A Special Interview by The Roving Reporter Chris Bell B&I Auto Supply UPExchange: Reporting from the Cloud by ETM
Limping along on a bent rim and three flat tires, our Roving Reporter made a pit stop at B&I Auto Supply in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. After learning B&I is a wholesale auto parts distribution operation and doesn t offer service to Roving Reporters and before walking home our dauntless scribe interviewed B&I s Chris Bell.
With three offices in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey and one in Virginia and with more than 3,000 customers Chris is many things. Bored isn t one of them. UPExchange: Reporting from the Cloud by ETM
Why do I get the sense that you re a busy man? Let s see. We have accounts receivable and about 3,000 customers. A few years ago, we were contacted by the State of Pennsylvania, which wanted to inform us that we may not be adhering to its unclaimed property guidelines. How am I doing so far? That s a pretty impressive start. What did you do after the State called? I got us back in compliance. But in so doing, I did all of the work and the filing myself. Because I believed there had to be a better way, I thought to myself, There has to be a better way. I can follow that logic. Yes. Ironically, in our second year of reporting unclaimed property -- getting ready to prepare the third year s records -- I received an email from ETM, telling me about UPExchange. My first thought was, There s my better way. My second thought was, I want to stay compliant, but I don t want to do it myself anymore. So, I called ETM. The cost for UPExchange was more than reasonable. Creating records and filing reports was so easy. And the ETM folks were so helpful. No-brainer?
Yes. In fact, I told the rep it was so easy that if they wanted to use me as a reference, they could. Then you end up talking to me. There s a downside to everything. [laughs] Thank you. Moving right along what s the nature of your unclaimed property? We have a very large number of customers. So, our records are exclusively for unclaimed credits. Customers sometimes over-pay. More often, they buy something, pay for it, then return the item. So, they have a credit and don t always use it. And for whatever reason, it confuses them. Some of them might go out of business. Then we have to turn the money over to the State. Not claiming credits due might be a short cut to going out of business. Go figure. How many unclaimed property records do you manage every year? UPExchange: Reporting from the Cloud by ETM
Well, we may not be the typical UPExchange user; but it s less than 20. That I didn t expect. You file that few records, you pay for UPExchange extended features, and you re happy with ETM s service. Have I got that right? Yes. And that s why I say we may not be typical. We pay $100 a year for UPExchange. That s it. Just $100. So I appreciate that because it would cost much more than $100 of my time to manage all these processes manually. I don t think the nice folks who issue my paycheck would appreciate that. Plus, it would be an annual event. I d have to reacclimatize myself with the process every year. And neither the size of my company nor the number of records I manage is important to ETM. That s a compliment to ETM and to whomever trains their people. At the time you bought UPExchange, were you aware of its endorsement by NAUPA? Who? The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. I was not aware of it.
So, one email from ETM. One phone call from you. And BINGO! you re a customer, sight unseen. It really was that simple and that easy. Well, I thank you, sir. You ve made my job easy. You seemed like you needed the help. [laughs again] UPExchange: Reporting from the Cloud by ETM
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