Nickel and dime
Recently, a friend and I went on a trip and it was agreed to use her Uber account to curtail on pricey cab fares. After the trip, we'd split the fares evenly and I'd write a cheque for my half. Approximately a month after we return, I get an email with the invoices (as per my request) to reimburse her.
To my surprise, the amount was way, way larger than anticipated. In fact, it was impossible that we took 12 Ubers in two days (this doesn't include the rides I took by myself on the same trip). How was that even possible?
Being the part-time accountant that I am, I go through every charge, item by item, and add up the numbers. To my surprise, I see my friend overcharged me by almost $50. She included rides that I wasn't even on in the cluster of charges and thought I wouldn't notice. I noticed. Oh yeah, I noticed.
Presumably, she saw all the invoiced rides with Uber in the heading - over a spread of several days - and added them together. That was her mistake. I wasn't going to let it be mine. But, since we're both adults, I was going to let this go and pay for my half.
To start, I removed the extra charges that had nothing to do with me, then I removed half of the charges she shared with me (i.e. cab fares), added them up, divided the amount in half, multiplied it by 1.5 (rather than the actual US exchange rate of approximate 1.35, because I was feeling generous) than rounded up the number by a few dollars.
In the end, she ended up getting more than she should've received, as per the correct calculations.
Not long after she collects the cheque (she wanted me to personally deliver it, but I wasn't going to travel 45 minutes - 1.5 hours if you include return travel - to the other side of the city), I got a passive-aggressive text a week later that referred to my accounting practices.
In the text, phrases like "I wouldn't try to nickel and dime you my friend" and "money issues break up way too many friendships" are thrown about.
My reaction was WTF. I don't reply. She got her money. I was done.
When I meet my sister the next week for lunch, I tell her about what happened. Then I show her the text.
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes. "Are all of your friends idiots?" She passes the phone back to me.
I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't nickel and dime them.
To my surprise, the amount was way, way larger than anticipated. In fact, it was impossible that we took 12 Ubers in two days (this doesn't include the rides I took by myself on the same trip). How was that even possible?
Being the part-time accountant that I am, I go through every charge, item by item, and add up the numbers. To my surprise, I see my friend overcharged me by almost $50. She included rides that I wasn't even on in the cluster of charges and thought I wouldn't notice. I noticed. Oh yeah, I noticed.
Presumably, she saw all the invoiced rides with Uber in the heading - over a spread of several days - and added them together. That was her mistake. I wasn't going to let it be mine. But, since we're both adults, I was going to let this go and pay for my half.
To start, I removed the extra charges that had nothing to do with me, then I removed half of the charges she shared with me (i.e. cab fares), added them up, divided the amount in half, multiplied it by 1.5 (rather than the actual US exchange rate of approximate 1.35, because I was feeling generous) than rounded up the number by a few dollars.
In the end, she ended up getting more than she should've received, as per the correct calculations.
Not long after she collects the cheque (she wanted me to personally deliver it, but I wasn't going to travel 45 minutes - 1.5 hours if you include return travel - to the other side of the city), I got a passive-aggressive text a week later that referred to my accounting practices.
In the text, phrases like "I wouldn't try to nickel and dime you my friend" and "money issues break up way too many friendships" are thrown about.
My reaction was WTF. I don't reply. She got her money. I was done.
When I meet my sister the next week for lunch, I tell her about what happened. Then I show her the text.
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes. "Are all of your friends idiots?" She passes the phone back to me.
I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't nickel and dime them.
Authored by S at 12:00 am
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