I just learned today that at least one part of the U.S. Government is working. The Internal Revenue Service!
I made no assumptions about the IRS being open or closed by Donald Trump's shutdown. I sent my quarterly estimated Federal Income Tax payment by the due date. Normally, the IRS takes a few weeks to cash my check. When I checked my bank balance this morning, I found that my check had been cashed by someone. I can only assume that it was the IRS; the image of the back of the check is hard to read.
Showing posts with label IRS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IRS. Show all posts
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Monday, October 31, 2016
How many seconds in a minute and other corporate misdeeds
According to Apple, there are five seconds in a minute!
I just did a software update on my MacBook Air, and near the end, the screen said there were five seconds left. i watched and watched, but the number didn’t change. I did Mississippi-one, Mississippi-two and so on. I stopped at about Mississippi-thirty. A bit later, the counter disappeared. And a bit later, the system rebooted.
Yahoo! Finance redid their web page several weeks ago and took away drag and drop. I have a list of symbols in a TextEdit file that I would drag and drop in the symbol look-up list. I have been using this successfully and satisfactorily for years. Then poof! It didn’t work! I now had to copy and paste. Gosh! Drag and drop has been an Macintosh feature for over twenty years. Now Yahoo! decides its users don’t need drag and drop.
This week Yahoo! Finance flummoxed its users again by providing some very circuitous means of providing a list of quotes. Instead of a spreadsheet-like page, they have buried a text list on the side of the page. By some magical clicking, one can get the spreadsheet listing, but I haven’t memorized it yet.
Many users left comments complaining about this, but I doubt if there will be any change. Some threatened to go to Google Finance. I tried Google Finance and didn’t find it any easier to use.
My suspicion is that corporations put together focus groups and browbeat them into accepting what management wants to do. Then management browbeats long-time customers into accepting the changes by saying the changes were what focus groups wanted.
Of course, there are many fine corporations that bend over backward for customer satisfaction. Toyota has had some bad recalls, but many of their dealers bend over backward to provide customer satisfaction. My examples are Kari Toyota of Superior WI and Maplewood Toyota of Maplewood MN.
For the likes of the corporations that screw up the customer experience, I can only say that the U.S. Postal Service has historically provided far superior service, when Congress lets it. And believe it or not, the IRS too. I have had the IRS send me corrections on my returns, both for underpayment and overpayment.
I just did a software update on my MacBook Air, and near the end, the screen said there were five seconds left. i watched and watched, but the number didn’t change. I did Mississippi-one, Mississippi-two and so on. I stopped at about Mississippi-thirty. A bit later, the counter disappeared. And a bit later, the system rebooted.
Yahoo! Finance redid their web page several weeks ago and took away drag and drop. I have a list of symbols in a TextEdit file that I would drag and drop in the symbol look-up list. I have been using this successfully and satisfactorily for years. Then poof! It didn’t work! I now had to copy and paste. Gosh! Drag and drop has been an Macintosh feature for over twenty years. Now Yahoo! decides its users don’t need drag and drop.
This week Yahoo! Finance flummoxed its users again by providing some very circuitous means of providing a list of quotes. Instead of a spreadsheet-like page, they have buried a text list on the side of the page. By some magical clicking, one can get the spreadsheet listing, but I haven’t memorized it yet.
Many users left comments complaining about this, but I doubt if there will be any change. Some threatened to go to Google Finance. I tried Google Finance and didn’t find it any easier to use.
My suspicion is that corporations put together focus groups and browbeat them into accepting what management wants to do. Then management browbeats long-time customers into accepting the changes by saying the changes were what focus groups wanted.
Of course, there are many fine corporations that bend over backward for customer satisfaction. Toyota has had some bad recalls, but many of their dealers bend over backward to provide customer satisfaction. My examples are Kari Toyota of Superior WI and Maplewood Toyota of Maplewood MN.
For the likes of the corporations that screw up the customer experience, I can only say that the U.S. Postal Service has historically provided far superior service, when Congress lets it. And believe it or not, the IRS too. I have had the IRS send me corrections on my returns, both for underpayment and overpayment.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Good Service
Good service is something we often take for granted. If we get bad service we often don’t return. If we get good service, if convenient, we return again and again.
Many almost make a career of bashing government. Government is “bloated” and “inefficient”. Little do they consider all the ways that government makes their lives easier.
Two favorite targets of government bashers are the Postal Service and the Internal Revenue Service. So effective are these government bashers that others parrot their complaints without considering how necessary and effective these services are.
Five days a week, our mail carrier Sarah comes to our door and deposits mail in our box. She almost always has a smile, whether she trudges through knee-deep snow bundled up for minus twenty or she easily strolls across mowed grass in shorts. This attitude is found throughout the Postal Service, at least in Minnesota. If you stop at a Post Office with a long line at Christmas, the clerks treat each customer as if they were their only customers. When they have finished with your request, they ask, “Anything else?”
Filing taxes is a chore most of us dread. Why so many details to note? Did I remember every donation? Did I remember every dividend check? And on and on. As we plow our way through all these details and curse that we still owe money, we curse the IRS. But the IRS didn’t create all these rules except at the bidding of Congress. And Congress created a complex tax code to satisfy thousands of lobbyists. To top it off, Congress doesn’t fund the IRS sufficiently to do all that it is required to do effectively.
A few weeks ago I received an IRS letter. Oh, boy! Did I screw up some calculation or miss an item? Do I owe even more money? I opened the letter to get the pain over quickly and found that I will be receiving a refund check! I used a wrong percentage for a calculation and have less taxable income than I reported.
I know most of this is automated but real people had to be involved to double check and order the refund. As all large organizations do, the letter said I would receive payment in four-to-six weeks. I think I received it in a week or ten days.
But that same Congress that bashes the IRS bashes the Postal Service. It saddled the Postal Service with the requirement to fully-fund future pensions, farther out than many corporations are required. For example, as of the last letter I received about my Unisys pension, it was only funded at 77 percent!
The result of this pension burden on the Postal Service is that it has to cut services. But if the Postal Service cuts services then what costs will be incurred by the public? When rural post offices are cut, how many people will have to spend time and money to drive thirty or more miles to the nearest post office? If the Postal Service consolidates sorting centers, how much longer will it take for businesses to provide service to their customers?
For example, Netflix has a Duluth distribution center. Instead of two-day turnaround for a DVD, turnaround from the Duluth center could be four days. That means, Netflix would probably close its Duluth distribution center, taking jobs direct and indirect with it.
UPS often uses the Postal Service for the “last mile” for small packages. I’m not sure exactly how this works, but if the Duluth postal sorting center closes, then USPS will have to change its procedures to have its center nearest the Postal Center handle these “last mile” packages. That will take a major reworking of UPS’s operational procedures.
I did not expect to write so much on government service. This leaves me less space to praise all the businesses local and national, big and small that provide good service.
I’ll start with a few that know me by name or at least recognize my face.
Every so often I buy something from Denny’s Lawn and Garden, but more often I come in with a question or a broken something. Tom is always ready to answer my questions or explain what has to be fixed.
Across the street at Denny’s Hardware, Yvonne always has a smile and is ready to point me in the right direction or to the right person. Even when the person is new to me, they seem to know where what I want is located.
Whenever I want to buy a book, The Bookstore at Fitgers can quickly tell me if its in stock or if it has to be ordered. Northern Lights Books provided the same service.
I buy boots and jeans every few years at Minnesota Surplus, but Rick and others recognize me and cheerfully serve me. Similarly, I buy a couple of shirts every few years at Mainstream for Men, and maybe a belt. Doug and Tom always treat me as if I were their favorite customer.
Oh dear, the word count is going up too fast. I have some favorite corporate places, but I’ll just end with a bit about Menards. Often a clerk will walk half-way across the store to show you where an item is. The king of service at Menards was Roy. People sought him ought for advice because he always seemed to have the right answer. He’s been retired for many years, but many still remember him.
Mel buys both local and corporate; he drinks Duluth beer and Italian wine. And he forgot to mention Brandon and crew at Mt. Royal Bottle Shoppe.
Originally published in the Reader Weekly, 2014-07-10 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/07/17/3739_good_service.
Many almost make a career of bashing government. Government is “bloated” and “inefficient”. Little do they consider all the ways that government makes their lives easier.
Two favorite targets of government bashers are the Postal Service and the Internal Revenue Service. So effective are these government bashers that others parrot their complaints without considering how necessary and effective these services are.
Five days a week, our mail carrier Sarah comes to our door and deposits mail in our box. She almost always has a smile, whether she trudges through knee-deep snow bundled up for minus twenty or she easily strolls across mowed grass in shorts. This attitude is found throughout the Postal Service, at least in Minnesota. If you stop at a Post Office with a long line at Christmas, the clerks treat each customer as if they were their only customers. When they have finished with your request, they ask, “Anything else?”
Filing taxes is a chore most of us dread. Why so many details to note? Did I remember every donation? Did I remember every dividend check? And on and on. As we plow our way through all these details and curse that we still owe money, we curse the IRS. But the IRS didn’t create all these rules except at the bidding of Congress. And Congress created a complex tax code to satisfy thousands of lobbyists. To top it off, Congress doesn’t fund the IRS sufficiently to do all that it is required to do effectively.
A few weeks ago I received an IRS letter. Oh, boy! Did I screw up some calculation or miss an item? Do I owe even more money? I opened the letter to get the pain over quickly and found that I will be receiving a refund check! I used a wrong percentage for a calculation and have less taxable income than I reported.
I know most of this is automated but real people had to be involved to double check and order the refund. As all large organizations do, the letter said I would receive payment in four-to-six weeks. I think I received it in a week or ten days.
But that same Congress that bashes the IRS bashes the Postal Service. It saddled the Postal Service with the requirement to fully-fund future pensions, farther out than many corporations are required. For example, as of the last letter I received about my Unisys pension, it was only funded at 77 percent!
The result of this pension burden on the Postal Service is that it has to cut services. But if the Postal Service cuts services then what costs will be incurred by the public? When rural post offices are cut, how many people will have to spend time and money to drive thirty or more miles to the nearest post office? If the Postal Service consolidates sorting centers, how much longer will it take for businesses to provide service to their customers?
For example, Netflix has a Duluth distribution center. Instead of two-day turnaround for a DVD, turnaround from the Duluth center could be four days. That means, Netflix would probably close its Duluth distribution center, taking jobs direct and indirect with it.
UPS often uses the Postal Service for the “last mile” for small packages. I’m not sure exactly how this works, but if the Duluth postal sorting center closes, then USPS will have to change its procedures to have its center nearest the Postal Center handle these “last mile” packages. That will take a major reworking of UPS’s operational procedures.
I did not expect to write so much on government service. This leaves me less space to praise all the businesses local and national, big and small that provide good service.
I’ll start with a few that know me by name or at least recognize my face.
Every so often I buy something from Denny’s Lawn and Garden, but more often I come in with a question or a broken something. Tom is always ready to answer my questions or explain what has to be fixed.
Across the street at Denny’s Hardware, Yvonne always has a smile and is ready to point me in the right direction or to the right person. Even when the person is new to me, they seem to know where what I want is located.
Whenever I want to buy a book, The Bookstore at Fitgers can quickly tell me if its in stock or if it has to be ordered. Northern Lights Books provided the same service.
I buy boots and jeans every few years at Minnesota Surplus, but Rick and others recognize me and cheerfully serve me. Similarly, I buy a couple of shirts every few years at Mainstream for Men, and maybe a belt. Doug and Tom always treat me as if I were their favorite customer.
Oh dear, the word count is going up too fast. I have some favorite corporate places, but I’ll just end with a bit about Menards. Often a clerk will walk half-way across the store to show you where an item is. The king of service at Menards was Roy. People sought him ought for advice because he always seemed to have the right answer. He’s been retired for many years, but many still remember him.
Mel buys both local and corporate; he drinks Duluth beer and Italian wine. And he forgot to mention Brandon and crew at Mt. Royal Bottle Shoppe.
Originally published in the Reader Weekly, 2014-07-10 at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/07/17/3739_good_service.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
If you have nothing to hide, why worry?
Supporters of the NSA wire-tapping and of the PATRIOT Act assert that if we have nothing to hide, why should we be concerned. Consider that an administration may construe any criticism of itself to be criminal and covered by the PATRIOT Act. Don't laugh, but there have been people who have privately called their leaders jerks and put in prison for it. Don't laugh, Joseph McCarthy hounded people for their political beliefs. Don't laugh, Richard Nixon had his enemies list of people who were critical of his policies. Don't laugh, George W. Bush said, "You are either with us or against us."
But how many of these same people don't apply the same reasoning to corporate labels. If a corporation has nothing to hide in its products, then why is it concerned about laws concerning labeling? If GMO foods are good for you, then what do corporations have to hide in having laws past to prohibit labeling foods as GMO?
If various political front organizations of any stripe have nothing to hide, why do they need 501(c) status? Could it be that the law requires candidates to give the names of their donors but a 501(c) organization doesn't have to? If you live in California and want to contribute to a candidate in Wisconsin, why do want to hide that you are an out-of-state donor?
Consistency has never been a hall-mark of those with uncompromising political mind-sets.
But how many of these same people don't apply the same reasoning to corporate labels. If a corporation has nothing to hide in its products, then why is it concerned about laws concerning labeling? If GMO foods are good for you, then what do corporations have to hide in having laws past to prohibit labeling foods as GMO?
If various political front organizations of any stripe have nothing to hide, why do they need 501(c) status? Could it be that the law requires candidates to give the names of their donors but a 501(c) organization doesn't have to? If you live in California and want to contribute to a candidate in Wisconsin, why do want to hide that you are an out-of-state donor?
Consistency has never been a hall-mark of those with uncompromising political mind-sets.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Quote of the day - Ease of use
"Everything syncs without us having to think about it." - Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 2011-06-06, on introducing iCloud
Hey Steve! How about coming to my house and think about syncing my iPod and MacBook Pro? I have spent I don't know how many hours trying to restore dropped calendars and contacts or remove duplicate entries in either.
Maybe it's Microsoft's fault. These problems seem to have started when I switched from Office 2008 to Office 2011. Microsoft replaced Entourage in the former with Outlook in the latter. Similar software, but as usual, the new improved version can be several steps backward.
I don't know how many times I've searched in Apple's and Microsoft's support pages. Lots and lots of people report the problem, but few people, if any, answer with a solid long term solution. I've tried some, and some have worked for a while. But like the infamous cat, it always comes back.
I've called AppleCare and got some advice that sort of helped. But the cat came back.
I looked in Apple's support pages and did find a more detailed solution. It sort of seems to have worked, but I had duplicates going back to 2002, like 20 Christmas days on the same day and six voice lessons on the same day. I've spent well over an hour eliminating the duplicates in 2002. At least for the holidays I won't have to delete duplicates in later years, but all those other activities, it remains to be seen.
Also, I don't know what the side effects of deleting ALL the files in the cache folder. There was stuff for TurboTax, Google Earth, Adobe, and I've forgotten what else. At least they are backed up on my Time Machine.
Ah! Time Machine, that marvelous hourly backup in the background. Background? Hah! When the backup is busy for over an hour, lots of other things slow down and certainly make me think about it.
No, I'm not going to go over to the dark side. Microsoft Office is enough.
But I certainly wish you would run a company that is more efficient than the IRS, which contrary to Republican doctrine, does a nice job of co-operating with private companies to make reporting and refunds quick.
P.S. Thanks to the messed up composing page in Google's Blogger, I couldn't post this right away. Or maybe it was because Apple's instructions to delete the cache. I fixed the problem by quitting and restarting Firefox.
Hey Steve! How about coming to my house and think about syncing my iPod and MacBook Pro? I have spent I don't know how many hours trying to restore dropped calendars and contacts or remove duplicate entries in either.
Maybe it's Microsoft's fault. These problems seem to have started when I switched from Office 2008 to Office 2011. Microsoft replaced Entourage in the former with Outlook in the latter. Similar software, but as usual, the new improved version can be several steps backward.
I don't know how many times I've searched in Apple's and Microsoft's support pages. Lots and lots of people report the problem, but few people, if any, answer with a solid long term solution. I've tried some, and some have worked for a while. But like the infamous cat, it always comes back.
I've called AppleCare and got some advice that sort of helped. But the cat came back.
I looked in Apple's support pages and did find a more detailed solution. It sort of seems to have worked, but I had duplicates going back to 2002, like 20 Christmas days on the same day and six voice lessons on the same day. I've spent well over an hour eliminating the duplicates in 2002. At least for the holidays I won't have to delete duplicates in later years, but all those other activities, it remains to be seen.
Also, I don't know what the side effects of deleting ALL the files in the cache folder. There was stuff for TurboTax, Google Earth, Adobe, and I've forgotten what else. At least they are backed up on my Time Machine.
Ah! Time Machine, that marvelous hourly backup in the background. Background? Hah! When the backup is busy for over an hour, lots of other things slow down and certainly make me think about it.
No, I'm not going to go over to the dark side. Microsoft Office is enough.
But I certainly wish you would run a company that is more efficient than the IRS, which contrary to Republican doctrine, does a nice job of co-operating with private companies to make reporting and refunds quick.
P.S. Thanks to the messed up composing page in Google's Blogger, I couldn't post this right away. Or maybe it was because Apple's instructions to delete the cache. I fixed the problem by quitting and restarting Firefox.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
The friendly IRS
Tonight I had another encounter with a friendly government employee. Some people consider that an oxymoron, but I have often found that people employed to give service generally give good service, whether in government or private enterprise.
I had difficulty finding the PDF for a tax schedule at www.irs.gov. I could find the instructions for it but not the form itself. I finally went to the help page, looked up the number for the web page help desk, and dialed it. With two more numbers I reached a very friendly fellow in one ring, and he led me to the form in two steps.
I should have asked if he was a government employee or a contractor. Whatever, somebody on the government side was responsible for being sure those on the front line were friendly.
I had difficulty finding the PDF for a tax schedule at www.irs.gov. I could find the instructions for it but not the form itself. I finally went to the help page, looked up the number for the web page help desk, and dialed it. With two more numbers I reached a very friendly fellow in one ring, and he led me to the form in two steps.
I should have asked if he was a government employee or a contractor. Whatever, somebody on the government side was responsible for being sure those on the front line were friendly.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Look who's outsourcing!
It is tax time and time to figure out all the labyrinthian details that Congress has charged the IRS with implementing. I must say that the IRS had done a lot of work to make our work easier - PDF savable files for forms, online calculators to determine if you need a particular form, and many other features that often make it easier than wading through all the paper instructions. Oh yes, no more trips to the library to get forms that weren't included in your personal mailing.
I used one of those calculators yesterday. It's fields were to small to enter in the number of digits that I should enter. I found a contact link and filled out a web mail about the problem.
Within a few hours, maybe less, I had a response from IRS Help Desk asking what operating system and browser I was using. I sent all the requested information back this afternoon and within an hour or so I had a response that my info would be forwarded to the appropriate department for review.
Hey, that is speedy government service. Wait a minute! The email address is not irs.gov but speedymail.com. Hm! Who's speedymail.com?
It is AFFINA, a "one-stop-shop solution for customer relationship management." The story doesn't stop there. In 2006 AFFINA joined Hinduja Global Solutions Limited http://www.hindujagsl.com Hm! One guess in what country that company is located.
Some may complain that the U.S. Government should not be exporting jobs. But I can't say that it is. I don't know where the work of AFFINA is conducted. Besides, the idea of where jobs for a government are done often gets down to we can export our stuff but you can't export yours to us.
When I worked in Europe, for an American company, I was called in for software assistance to the French Army, the Swedish Police (Rikspolisen), the Swedish Auto Registry (Bilregistret), and a few other government agencies. They all had bought American-made Univac computers.
And even more crazy, many European customers thought the American programmers knew more than the local programmers. On some things this was true and on others just the opposite.
Back to speedymail.com, the writing of the messages was straightforward. None of the elaborate "It is my pleasure to serve you today" or turns of phrase that almost shout "Non-native speaker".
I used one of those calculators yesterday. It's fields were to small to enter in the number of digits that I should enter. I found a contact link and filled out a web mail about the problem.
Within a few hours, maybe less, I had a response from IRS Help Desk
Hey, that is speedy government service. Wait a minute! The email address is not irs.gov but speedymail.com. Hm! Who's speedymail.com?
It is AFFINA, a "one-stop-shop solution for customer relationship management." The story doesn't stop there. In 2006 AFFINA joined Hinduja Global Solutions Limited http://www.hindujagsl.com Hm! One guess in what country that company is located.
Some may complain that the U.S. Government should not be exporting jobs. But I can't say that it is. I don't know where the work of AFFINA is conducted. Besides, the idea of where jobs for a government are done often gets down to we can export our stuff but you can't export yours to us.
When I worked in Europe, for an American company, I was called in for software assistance to the French Army, the Swedish Police (Rikspolisen), the Swedish Auto Registry (Bilregistret), and a few other government agencies. They all had bought American-made Univac computers.
And even more crazy, many European customers thought the American programmers knew more than the local programmers. On some things this was true and on others just the opposite.
Back to speedymail.com, the writing of the messages was straightforward. None of the elaborate "It is my pleasure to serve you today" or turns of phrase that almost shout "Non-native speaker".
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