<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Hello!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">I am hoping for some feedback and possible advice.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><b>TL;DR:</b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">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. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Is your library/network experiencing this, is it an issue, and do you have a workaround?</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><b>Full details:</b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">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.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Here is an example of how this works:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><ul><li>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.</li></ul><div>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. </div><div><br></div><div>Here's an example of this:</div><div><ul><li>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.</li></ul><div>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.</div></div><div><br></div><div>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. </div><div><br></div><div>Here's a couple examples of how this works:</div><div><ul><li>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.</li><li>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.</li></ul><div>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.</div></div><div><br></div><div>How is this situation handled at your library? </div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading,</div><div>John</div><div><br></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><table style="color:rgb(80,0,80);font-size:12.8px;border:none;border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr style="height:0pt"><td style="border-right:0.5pt solid rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:top;padding:5pt"><p><img src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1xv3zj4-WEOzHMBgGFrEKewtklybPaZdX&revid=0B24YDjiYdnqFVEVlQ1ZRbGJSWCt0MmU1cWtTNGpkMWlvYXE0PQ" width="96" height="63"></p></td><td style="border-left:0.5pt solid rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:top;padding:5pt"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9872;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">John Amundson | Library Applications Supervisor | CW MARS</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9872;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font color="#000000"><a href="mailto:jamundson@cwmars.org" target="_blank">jamundson@cwmars.org</a> | <a href="tel:%28508%29%20755-3323" target="_blank">508-755-3323 x322</a></font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9872;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.cwmars.org/" target="_blank">https://www.cwmars.org</a></font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9872;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="https://www.mypronouns.org/he-him" target="_blank">He/Him/His</a></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><a href="http:///" target="_blank"></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>