Company cell phone accounts

Our labor force in the USA Pavilion consists of the 1)Student Ambassadors and the 2)Full time staff, each of which has different pay, working conditions, levels of responsibility and respect, etc. Sure we get air conditioning, chairs, more leisure time, access to bathrooms, computers, refrigerators, and we get to take our lunch breaks whenever we want, but there are downsides to working in the office; more specifically, to working as a staff member in the office. The reason I have to fill out so many expense reports is that there are times before and after official working hours that special projects/extra tasks need to be completed and were not during working hours. This can lead to many extra expenses, one of which is cell phone bills to clients, coworkers, sponsors, delegations, entertainers, and more; the solution for this is, rather than reimburse people with tons of expense reports every month, we have company cell phone accounts. These cell phone accounts are assigned to specific people, and one of my tasks is to locate these people and enter their names next to their corresponding phone numbers in a spreadsheet titled "Cell Phone accounts." I have tracked most of these numbers to specific people, but certain other numbers are idle and we pay a minimum monthly fee for every unused line in order to have it ready for the next person who needs it. At the end of every billing cycle, we receive a package of invoices that record every fee for for every account, listed by phone number. I tally all of these accounts using Excel spreadsheets, double-check all of my work, and then email it to the assistant head of my department, Emily. She then makes out a check, gets all necessary signatures and stamps, and sends me to China Mobile to pay the whole cost in person. But wait, there's more.

I can't go to just any China Mobile location; I found out during my very first experience paying our bills that most locations only accept cash payments, and after two redirections and several hours of walking and taxi rides, I finally made it to the correct location for paying with checks. Once I arrive, the worker assigned to helping me begins to enter each individual bill for payment; sometimes their scanner gun is working, and when it is not working they have to enter each 15-digit account number by hand. After every invoice has been entered into the list, they will examine the check, call over the bank supervisor, and continue with the process. Some of my visits have been unsuccessful and frustrating for several reasons: maybe the check is unacceptable because of some small error, it has been slightly creased, the signature is in the wrong place, or some other reason that makes the trip useless. If you count all of my trips to China Mobile for the purpose of paying the bills, including the first two China Mobile locations who found out I could not pay with checks, I have had 6 unsuccessful attempts and 3 successful attempts; thus 50% of my trips have been wasted time, energy, and taxi fare (which I reimburse myself for!). Usually it's on my day off or after work, so it's especially disheartening.If they accept the check, then they go through and double-stamp every invoice using a special red stamp and then I go on my way with the invoices in my bag. Having a cell phone when I go is absolutely critical, by the way, because sometimes they do speak English but most of the time they do not. My Mandarin speaking ability is okay, but not good enough to find out why they have problems.

My next VIK blog will be about Motorola and how I match their donations to my efforts in getting the bills paid.