Free Money

Recently we decided to buy a new mattress. We

shopped around, and decided to buy our new mattress from Sit n Sleep. We also decided to buy
a new base for the mattress. After looking at the available bases, we selected a base having
several different adjustable positions for the mattress, it also has a vibration feature (very
relaxing). The base can be operated using a hand-held remote control. (See: Sherwood Elite
Edition Base, at: https://www.sitnsleep.com/sherwood-elite-edition-motion-base )
Sit n Sleep advertises a no interest payment arrangement. The salesman asked if I wanted to use
that arrangement. I jokingly said, Who can turn down free money?. I asked a few questions
about the no interest rate arrangement and he gave me answers (answers: most of which, I
discovered later, were wrong). I decided to agree to the no interest - two year payment plan.
The salesman said it would take about a month for the institution providing the credit
arrangement to set-up my new account and to send me information on my account and the
details on how to submit my payments.
When I received the account information, with the payment information, I entered the name of
the financial institution providing the financing in a key-words-search. I found several
derogatory comments about the institution in social media and on consumer review type
internet sites. After reading the derogatory comments I felt I had enough information to avoid
any pitfalls, and to avoid any disclosed (and exorbitant) late payment fees charged by the
institution.
I thought . . . all I have to do is mail my payment to the institution a day or two before, or on the
payment cycle beginning date, no problem.
My accounts billing cycle begins on the 2nd day of each month and, for my account, to avoid
their exorbitant late fees, payments must be posted to my account by the institution, before the
close of business on 25th day of each month. So, there is a 23 day window for payment
processing. The institutions payment address is a U.S. Postal Service Post Office Box in
Orlando, Florida. I live in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California. I figured I
could mail my payment a day or two before the 2nd of each month and it would arrive in the
institutions post office box very early in my accounts 23 day billing cycle. (The U.S. postal
service claims it provides delivery of envelopes weighing less than one ounce if mailed first class
($.49 now) in three days, or less, to all locations within the Continental United States, see:
https://www.usps.com/ship/mail-shipping-services.htm

Free Money by Bill George - pub. July 21, 2017 Page 1 of 3

To insure that everything would go smoothly with my payments, I photocopied the original
account document the institution sent me. It showed my account information, billing address
and the last four digits of my account with the credit provider. I use this photocopied document
as an enclosure with my payments - to assure rapid payment processing. And, before sending in
my first payment, I created 24 two-inch-by-four-inch mailing labels with the institutions
mailing address - including the four digit extension of the institutions Orlando Zip Code. (These
large mailing labels show the mailing address in Ariel 16 pica font Bold).
Even with all the precautions Id taken, my first two payments took in excess of 12 days (mail
time and payment processing time) to be posted to the My Account web-page at the institution.
In late June I was preparing my month-end payments. At the same time thinking about the
Independence Day Holiday on the first Tuesday in July, and I realized my July billing cycle
would renew on Sunday, July 2nd. I thought . . . with mail time and the institutions slow
payment processing, and with the upcoming holiday on the 4 th of July, I should mail my
mattress payment just a little in advance of the beginning of my next billing cycle. (See, June -
July 2017 Calendar, at: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/custom.html?
month=6&months=3&country=1&typ=2&display=1&df=1
I mailed my July 2017 billing cycle payment at the White Oak Station (Van Nuys) of the USPS
mid-day on Thursday June 29th. Friday, June 3oth was the last day of June. (When I wrote the
check I post-dated the check to July 3, 2017). My July billing cycle began on Sunday, July 2 nd.
Late in the first week of July I began checking the My Account web-page at the no interest rate
credit providing institution. At the same time, I also began checking the My Account web-page
at the bank from which my check would be debited.
On Tuesday the 11th of July, for the first time, my checking account reflected the debit for my
payment. I immediately went to the My Account page at the credit providing institution. My
payment had not yet posted to that My Account web-page. The next morning, I again checked
the My Account web-page at the institution financing the mattress and base. The My Account
web-page showed my third payment as reducing my loan balance. However, it didnt show the
payment as satisfying my July minimum payment due. On July 12 th the My Account page at the
credit provider - for the first time - indicated that my payment was processed on Saturday, July
1st, and indicated I still owed a payment for the July billing cycle: i.e. July 2nd through July 25th
2017.
On Wednesday July 12th I contacted this no interest rate credit provider to dispute their
handling of my payment. The agent I electronically chatted with said she could not adjust the
payment. I asked her to escalate the issue to her manager. She did, she showed the manager the
transcript of the chat. She said her manager agreed to adjust the payment as satisfying my July
payment cycle payment due. She said your next payment will be due on or before August 25 th. I
told her I would appreciate it she would see to it that my My Account web-page reflects this
change and shows the next payment due as, on / or before the close of business August 25 th. She
said her manager agreed to adjust the information on my My Account web-page as I requested.
She said the adjustment would take 48 to 72 hours to post. The change adjustment was not
made in 72 hours, so on Monday afternoon I again went to the credit providers chat function.
Fortunately, I was connected to the same agent I had chatted with on Wednesday the 12 th. I
reminded her that she had told me My Account information would be updated to reflect the
adjustment her manager had approved within 48 to 72 hours and the that period had expired

Free Money by Bill George - pub. July 21, 2017 Page 2 of 3

without any update. She said she would remind her manager of his commitment and the
update / adjustment to My Account would be made. No update adjustment was made.
I went to my My Account page at the bank where my account was debited for the payment on
July 11th. Photocopies of checks I write can be viewed and downloaded from that banks My
Account page. When I attempted to open the check photocopy which created the debit, it didnt
open. Then, I noticed that is was a bank-to-bank Automatic Clearing House (ACH) debit. I went
to a branch office of my bank and spoke with one of the officers. She told me that such
transactions can now be performed electronically without the necessity of the processing bank
submitting the physical (paper) check.
Today, July 21st I received an email from the credit provider. The email directed me to open a
link to an account notification posted by the credit provider. The account notification informs
me that the credit provider processed my payment on July 1st (Saturday?) not on or after July 2nd
(Sunday) the notification further states that no adjustment will be made to my My Account
information, and that my July billing cycle minimum payment is due on or before the close of
business on (Tuesday) July 25th.
Having read so many derogatory remarks about different aspects of this institutions handling of
payments, the un-fulfilled promises of its agents, and its eagerness to assess of late fees on its
interest free credit program, even when the institution bungles, or delays payment processing, I
have been suspicious and cautious.
So, because of my suspicions and my caution, early Monday July 17, 2017 I sent a second
payment which is intended to satisfy my July payment cycle. I sent this payment by United
States Postal Service Priority Mail which guarantees delivery in 1 to 3 business days and
provides the sender with package / letter tracking. I tracked this payment envelope. The
envelope was delivered to the credit providers post office box in Orlando Florida at 8:38am on
Thursday July 20, 2017.
This is getting interesting.

Disclosure: Several years ago I worked for a commercial bank. I was a Business Development Officer. I
focused on selling banking services to large businesses. One of the services I was responsible for selling
was Cash Flow Management. At that time, interest rates were much higher than they are now and
businesses saw advantages to working-the-float on receivables and payables.

Cash Management involved speeding up the processing of large incoming payments and slowing down the
payables payment processes. One of the ways companies could speed-up receivables processing was to use
a Postal Lock Box to receive incoming payments. Large companies would rent Postal Lock Boxes in
several different locations around the country, close to concentrations of their biggest customers. The
Lock Box locations were based on zip codes with the most rapid mail service delivering mail from the
concentrations of the customers. Payment processing was handled by a bank, or payment processor which
would rapidly process the payment and make the deposits to the businesss master concentration
account at the businesss main banking relationship. At that time, even a couple of days of interest income
(accruing repetitiously) on thousands of large payments can make a significant difference in cash flow and
profitability. For more on Cash Management and remittance processing see:
https://www.phoenixhecht.com/treasuryresources/Products/Postal_Survey.html

Free Money by Bill George - pub. July 21, 2017 Page 3 of 3