GTKlaus
Fritz
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2017
- Messages
- 23
Disclaimer: I attended Ga Tech in the late 70's, did not graduate from Tech, but have been a huge basketball and football fan since my days in Atlanta. I recently relocated closer to Atlanta after stints in California and Texas and have started to attend many more Tech games in person than in the past. With that as background, and noting that I don't have much time to spend on StingTalk, I will leave it to the moderator as to where this article should live on the forum (Note: I posted this as a "new thread" because I think this topic is very important and deserves singular priority).
Ok, so here's the story. On 1/10/18 I told a GTAA guy I'd donate to the new football recruiting effort and mailed off a check that night (actually put in my local PO's box for quicker pickup) as he said he'd comp me a ticket to the Virginia game if he got the check in time. On 1/18, the day of the Virginia game, apparently the check had still not been received nor cashed. I live less than 2 hours from Atlanta. I finally had to call my bank and cancel the check a week later.
Being a man of my word, and actually getting a Virginia ticket (which in itself was a whole other experience and a not too pleasant "will call" experience ... but I don't want to digress from the main story line) I wrote another check this time being absolutely positive the address was correct. Two weeks later this check too had not been cashed. Neither letter was returned to me. Apparently, both donation checks just evaporated into thin air. This has never happened to me once in my life, let alone twice - and to the same receiver: GTAA!
I finally thought, this is friggin ridiculous. Something that should be fun and full-filling has turned into a stressful issue regarding my time to figure out - why aren't my checks getting cashed and at what point do I call the bank and cancel them? Grrrrrrr.....
So at this point the engineer in me wants to fix the problem - i.e. trace the check from whoever opens the mail and try to figure out where this (simple...) process is broken. So I pull up the GTAA directory and start dialing numbers on Thursday afternoon. With number after number - no one answers and I get message machines. Huh!? I finally leave a message to the executive assistant - "Hey, I am mailing in checks, they aren't getting cashed, what's going on? Please call me."
No call-back on Thursday nor all day Friday. Seriously?
Seems like there are a couple possibilities (or at least two main ones):
1) The entire GTAA staff goes to lunch on Thursday (Wednesday?) and that's it for the week or
2) They just don't care that much about donations or contacting donators.
Neither one sits well with me. Full disclosure - the check(s) were only for $100. But they don't know me ... they don't know if I'll do that once a year or once a month, or add some zeros to it. Or make another donation to basketball ... or to the College of Electrical Engineering. But the amount really isn't the issue. And it makes me wonder, is this happening to anyone else? How many people may have just thrown up their hands and said to hell with this, I give up? Because that is exactly where I'm at right now.
Then what is the deal with all the people at high-levels in the GTAA that didn't even graduate or flunk out of GT (but likely still love the school)? How can the GTAA expect Big-10 school graduates to work like hell for GT (and put their heart and soul into it...) when the Big-10 already gets their ass regularly kicked in the Big10/ACC challenge with Georgia Tech's b-ball residing in the cellar? Maybe Tech beating NorthWestern this year on a last second shot is cause for grave concern on their part?
Do we think for a minute that either North Caroline or Duke has a non-alumni in key "donations" positions? Or UGA? I seriously doubt that. And as for the excuse that the GTAA cannot afford to hire a GT graduate because they make too much, bullshit. Not only do NC, Duke, and UGA students do pretty decent on their own, but there have got to be some big GT fans out there like me who would be happy as hell to work for the GTAA and put their enthusiasm to work for the school. What a great job to have - if nothing else to get to go to all the games!
The bottom line is over the years I have written many checks to the school I ended up graduating from (Louisiana Tech), my parents' colleges, and to many charities as well. I *always* get a prompt thank you response, a tax receipt, and an envelope for the next donations. At Louisiana Tech, if I write a check for the new Electrical Engineering Building, that is where it goes. For scholarships, that is where it goes. For sports, that is where it goes. Tech? They don't even cash my checks and I get no response at all that it has even been received! And neither of the letters came back to me via the return address sticker. They apparently were just "lost" forever.
Thus my title: what in hell is going on with the GTAA? Maybe the same entity that sent out the "support UGA against Alabama" message has corrupted the GTAA. That sure doesn't say much for a school that prides itself with "great engineering" and should have excellent cyber-security and IT infrastructure. But then again, if they can't even cash a check ....
Ok, so here's the story. On 1/10/18 I told a GTAA guy I'd donate to the new football recruiting effort and mailed off a check that night (actually put in my local PO's box for quicker pickup) as he said he'd comp me a ticket to the Virginia game if he got the check in time. On 1/18, the day of the Virginia game, apparently the check had still not been received nor cashed. I live less than 2 hours from Atlanta. I finally had to call my bank and cancel the check a week later.
Being a man of my word, and actually getting a Virginia ticket (which in itself was a whole other experience and a not too pleasant "will call" experience ... but I don't want to digress from the main story line) I wrote another check this time being absolutely positive the address was correct. Two weeks later this check too had not been cashed. Neither letter was returned to me. Apparently, both donation checks just evaporated into thin air. This has never happened to me once in my life, let alone twice - and to the same receiver: GTAA!
I finally thought, this is friggin ridiculous. Something that should be fun and full-filling has turned into a stressful issue regarding my time to figure out - why aren't my checks getting cashed and at what point do I call the bank and cancel them? Grrrrrrr.....
So at this point the engineer in me wants to fix the problem - i.e. trace the check from whoever opens the mail and try to figure out where this (simple...) process is broken. So I pull up the GTAA directory and start dialing numbers on Thursday afternoon. With number after number - no one answers and I get message machines. Huh!? I finally leave a message to the executive assistant - "Hey, I am mailing in checks, they aren't getting cashed, what's going on? Please call me."
No call-back on Thursday nor all day Friday. Seriously?
Seems like there are a couple possibilities (or at least two main ones):
1) The entire GTAA staff goes to lunch on Thursday (Wednesday?) and that's it for the week or
2) They just don't care that much about donations or contacting donators.
Neither one sits well with me. Full disclosure - the check(s) were only for $100. But they don't know me ... they don't know if I'll do that once a year or once a month, or add some zeros to it. Or make another donation to basketball ... or to the College of Electrical Engineering. But the amount really isn't the issue. And it makes me wonder, is this happening to anyone else? How many people may have just thrown up their hands and said to hell with this, I give up? Because that is exactly where I'm at right now.
Then what is the deal with all the people at high-levels in the GTAA that didn't even graduate or flunk out of GT (but likely still love the school)? How can the GTAA expect Big-10 school graduates to work like hell for GT (and put their heart and soul into it...) when the Big-10 already gets their ass regularly kicked in the Big10/ACC challenge with Georgia Tech's b-ball residing in the cellar? Maybe Tech beating NorthWestern this year on a last second shot is cause for grave concern on their part?
Do we think for a minute that either North Caroline or Duke has a non-alumni in key "donations" positions? Or UGA? I seriously doubt that. And as for the excuse that the GTAA cannot afford to hire a GT graduate because they make too much, bullshit. Not only do NC, Duke, and UGA students do pretty decent on their own, but there have got to be some big GT fans out there like me who would be happy as hell to work for the GTAA and put their enthusiasm to work for the school. What a great job to have - if nothing else to get to go to all the games!
The bottom line is over the years I have written many checks to the school I ended up graduating from (Louisiana Tech), my parents' colleges, and to many charities as well. I *always* get a prompt thank you response, a tax receipt, and an envelope for the next donations. At Louisiana Tech, if I write a check for the new Electrical Engineering Building, that is where it goes. For scholarships, that is where it goes. For sports, that is where it goes. Tech? They don't even cash my checks and I get no response at all that it has even been received! And neither of the letters came back to me via the return address sticker. They apparently were just "lost" forever.
Thus my title: what in hell is going on with the GTAA? Maybe the same entity that sent out the "support UGA against Alabama" message has corrupted the GTAA. That sure doesn't say much for a school that prides itself with "great engineering" and should have excellent cyber-security and IT infrastructure. But then again, if they can't even cash a check ....
