These Boots are Made For Walkin' or learning patience

Last week while Dakota was home we took him to "The Fin" to get work boots for school.  Boots are a requirement for the career center program he is taking this year.  (The Fin is a local place like Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops.)  Anyhow, we can put them in layaway, which is nice since they cost $160.

The lady ringing up our order hit the wrong button on the computer instead of paying a $20 payment she charged the whole amount on my debit card.  No big deal right....at least that is what I thought.  I assured the girl it was no big deal, she credited it back to my account and started over.

Needless to say, this simple error overdrew my account.  It froze the money in my checking account for 3 days.  In the mean time one check cleared and the initial $160 charge for the boots.  Two fees of $27.50 for pulling out funds that weren't there.  Ugh!!

I called the Fin, ended up talking to a parent of a former student.  I'm glad I was feeling nice that day.  I asked nicely, could they help me get the fees refunded in my account because I did not overdraw my account, it was a simple error on an employees part and I really wasn't angry I just wanted the fees refunded.  She was glad to help me.  She even called the next day to see if the bank refunded the money because they said they would.  I called her back on Monday to tell her they still hadn't refunded the money.

Tuesday, I noticed they refunded one of the fees, but not the other.

This time I had to be nice to the lady at the bank and see what was happening.  Ugh!  All over a pair of boots I put in layaway.  I called explained what happened.  She was aware because she had been talking with the lady at the Fin for the last several days.  She said, that the first charge had nothing to do with the Fin error.  I wish you could see my bank statement to see that the check that bounced, there was clearly enough money in there to cover the check and almost $100 more.  I asked her why would it overdraft for a check that obviously had enough money; was it possible that the Fin put a hold for $160 on my account and that would have been the reason for the overdraft.  She understood my plight and had to get her manager to refund the second overdraft fee.  My question is why did it take 2 days for the bank to refund the money that never was taken from my account anyhow?  Weird.

So, it took 1 week after the layaway purchase to get my checking account back to normal.  I am proud of myself.  Never did I raise my voice.  Never did I make anyone feel like I was degrading them.  I actually handled this with patience.  I made the choice that I wasn't going to get that girl in trouble and everything worked out.  Phew!

Lesson learned, when making a layaway purchase at the Fin...write a check or pay cash.  I hope Kota will appreciate all the hard work I had to do for his feet!