I am the editor for the Michigan Beekeepers Association‘s (MBA) quarterly newsletter, and I wrote this story for my “Editor’s Musing” section of the newsletter that came out in November. At the moment it was happening, it didn’t seem amusing at all, but after the fact, it makes for an interesting story, so thought I would also share it here….
As we all get our bees settled for the winter, I hope you are looking back on a successful 2023 season. For me, being a successful beekeeper is all about continuing to learn. It is one of the things I love most about beekeeping. That is why I am so sorry to have missed the fall MBA conference. (I need to teach someone else how to milk my goats!) I guess I was feeling especially sorry for myself, as I managed to create an alternative learning experience this weekend that will not soon be forgotten. First and foremost, I learned that you can teach an old dog (me) new tricks (electronic technology), but maybe it is not always the best idea….
Gen Z seems to think actual money is a thing of the past, so selling honey at market requires being able to accept electronic payments. My bank helped set me up with a Clover Go device that I use with a phone app. It all seemed pretty straight forward. What could go wrong? Well, this weekend proved I have much more to learn. For example:
- I learned that if you mistakenly hit the 00 key at the bottom of the screen, instead of the “Check out” button, which is right below it, and then pop the customer’s credit card into the device while chatting away with the customer, it will happily charge the customer $600 for their $6 purchase, without further prompting.
- I learned that it is not possible to issue a refund from the phone app.
- I learned that when you need to talk to customer service at the bank for instructions on how to issue a refund, that lovely music playing at the market suddenly isn’t so lovely, and you need to step away to hear what is being said.
- I learned that it takes more data to log on to the Clover website from your cell phone than it does to run the app, and farmers markets in rural areas can be slim on cellular data.
- I learned that not all guest Wi-Fi accounts let you log in without a password, and if you are at market at a rented venue, it can be hard to find someone who actually knows the password for the guest Wi-Fi.
- I learned that I am not smart enough to get my phone into speaker mode to talk to someone and access and interact with a website at the same time.
- And last but not least, I learned that when your mother passes by your market table, finds you absent, asks the vendor at the next table where you are, and is told “She had to step away for an urgent phone call”, she assumes that means someone died.
URGHHH! Thank goodness for the customer service rep at the bank manning the phone for device support on a Saturday morning. He stuck with me as I ran around trying to figure all that out and I was able to get the $600 refunded. As I apologized for the 10th time to my young customer (who else has to charge $6 because they came shopping with absolutely no cash on them?), she patted me on the back, and said “Hey, no problem. This technology stuff can be tricky”. Obviously, she has a grandmother somewhere!