I can't believe it!
I had a camera up for sale on eBay, a Canon PowerShot A2200.
The first time I listed it someone bought it and never paid for it and never responded to any of my queries. It takes a minimum of 10 days for the seller to cancel an eBay transaction if the buyer doesn't respond and agree to it. That's 10 days without the money from the item. 10 days you can't re-list the item and it can't sell. Yesterday was the end of the 10 days. I finally got to cancel the transaction and re-list the camera. Within an hour it was sold... by the afternoon I'd been notified by PayPal that there was something wrong with the transaction, and not to ship the item. I'd called PayPal and talked to them, but it didn't become clearer after that. They made it sound like the buyer needed to clear up something. I'd tried emailing the buyer and didn't get any response. Now, I have a different message from PayPal saying the buyer is disputing the payment and asking me to refund the money. I guess there's nothing to do but refund the money, but this doesn't cancel the transaction in eBay. I could end up needing to wait another 10 days before I can resell the camera! Arrrgggg!!
I call eBay and talk to one of their advisers. I'm hoping he can just cancel the transaction since that's what the buyer asked for through PayPal. No. I was right. We're going round and round on it, with me telling him it's not fair to me, but he says the bottom line is that I need to start a case in eBay. If the buyer responds and agrees to cancel the transaction, then whenever they respond is when I can re-list it (and get the final value fees credited back to me.) If the buyer doesn't respond (which is what I'm afraid of) it could be another 10 days before I can actually sell the camera. Wow. Frustrating! He suggests calling the buyer and walks me through how to get the buyers contact information. I decide to wait for one day before I call, to see what happens. I send the buyer another email asking them to agree to the eBay cancellation.
I've still been having trouble doing my daily stuff (posting on the blog, updating quickbooks with finances, listing an item in eBay.) This morning I'm working on catching up... and basically re-starting again. I've got to learn how to do this, to go forward on a regular basis.
It's hot today. The cat's laying on the rug. I'm trying to get her interested in playing with a ribbon. She's looking at me like I'm crazy. Maybe it's too hot for playing.
I've got to deposit my paycheck, and I'd like to check out the Dollar store I saw yesterday, to see if they have any of the water bladders. I need to pick up a cat litter pan too. I'm planning on keeping the cat and kitten separated more. I worry the cat being around is keeping the kitten from eating. Anyway, to set up a separate area I need a separate cat litter box. The pan I have that I'm using is perfect. It came from the 99 cent store in Costa Mesa. We have that type of store up here so it shouldn't be a problem getting one up here.
I decide to go to the farthest away place, the Dollar store first, then work my way to the other places. I check Google maps. It says I need to leave in 12 minutes if I'm going to catch the next 62 bus. I guess I'd better get moving!
The Dollar store's farther away than I thought! I'm glad I took the bus! I check to see what time the bus leaves to go back. I've got a half hour. That should be plenty of time. I've been all over the store and haven't seen any water bladders. I guess I'll have to give up on finding them. I just realized I didn't bring water with me. Funny that I'm out shopping for water bladders and don't have any water!
Oh that's funny! I was looking at shoe liners. They're on one of the front displays. I happened to look down. There are the water bladders! I feel silly for not having seen them before! They're in different colors than mine, but the same style. Cool! I'll enjoy having other colors to use!
It's about time for the bus to come. I need to check out and go! They have some problem with the cash register. It's taking a long time to check out the person in front of me. I could miss the bus while I'm standing here waiting to pay!
I'm to the bus stop right on time! Win! I've got a choice now. I need to go to the bank to deposit my check and to another 99 cent store (I couldn't find a pan to use for a cat litter pan.) I can go to the bank I normally go to, that has another Dollar store near it, or I can go to the one farther down, near the two 99 cent stores (one of those is the same type I bought the original pan from.) I can take the 62 bus to both places. I decide to go to the bank I normally go to. It's a new bank and I like the staff there. I hope the Dollar store there has a pan the right size!
I made the deposit, got a roll of quarters for laundry and checked in the Dollar store for a cat litter pan. They didn't have a pan that would work, but I did buy a couple of cat toys. I really want to set up the separate area for the kitten. I guess I'll go on to the other 99 cent stores and check them.
At the bus stop, I've got approximately 7 minutes before the bus comes. Two men come walking up, both probably in their late 20s, early 30s. The one is black, the other white. Wow. I feel like I'm in a time warp. The white guy's trying to talk the black guy into voting for the union to come into the workplace. The white guy is with the union headquarters. So, doesn't even work where the black guy does. It sounds like the black guy doesn't really want a union. He doesn't want someone else to speak for him, or the possibility of others voting for a strike when he wants to work. He also thinks it's a done deal. He thinks there are enough people who want the union that his vote doesn't matter. He plans to stay out of it. The white guy just keeps pushing and pushing and trying different angles. I interject at one point and say I'm from Indiana, a state that has a lot of closed auto factories and tell the white guy he can't guarantee the other one that they won't lose their jobs, that the company won't just close or move away. He says this business can't move, they both ignore me. I guess I have stronger feelings about the union than I thought. I feel unions were really important at one stage of our growth, and I suppose they can still do good things. But, I've seen the other side. I've seen factories close because the factory owners didn't want to deal with the union. I've seen towns die because the factories moved away. I've worked places where I couldn't empty my own waste paper basket because emptying it was a union job. Back in Indiana when foreign cars started taking a bigger share of the market you couldn't drive a Honda or any other foreign made car onto an auto manufacturer's parking lot. The union workers would burn your car. I don't know where the balance is, but I definitely don't like the high pressure pitch this guy is giving. To me, even if the pay is bad (which according to them it is,) with the recession, this isn't the time to ask management to pay more. This is the time to hunker down and survive. When the economy changes back, and it would be easier to find another job, yes, go after that extra pay. Now, though, it seems silly. Finally the bus is here. I'm glad to be getting away from their conversation.
Neither 99 cent store had a pan I could use for a second cat litter pan. I guess I'll have to wait and go to the store in Costa Mesa that I bought the original one at. Google Maps says I have choices on how to get home. It's a little after 4 now. At 4:23, I could catch either the 460 or the 62 (how weird is it that they both come at the same time?!, ) take whichever bus to the closest bus stop I can and then scooter home, or use the scooter from here and get home a tinsy bit earlier. I decide to just scooter home. No sense in waiting for a bus when you don't need to!
It's awfully hot. I wish I'd remembered to bring water with me!
At home. It's hot. All I feel like doing is being a slug.
Now that my check's in the bank it's time to pay this half of the month's bills! I love the fact that I know I'll be able to pay all the bills! I can remember sweating that. Things have definitely changed for the better! I just paid my Capital One bill, that reminded me I had a late fee on that card last month because I paid too late in the day on the day it was due. I'm going to call them and get them to reverse it. Ooh. A little window just came up asking if I want to chat. I wonder if the chat person would do the reversal?
Also, Capital One has been giving me an offer that they'll let me transfer a balance to my account (I have up to $1200) at my current purchase rate (which is 17.9%.) I've avoided doing that, even though I have higher interest rate balances because most of the balance I have with Capital One is a special interest rate (1.9%) and I think all payments made to Capital One go against that lower interest rate balance and leave the higher interest rate balance accruing interest for longer. I should probably transfer what I can. My highest rate card (Chase) is 29.9%. I'm pretty sure getting any money I can out of that and into a lower interest rate would be better. It's just frustrating.
I decide to do the chat window and ask. She did the late fee reversal, no problem!
It's obvious she doesn't understand my interest rate question. She's explaining the transfer fee (which I won't have if I use this offer.) I stop her and ask again by giving her an example.
It turns out there is a way to pay down the higher interest rate balance if you have two balances with different interest rates. All the money from the minimum payment goes to pay down the lower interest rate. Any interest charged is charged at the higher interest rate so isn't touched by that (I wish I'd known that before!) Any money you pay over the minimum payment goes toward paying down the highest interest rate. So, each month I need to pay the minimum payment PLUS any interest fees charged PLUS some extra. That extra is what will pay down the higher interest rate balance. I think it's do-able. I'm glad I asked. I really appreciate knowing how it works and I don't think we could have explained all this over the phone. Yay for chat! I'm going to do it!
She also says since the interest accrues daily, I'm better off paying the bill right after the statement date rather than at the end of the billing cycle. I'd never thought of that. I bet it's the same on all my loans. I don't have the spare finances right now to switch that around, but I'll have to try and work toward that.
I asked her to mail the forms to me for authorizing automatic payments (for some reason they haven't gotten to me when mailed before.) She points out that now you can set automatic payments on-line. That's great! I go ahead and sign up for that!
Before I do the transfer I'm checking my Chase account. I'd been given 3 months interest free and I don't want to use this offer until the 3 months is almost up. I was right, it's up at the end of this billing cycle. It's a great time to make the transfer! $1200 less on the highest rate card! Woo Hoo!
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