I experienced a couple of financial system glitches recently. In one case, I was inaccurately charged for something I didn’t use – this may have been a manual glitch (hard to say). In another, I didn’t get back a refund for a hotel booking I canceled.
No, the system wasn’t out to get me. But system glitches happen from time to time.
The refund system at that particular hotel may be 99.99% accurate. But that doesn’t matter if you or I constitute the 0.01%.
The takeaway? Assume financial systems will break and that the break won’t be in your favor. Take a few minutes every week to review credit card charges, keep track of any outstanding refunds, and so on. And definitely stay on top of large transactions and payments.
The return-on-investment on those few minutes spent reviewing our finances every week is high.
Besides, better thorough than sorry.
