How should I handle this?

I am the treasurer for our office NCAA pool. One of the entrants is a dispatch driver from one of our other offices who I don't know very well.
I'm confident he never paid his entry fee and he says he did.
I don't think he's tryting to screw me, I think he thinks he paid. He remembers getting change and paying. I remember him going to the receptionist to get change, her not being there, and him saying he would pay later.
Not knowing the guy that well, I didn't want to argue.
Am I out his $10, or is there a way to collect without creating a potential conflict in the office?

 

Unless you have a system where you can show you checked everyone off or something, you're screwed.

Keep good records -- something that you can show.

If you say, "I've got a sheet of 50 people and yours is the only name not checked off and I have $490" he can't argue too much.

 

Ah, the memories ... in the years I ran the pool, I felt lucky when I was only $30 short.

 

Can you just take $10 off the total?

 

That's a good idea.

 

Until the other guy swears he gave you the money and you look like the dick who took $10 off the top of an office pool.

 

Just be lucky if your winner doesn't die, then you end up with a load of people screaming about what should be done with the money.

 

If he didn't win or finish in the money, what's it matter?

 

I don't know exactly how his pool works, but isn't the person who did win then receiving less money than what he/she thought? Given that it's $10, I would eat the money. I've had to do it before - lesson learned.

 

CB, when I saw you had posted, I was afraid that you'd post the pic again (shiver)

 

Subtract the $10 from the till. Make the payoff(s) from the remaining money. Tell all the winners that if they want the rest of the money, they have to track down that guy.

Then create a dead pool and set up stakes. This time, be sure to keep the books properly.