Originally Posted by Squirm

Yesterday, we received our late payout from December 27th. (Total of 2 late payouts from December.)

However, a more recent payout, supposedly due January 5th (admittedly a Saturday), has not arrived as of the 8th (Tuesday). Is this going to be a weeks-delayed payout, too?

And there's something funky with our latest payout report. Given our thresholds, the payout should have been generated on Dec. 31, but wasn't generated until late January 3rd (or possibly very early January 4th). But the weird thing is, the payout report is back-dated to January 1st, but includes payments processed after that date.

(And has anyone else noticed ongoing problems with rounding errors in payout reports? Never more than a penny or two, and not necessarily in the same direction, but annoying and time-consuming to reconcile. This is something I reported to support many months ago.)

I bring these issues up not just to complain but to make a point for the benefit of Zombaio, should management care to listen:

I don't make a big deal when some businesses have problems with money. I go to restaurants that sometimes mess up the bill. I've go to home improvement stores that sometimes do not apply the correct price at the scanner. These are annoyances and you have to watch for them, but they are not the CORE BUSINESS. For the restaurant, the CORE BUSINESS is preparing good, tasty food, followed by serving that food in a friendly and efficient manner, with the billing associated being the 3rd priority. Necessary, but not the most important thing. The home improvement store's core business is having the items I need in stock and at an attractive price when I want them. As long as mispriced items seem accidental and rare (and not some kind of scheme to boost profits), I can put up with it so long as my core needs are met.

But Zombaio's core business is HANDLING MONEY. Acquiring money from my customer, and then delivering that money to me in a timely and predictable manner. That's it. The interests are aligned: The money management is the core business. Problems with money equals problems with the core. There are no good feelings coming from a succulent steak dinner or the satisfaction of buying the perfect cordless drill to offset the annoyance at money problems. Money is all you're supposed to do.

So that's why people get so upset when these delays occur, and why partial explanations will never be adequate to allay suspicions.

The best way for Zombaio to improve the perception is to never have this problem happen again.

The next-best way is for Zombaio to communicate clearly and proactively with us BEFORE these forum threads pop up. If an ACH didn't go out, explain why, and explain it BEFORE the payout date. (I note that there is still nothing in the "Message Center" or "What's New" sections of the control panel.)

The next-next-best way is for Zombaio to attempt to make it up to us when money is late by sending future payouts early, waiving payout fees, giving a momentary break on rates, etc.

A really bad way for Zombaio to improve perception is to act defensive, surprised, or annoyed, or to put out information which has inconsistencies. That would be bad.