Missing money

A busy spring sports season in New Hampshire has limited the time I've had to set aside to write blog posts. Add to that the continued bakery shifts to help pay for Paris and the fact that for the second time in a year and a half, I have to move, and it's been a crazy few months.

But, that's to be expected, it's nothing new and we roll with the punches as they are dealt.

Earlier this month there was a punch I was certainly not expecting and it came in the form of the payments that I had made to the Paris Olympic Committee for my accommodations for this summer.

Media members pay for the accommodations in two payments, essentially divided in half, with the first payment due late last year and the second payment due earlier this month. I made the first payment through my account at TD Bank in Wolfeboro (thank you Tammy) via wire transfer. A few days later I checked our online account management system and my account listed the invoice as paid.

With all the paperwork in hand from that payment along with my new invoice, I visited TD Bank again on April 29 to make my second payment. Using the same account numbers, addresses and the like, I made another wire transfer (thank you Donna) and sent it on its way without anticipating any sort of problem.

Because of the aforementioned busy season, I forgot to check in on the status of my invoices until a few weeks ago and when I did I noticed that the second invoice was still listed as not being paid. Since the due date had passed, I sent an e-mail the accommodation team at Paris 2024 and received a reply asking if I had receipts from my transaction, as they did not have any record of it.

Of course I had said receipts. I quickly sent off an e-mail with pictures of all the wire transfer receipts as well as a photo of my bank account activity, which clearly had the wire transfer listed and no funds returned, as had been the case in Beijing when the money was not received correctly. I didn't hear anything back immediately, but a few days later got an automated e-mail from Paris 2024 accommodation stating that my second invoice had not been paid.

Once again, I sent an e-mail with all the said receipts attached, asking what I needed to do to make sure that everything was in order. While I haven't heard back from Paris to date, I did go on the accommodation management system today and my second invoice was listed as paid, so they do in fact now have my money.

To say this was at all a bit stressful is an understatement. While it was "just" $1,000, which in the grand scheme of the Olympics is not a ton of money, it was concerning to me that my hotel may not be reserved and I'd be out of luck when I arrived in Paris at the end of July. That stress added to the stress of moving and the busy sports season made for an interesting couple of weeks.

That being said, two months from now I should be in Paris, taking in the best athletes in the world doing their thing. It might be a little less stressful.

The Olympic flame made its way to Marseille earlier this month on the way to Paris in less than two months. (Photo from Olympics.com)