Quick thinking

A husband and wife are traveling by car from Key West to Boston .. After almost twenty-four hours on the road, they're too tired to continue, and they decide to stop for a rest. They stop at a nice hotel and take a room, but they only plan to sleep for four hours and then get back on the road.

When they check out four hours later, the desk clerk hands them a bill for $350. The man explodes and demands to know why the charge is so high. He tells the clerk although it's a nice hotel, the rooms certainly aren't worth $350 .. When the clerk tells him $350 is the standard rate, the man insists on speaking to the Manager.

The Manager appears, listens to the man, and then explains that the hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference center that were available for the husband and wife to use. "But we didn't use them," the man complains ... "Well, they are here, and you could have," explains the Manager. He goes on to explain they could have taken in one of the shows for which the hotel is famous. "The best entertainers from New York, Hollywood and Las Vegas perform here," the Manager says. "But we didn't go to any of those shows, "complains the man again .. "Well, we have them, and you could have," the Manager replies ... No matter what facility the Manager mentions, the man replies, "But we didn't use it!"

The Manager is unmoved, and eventually the man gives up and agrees to pay .. He writes a check and gives it to the Manager ... The Manager is surprised when he looks at the check. "But sir," he says, this check is only made out for $50."..... "That's correct," says the man. "I charged you $300 for sleeping with my wife." .. "But I didn't!" exclaims the Manager.. Well, too bad," the man replies... "She was here and you could have."

Quick thinking..... Similarly in marketing, it is those who can come up with such glib, make it to the top !

PayPal payments.. a note for users

Just a short note of caution for those who use PayPal… Although the below report is a bit out of date, it is advisable users just check for similar such reports prior to signing up...

" According to Internet-monitoring Company Netcraft, a security flaw on PayPal's site allowed hackers to steal credit card information from PayPal users. The vulnerability, first publicly announced on Friday, involved what is known as a cross-scripting attack. Those targeted by the attack received an e-mail, purporting to be from PayPal, that directed them to a special URL on the PayPal servers Relevant Products/Services from HP. At that page, they encountered an official-sounding notice. "Your account is currently disabled," it reportedly read, "because we think it has been accessed by a third party. You will now be redirected to the Resolution Center." Users were then taken to a non-PayPal server in South Korea, with a fake log-in page designed to capture private information -- including credit card and Social Security numbers. Users were requested at that site to remove any limits on funds being removed from their accounts. PayPal said that it has fixed the flaw and has gotten the Korean server shut down. PayPal also said that it was not clear how many people -- if any at all -- had been duped. PayPal does warn its users to enter their user names and passwords only on PayPal pages that begin with the following URL: https://www.paypal.com/. It also says that its users should never log in to PayPal from a link in an e-mail "

Unfortunately, it just is not PayPal’s fault…. It just is that the hackers are one on top or one step ahead...

So, basically try and opt in receiving cheques by mail, bank transfers with your clients, it may be slow and cumbersome but there are better chances of receiving the amount and less chances of the amount being hacked...

Now, this is just not PayPal’s problem alone... the other also face it, but since they share a lot less limelight than PayPal, they have a slighter edge ...

However, for those whose who clear their checks on a regular basis, there shouldn’t be much cause for concern as any discrepancy is immediately would be immediately identified by you...

Basically, keep regular tabs on your PayPal inflows and outflows ...