D.C. Bar, You Got Some Balls

Note to D.C. Bar: you don't get to place deadlines on me to fix your mistakes. As a member of the D.C. bar, I pay my annual dues shortly after receiving their annual invoice. This year, I paid the D.C. Bar in mid-June. At the end of August, I received a refund check from the D.C. Bar, along with a note saying that I had paid twice. I didn't give this much attention, and figured that I had probably paid the first invoice, then received a reminder invoice before that payment was received, and then just reflexively paid again, forgetting that I had already paid once. I have done that before with my auto insurance company, which is also aggressive about sending payment reminders.

Then, a day or so ago, I received a voice mail message from someone at the D.C. Bar, stating that their refund to me was in error, and could I please return it. Today, I received an email message from the same person. However, her message states that "[t]he funds must be returned to our office by October 30, 2009." Oh really? As Sylvio Dante of The Sopranos might say, "what a fricken joke!" I sent an email back to the D.C. Bar as follows:

"Hi [name], I received a voice mail message from your office a couple of days ago. I am checking my records to verify whether the check was sent to me in error, as opposed to being sent to me possibly because I erroneously paid twice. Assuming that I agree that the check was sent to me in error, I will promptly send you a check in the same amount.

However, I find your statement that 'the funds must be returned to our office by October 30, 2009' rather curious. While I’m fairly confident that, if a check to the D.C. Bar is forthcoming, it will be sent well before the 30th, I certainly do not accept, and, frankly, am offended by, any D.C. Bar deadline placed on me to correct a mistake that the D.C. Bar has made and which the D.C. Bar took a long time to identify!"

That's as polite as I can be. Trust me, "curious" was not the first term I chose. Hey Sil, you believe the balls on these people?