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blue_monkey_2

I am getting a bit confused by Doctors.... LOL!! Distractions!!

sasha - I've had lots of problems with declined cards lately. I take payment by card but do not take payment until goods have arrived, so I order the goods and lo and behold the card is declined and I am stuck with stuff I cannot sell. It happened twice last week.

Also, I switched to Protx and Barclaycard Business deferred my payments for one month. So come to pay the bills and the money was not there - as you say the bills still have to be paid. I called BCB and asked them why and was told that it was because I was an online retailer and my transactions were 'unsecure', so I said I had been using them for years so check the other account for chargebacks. They told me that I could speak to my (Barclays) business manager who then said they could let me have my money 'for a fee'. So basically, it's an overdraft!! Told them what they could do with their fee (politely) and will use my own overdraft to fund it for a few weeks until the money trickles in - for which I pay no fee for and much less when overdrawn. Screw the small business for money!!

So now I am left considering whether I should 'shadow' someones card for the transaction amount. It seems wrong, while it is not 'taking the money' for goods I have to order for them it feels like I am as they cannot have access to it - but people are trying to pay with cards that have no money on and I am still having to pay for the goods I've ordered in for them. Does anyone else have these troubles? It is very frustrating, trying to find the right way of doing things for you and them.

I bet you are wishing I had not found this thread now. Sorry.

TCM_3

Blue Monkey, I'm 100% with you and Sashanut.

Small businesses are not encouraged at all and I sometimes wonder why i bother putting in the hours and hours i do for little or no reward. We cannot drag people to us and make them spend their money yet we offer a more personal service to our customers than the big guys and try to keep prices at a minimum to encourage more people through our doors.

I recently had a customer bounce a cheque on me for quite a bit of money (he did it deliberately as he'd bounced one before and i said cash or credit card from then on and he had waited to pay till he knew i wasn't there) and went to the bank to extend my overdraft for a week as I had written cheques on the back of that one and guess what.... no. As it turned out I did not need to extend it but thought it better to be sure than pay extortionate charges.

Its an uphill battle sometimes. Am waiting today on a delivery that was meant to arrive last week that has been prepaid and i am fast losing patience with being fobbed off!!!

Rant over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

But it feels better!
T

sashanut

Ok reporting back - I have:

• found a box to post a doll after much searching
• cleaned & prepped one doll
• found a wig to go in with it
• washed & prepped another ready to go to Aus

Now I'm going to have 30mins outside me time;
then anotther 30 WORKING

Horace

I stopped for lunch and watched the news and had my neighbours fix. Since then I have been writing notes for my assignments so now I can see where I am going with them:j Just need to type them up and tinker with them some more.

Have been reading emails this afternoon - a company called I Will that is in the Midlands, seems to have rather exclusive magazines has invited me to have a stand at one of their fairs in either September, October or November - now do I justify the expense of paying out £240? It seems a lot and I hate the fact that they put the pressure on by saying book by x date and we'll give you 10% discount. Methinks I will have to wait because I don't think that I can currently justify spending that much:rolleyes:

With regard to my website - I do put links to businesses on it and if I don't get a reciprocal one or if the company really pi$$es me off then I remove their link - one company in particular has really annoyed me, she makes lovely wedding stationery and has now been promising me a sample pack for 12 months and yet it has never appeared:mad: She seems to have time though to exhibit at the NEC (its over £1000 for a stand there) and to send me silly emails about how she is doing the graphics for an album cover for an X Factor wannabe:mad: :mad: :mad: I need to remove her link and I have made a conscious decision not to use her in future:rolleyes:

With regard to your facebook page - did you set it up in your own name, as blue monkey or the name of your business? Did you set it as a group or a page? I have my own page for me and my personal stuff but also have a group for my business. I am no expert when it comes to facebook and have managed to set things up OK.

blue_monkey_2

I am glad my rant did not scare you all. It was a relief to share it.

I have just finished everything and am now milling around getting ready for getting the kids from school in 20 minutes, the post box is in the way so I do that too as I've only got little ones today. And making it look like I've been busy when hubby gets in from work of course. LOL.

I feel very organised today.

Purpleroses

Purpleroses wrote: »

[STRIKE]pack and label parcels ready for posting[/STRIKE] done
[STRIKE]update customer details[/STRIKE] mostly done
[STRIKE]send out invoices & update accounts[/STRIKE] done
tidy tower of files on desk nope and more has been added to it oh dear

2.5/4 ain't bad. Will finish other 2 tasks tomorrow. Today's been non stop and I had my first tourists of the year in the shop. Thank goodness i'd tidied!

moneymabel

blue_monkey wrote: »

I know, I kind of think I'd lose the will to live if I ended up in his hospital, LOL!!

Are we allowed to ask here whether we can link to each others websites but putting banners or something on them? ANyone up for linking to undies? I guess anyone selling fashion, babies stuff (I do maternity and nursing), weddings, etc... might be benefitcial to both of us. I've got quite a high ranking on google due to how long I've been trading so your linky would be picked up quite high too.

I've just printed out some invoices and noticed a message on one of them. Don't you just think 'uh-oh' to some orders, not actually sure I want to send the goods to this customer I have to say..... I can just 'feel' trouble all over it.

hi bluemonkey,
Have sent you a PM regarding a link :-)

blue_monkey_2

Just PM'd you back

cheekymonkey20

Thinkin bout getting myself a runaround.
Car £300 P reg, needs a paint job and the wheel barrings changed.
Insurance £770 per year (me and oh who is provisional- and were both quite young)
Tax - £120 for 12 months.
gonna save for a little while before i do stuff to it and gonna declare it scorn for a while until i have the money, do you know whether a) can put it towards business expenses and b) whether or not i have to insure it when it is scorn

Horace

You may still have to insure the car if its SORN because what if someone pinches it?. Try taking your car to a cheaper garage - I use HLM in Factory Lane in Bromsgrove - they're very good and will even let you have a courtesy car for a day whilst they do your car.

I shall be in Northfield tomorrow - morning a trip to see the quack and then in the afternoon I am off to Associates hair dressers.

I have written notes for my assignments today and am tinkering with the wording before I type them up and submit them. I will do what I did with the others and just make it up as I go along.:rolleyes:

Look on Confused.com or something similar and then see if you can't use something like Quidco to get cashback when you take out your insurance.