He already paid you!!!

The BBQ Pit
1

And I already told you he’s not home at this time!!!

Friday, the 27th:

:::ring:::

“Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to JTL60hz?”

“He’s not in; can I take a message?”

“Yes, this is Jethro calling from Sprint PCS–”

“Wait; he already paid you people…Yes, he paid in-store…I believe it was on the 19th…Well, I don’t know why it wasn’t posted. But he did pay. And also, if you want to reach him, the only time is between 1pm and 5pm.”

“Okay, I’ll make a note of that.”

Today:

:::ring:::

“Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to JTL60hz?”

“He’s not in; can I take a message?”

“Yes, this is Beulah calling from Sprint PCS—”

“Look. I told this to someone else day before yesterday…no, I didn’t get his name. My husband paid his bill…yes, that’s the amount he paid, on the 19th. And I told that to the person who called on Friday. I also told him that the only time to reach JTL is between 1pm and 5pm on Friday. Do you have a note of that?..No? Well, it’s 5:05, and he left at 5. Please do not call other than between 1pm and 5pm because he will not be here.”

God damn motherfucking SHIT! I don’t know why the payment didn’t post, but I TOLD that motherfucker not to call except between 1 and 5. He goddamn fucking paid! If they don’t know they have their goddamn fucking money, that’s not his problem! And it’s definitely not mine!

And of course, I can’t get Mr. Rilch on his cell. He is going to call those shit eaters tomorrow and get this fucking settled. End of motherfucking story.

Anyone want to rate this?

2

I just went through this same crap with my auto insurance company. I got a notice of impending cancellation for a policy that I had paid for! It took 2 freakin’ weeks of phones calls to them and the bank to get it straightened out. The bank promised me they would fax a copy of both sides of the deposited check to the insurance company as proof of payment. It took another 2 days of phone calls to the bank before they actually sent the fax. And then they freakin’ sent a copy of SOMEBODY ELSE’S CHECK instead of mine! Two days later the insurance company said that they had finally received the correct info from the bank but they had to send it to their billing department to trace it and find the money. WTF!!! What did this have to do with me??? They had the proof that they had cashed my check, if they lost the damn money afterwards THAT’S NOT MY FREAKIN’ PROBLEM!!! Finally I was told that they had found the money and everything was fine. This was Thursday. I asked them to fax me a written statement that they had received payment and that my policy would not be cancelled. That was Thursday morning and guess what… STILL NO FAX! &%*$$%

3

I’m still bitter about something just like this that happened years ago. I was going back to school, and my folks were going to take care of my credit card bills for me. So I sent in my monthly payment, along with a change of address. The next month, I get phone calls from both my parents AND the credit card company, wondering why I hadn’t paid the minimum amount. I knew that I had paid well OVER the minimum, so I requested a copy of the check from my bank.

When the copy arrived (a difficult to read microfilm photocopy), I saw what the problem was. Along the bottom, where your account number and the check number appear, the institution to whom you send the check prints the amount of the check in magnetic ink. The check is then sent to the bank, which reads ONLY the magnetic numbers, and the amount is paid. Well, some jerkoff missed a zero. My $150 check was printed with “1500”, or $15. So, they were right, they didn’t get all the money they were due, but it was completely their fault. And of course this would have to happen just in time for my folks to know about it and think that I’m a deadbeat.

I mailed the credit card company the photocopy of the check along with a nice letter demanding that any bad marks on my credit be removed, that they reinstate my former, low interest rate, and that they send me a written apology.

Guess which one didn’t happen.

4

Right at the beginning of King of the Fucking Hill. Now please bear in mind, I’ve been deep-cleaning the bedroom all afternoon, which is what I was doing when I got the first call. Come 7pm, I think I’ll flop on the couch and mate the socks from the laundry I was also doing, and catch a KOTH I didn’t see the first time around.

7:03pm.

:::ring:::

“Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to JTL60hz?”

“Is this Sprint?”

“Yes it is.”

[deep inhale]“Now, look. I told someone on Friday, and I told the person who called at 5 today that he already paid the bill, and he is only available between 1pm and 5pm. Now what part of that do you not understand?”

Silence. THE BITCH HUNG UP ON ME! Yes, I raised my voice, but there are no rules against that. I didn’t call her names, or curse, or interrupt while she was talking. She doesn’t get to run away and hide; she’s supposed to say, “I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am,” and make a goddamn note of what I told her like the others should have. Two fucking hours later I get ANOTHER call? What the fuck are they doing in that call center anyway? And why the fuck are they calling on Sundays?

I tried calling them my fucking self. I thought I would ask for a manager or whatever, and tell that person to mark Mr. Rilch’s availability in big bold letters. But it turns out, calling and talking to a live person costs three fucking dollars. Which is why Mr. Rilch hasn’t called them yet. But he will. Oh, he will. Because someone upset his little sweetie, and that brings consequences.

Three dollars to talk to a live person. But harassment is free!

davidm and Max: I feel your pain!

5

Update: I just called the info line, without incurring the $3 fee (I hope) because I didn’t talk to a live person.

The fucking payment posted on 4/20!

6

Max: I’m too distracted to guess. Which one did not happen? I’d say the apology, but since an apology alone would not restore your credit rating, I’d say they didn’t remove the bad marks on your credit.

7

I do feel your pain, Rilchiam, being in a somewhat similar situation. My fiancé is on any number of calling lists for charities, financial services, you name it (I’m not because I was unlisted until I moved in with him). They call for him almost every stinking day, while I’m home and he’s at work. They can call and pester me, and I can’t do anything about it because it’s in his name, and I can’t tell them anything until we’re married. Oh, how I’m waiting for that day. I will tell every one of those annoyances to take us of that damned list and never, ever call here again. I don’t get upset and miserable often, but when I do, they’re not going to want to hear it.

8

It’s even worse when you actually owe the money in question! :wink:

9

I just went through the reverse, trying to pay my bill. Verizon ran and hid like they owed me money…!

10

Always go with your first instinct. No apology ever came. Big companies are incapable of admitting wrongdoing.

11

8.2
It has zing, it has spark, but the beat is off a bit, and the invectives could use some polishing.

:wink:

12

Rilchiam, a word of advice. Drop Sprint. Drop Sprint now. I don’t know what the Hell happened to them in the past six months or so, but I have had nothing but problems with them. They used to be fine, but now they screw up my account every goddamn fucking month. I have had my service cut off 3 times because my payments were “late”. I had paid them, but the left hand of that company doesn’t have a clue what the right hand is doing.

Additionally, the customer service guys lie. They changed their billing practices on me, but won’t admit it. I asked to speak to a manager and was told by the phone jockey that that wasn’t necessary. I said “No, I want to talk to a manager, because you haven’t been helping”. He said, again, it wasn’t necessary. I said it was, and then the fucktwit changed his tune and said he was a manager. Un-fucking-believable.

Trying to salvage the call, I asked him to explain the billing policy. He told me, and then I read him my agreement from when I signed on. It was different and I asked him why it was changed without my knowledge. He said that it wasn’t. I said it was, “because I’m fucking reading it to you and it isn’t what you said!”. So I asked him, again, why it was changed. He said it wasn’t changed - that the current policy had always been in effect. We then began a meaningful discourse consisting of: “was”, “was not”, “was to”, “was not”, etc. Apparently their phone reps learned their etiquette during second grade recess.

If you haven’t signed a contract, drop them, and do it now.

13

Beeblebrox: Thanks for the heads-up. I was coming in here with a chirpy message about how it had been settled and I didn’t want to crack their skulls any more. What you described sounds frighteningly like what I’ve been dealing with.

I’ll show this to Mr. Rilch. He may have signed a contract, though. To what company did you transfer your allegiance? Was it Verizon? We’ve had problems with Verizon as well.

Anyway, Mr. Rilch did call them today, and had some short sharp words with them about harassment. He then found out that someone had “created a new account” when he paid, apparently marking it in the wrong column or something as a debt instead of a payment. Doesn’t explain why no one took me seriously when I told them his availability, though. Or why that skank hung up on me.

14

Christ. I have had SUCH trouble with Sprint. The first phone number they assigned me didn’t work once I left town and they refused to acknowledge that that was even POSSIBLE, so I had to get another one and then they insisted on billing me for BOTH of them even though the first one was no longer in service, and they insisted on charging me $2 a minute for Wireless Web service even though I paid for it in my contract so it should’ve been free out of my plan minutes, and they’ve twice insisted that I owe them tons of money and it takes forever to straighten it out, and they’re FUCKNUTS, but I have a contract.

15

Whatever you do when you drop Sprint do NOT sign-up with Verizon.
The day our contract with them runs out will be celebrated every year. Christmas, Easter and Verizon Free Day.

16

It’s late now so I’ll spare the gory details of my most recent travails with a certain Natural Gas Provider in Georgia (we were recently de-regulated in the most colossal clusterfuck in history), but I’ll share the secret of satisfaction:

IMMEDIATELY after Joe-Bob turned the service back on, I logged on and filed TWO complaints with the State Public Service Commission, one for billing and one for service. Three days later, one of their drones in sector B CALLS ME AT WORK DURING A MEETING WITH CLIENTS and wants to “RESOLVE” the complaint.

First thing she asks: What’s your account number? Me: Um, you don’t have that handy? I sure as hell don’t. Her: No, I don’t have that information. Me: I’m in a meeting… You have an assload of my money, my gas is back on, what the HELL do we still have to resolve? CLICK!

Two days later: VERY nice woman calls. Still wants to “resolve” the thing. Me: (Getting VERY steamed now, and have had time to rethink my last conversation) How did you get my work number? Nice Lady: It’s listed as your daytime number on your account. Me: What’s my account number? Lady: (tells me). Me: (Obviously about to start swearing and screaming) JUST ONE GOD-D… Lady: Ooooooooooh! Mr Stockton! You’re at work, don’t start cussin’!!!

Hilarious. She wanted to know WHAT THEY COULD DO FOR ME.
I said “it’s YOUR mistake, not mine. I was paid up. I want my deposit back, I want to be credited for the reconnect fee, and I want you to push your annoying mascot (Gas Guy!) off a cliff somewhere.”

I got 2 out of 3, and a phone # where I can always reach a human being on the first try. Not too shabby.

17

Good job, stockton!

No, Verizon is a bad memory. Can anyone vouch for any other cell-phone provider?

18

Thanks, Rilch. I was pretty proud of my bad self. We have VoiceStream and have had no quibbles except for Jamie Lee Curtis as telecommunications spokesperson.
As always, YMMV.

19

Mrs. blur’s phone is through Sprint. We have had tons of trouble with it. First, she ordered a phone with a plan. They said the phone would be there within a week. A week went by, they said the phone was on the way, that they were getting tons of orders for that phone. A week after that, they said the guy who made the sale was had quit, and they were trying to get us our phone. A week later, they said they were no longer selling that plan. My wife went balistic on them, and they decided to honor the plan, and upgrade the phone and give her a couple of months free.

Her phone and our service by Sprint has sucked, but they keep fucking up, and we keep getting phone upgrades, and free months of service. I think we’ve paid for 2 months in the year she’s had the phone.

Yeah, Sprint sucks, but as long as they keep giving us freebies, we’ll keep using them.

20

Stay the hell away from southwesternbell too.

Those assholes can’t do anything right.

But on the plus side I can pay my bill each month over the phone with my debitcard for no additional fee.