for $0.00. I kept that check just because it was so absurd.