A billing mishap
My business operates from a few different locations. We have one about an hour outside of the city, and another location right in the heart of downtown by the train station. A few months ago, the furnace in the downtown shop burned out on us. I called a commercial repair business & the two of us settled on the terms & price for the replacement furnace and the installation fees. The guy showed up for the job with a furnace that was not what I ordered! He apologized for the confusion. He wrote the order incorrectly. Just a few days later, they were able to come in with the correct furnace. They were quick to fix their mistake, so I didn’t think much of the misunderstanding. All I cared about was having a functioning furnace in my business. When we have large purchases for the business, we don’t typically pay right on sight. These kinds of transactions are made through the commercial account and require an invoice. When the invoice from the HVAC company came in, I was shocked with what I saw. We agreed on a price tag that was literally thousands of dollars lower than the invoice. I called the owner & operator of the furnace replacement contracting supplier & he passed me right along to his bookkeeper. I thought it was weird that the owner of the company did not handle his own finances and transactions, though I suppose that I am more meticulous at record-keeping than other people. When I spoke with the bookkeeper, I found out exactly why the bill was so high. The company included both of the furnaces on the bill. It took a few minutes to sort out the mess, however I certainly wasn’t going to let it go until the mess was fixed.