[Evergreen-circ] Payments on Overdue Items Apply to Lost Charge

Wed Feb 3 16:26:42 EST 2021

Hi John,

I had to look quite far back to find some examples, but I did confirm that
the same behavior happens when using Long Overdue.

If any type of payment (including forgive) is made on overdue fines, and
then the item is marked Long Overdue, all overdue billings are adjusted,
and the result is that the original payments reduce the balance owed below
the bill amount.

Perhaps it's not as much of an issue for us because of our billing timing,
and because billing is currently suspended.

If you want to open a bug, I'll be happy to confirm it.

Michele
--
Michele M. Morgan, Technical Support Analyst
North of Boston Library Exchange, Danvers Massachusetts
mmorgan at noblenet.org

On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 12:41 PM John Amundson <jamundson at cwmars.org> wrote:

> Thanks, Dawn.
>
> That's helpful.
>
> The workflow unfortunately does require staff noticing the discrepancies
> and then adjusting, which leaves us in a similar boat to what we are in now.
>
> I'm hoping that there's ultimately an automated solution to this.
>
> John
>
> John Amundson | Library Applications Supervisor | CW MARS
>
> jamundson at cwmars.org | 508-755-3323 x322 <%28508%29%20755-3323>
>
> https://www.cwmars.org
>
> He/Him/His <https://www.mypronouns.org/he-him>
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 12:05 PM Dawn Dale <ddale at georgialibraries.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi John,,
>>
>> When a patron has overdues of $2.00 and they are forgiven and then
>> reversed leaving a balance of -$2.00 that then gets applied to the cost of
>> the item, $25.00, it leaves a balance of $23.00.  The cost of the item is
>> still $25.00 but the summary shows $23.00.  I would have staff "adjust to
>> zero" the negative balance bill so that the summary shows $25.00.  It
>> will mean staff will need to be diligent in looking at the patron bills
>> before taking payment though. Someone could look at the patrons with
>> negative balances daily and make those adjustments but depending on how
>> many patrons that would involve, that may not be doable.
>>
>> I hope this helps some.
>>
>>
>>
>> *Dawn Dale, PINES Services Specialist - Circulation*
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Georgia Public Library Service
>>
>> 2872 Woodcock Blvd, Suite 250 | Atlanta, GA 30341
>>
>> (404) 291-2800, ddale at georgialibraries.org
>>
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>>
>> On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 10:56 AM John Amundson <jamundson at cwmars.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello!
>>>
>>> I am hoping for some feedback and possible advice.
>>>
>>> *TL;DR:*
>>> We are having an issue where payments made while an item is overdue are
>>> deducted from the replacement cost if the item becomes Lost. This is an
>>> issue for some of our libraries because of how funds are handled. We have
>>> tried adjusting settings to help with this, but without the desired result.
>>>
>>> Is your library/network experiencing this, is it an issue, and do you
>>> have a workaround?
>>>
>>> *Full details:*
>>> In our system, checked out items become LOST at 28 days overdue, and we
>>> do not use the Long Overdue setting. When an item becomes LOST, settings
>>> are in place so that the overdue fines are reversed, and only the
>>> replacement charge of the item is due.
>>>
>>> Here is an example of how this works:
>>>
>>>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fines. Then the item becomes
>>>    lost, which reverses the overdue fines and adds a $25.00 replacement cost.
>>>    The patron owes a total of $25.00 for the transaction.
>>>
>>> This works well most of the time. However, with the pandemic and many
>>> libraries forgiving fines, we are running into a situation more often. If
>>> an item's overdue fines are paid for or forgiven while an item is still
>>> checked out and overdue, and the item becomes lost, the "payment" made
>>> against the overdue is applied to the lost charge.
>>>
>>> Here's an example of this:
>>>
>>>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fines. While overdue, the fines
>>>    are forgiven. The item becomes lost, which reverses the overdue fines and
>>>    adds a $25.00 replacement cost. The $2.00 "payment" is not reversed, and
>>>    the patron now only owes $23.00 for the bill.
>>>
>>> This has been problematic for some of our libraries because overdue
>>> fines and lost charges go to separate accounts. For others, it's a problem
>>> simply because they are not receiving the full replacement cost.
>>>
>>> After some discussion, we investigated adjusting our library settings so
>>> that overdue fines are not adjusted when an item becomes lost. So, when an
>>> item becomes lost, its overdue fines are still owed.
>>>
>>> Here's a couple examples of how this works:
>>>
>>>    - An item accrues $2.00 in overdue fees and then becomes lost. The
>>>    item's replacement cost of $25.00 is charged. The patron owes a total of
>>>    $27.00 for the transaction.
>>>    - The item's $2.00 in fines are forgiven while the time is still
>>>    checked out. The item becomes lost. Only the $25.00 replacement cost is
>>>    owed for the transaction.
>>>
>>> The issue with this behavior is that it doesn't solve the underlying
>>> problem, and libraries still need to be diligent to ensure fines/lost
>>> charges are collected appropriately.
>>>
>>> How is this situation handled at your library?
>>>
>>> If there isn't a current workaround, I plan to open up a bug report on
>>> Launchpad, but I wanted to check with the list first to make sure we are
>>> not missing something.
>>>
>>> In an ideal world, a setting could be enabled so that payments made
>>> while an item is overdue are also adjusted in some manner so that the
>>> payment does not affect the lost charge.
>>>
>>> Thanks for reading,
>>> John
>>>
>>> John Amundson | Library Applications Supervisor | CW MARS
>>>
>>> jamundson at cwmars.org | 508-755-3323 x322 <%28508%29%20755-3323>
>>>
>>> https://www.cwmars.org
>>>
>>> He/Him/His <https://www.mypronouns.org/he-him>
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