Zenfish'n

Whatever happened to customer service? This year, it seems, that companies want to test how angry they can make me. Perhaps, they are in need of finally crafted emails of complaint to train their struggling employees. I don't know, I find it bizarre.

My last post explained the difficulty with Lowe's. This was not an isolated incident. The seeds of my problem with Bank Of America ... ( I use another word beginning with A in substitution for America)... started two Septembers ago. They charged me a late fee even though they had my check in their processing center. Their policy is to discard the envelope with the posted date on it. I of course, disputed it, after having a go round with "customer service expert"... (They stick to their script and won't let you speak.)... I fired off a letter saying how poor the Customer Service is.My plan was to keep the account open with a zero balance until I had recovered my expenses. A good plan if you haven't forgotten any rolling annual subscriptions on the card. September last, I received the letter stating my card had expired phone this number to renew. I never phoned the number. Good riddance to ineptitude. Come January, I receive a bill. My AAA membership had been charged to the card in December. I of course, immediately phone, asking ...How can the authorize payment to someone ...when I had not renewed my card. I started to get the double speak and immediately asked for a higher up. Who would not let me speak..this of course does nothing but anger the customer even more. I ended up canceling the card..and speaking out. wherever possible, against the practices of this greedy,corrupt corporation. ( bring on your lawyers...I can prove every word.) Think twice before dealing with the Bank Of America.

Although my wife does not like being mentioned in this forum, she has consented to allowing me this chance to explain some problems we have experiencing. My wife is in a wheelchair, and has some exceptional challenges. This problem had its roots in 07 and has caused an excessive amount of writing. ( I'd like to use it as an excuse for not writing on here more, but I think that a certain amount of laziness and distractions...video games... are the cause.) It started with a problem she is having with her chair "bucking". It will jerk to the left because the right motor is bagged. We had this problem before they came out and fixed it right at home. I'll come back to this problem.

One of my wife's needs is a raised toilet seat. About the same time as the chair began to cause severe problems...She fell and damaged her toilet seat, making it dangerous to use. We ordered another one from Care Medical. It took a while...with the need for a prescription the doctor and Medicare need to wrangle out who pays for it. ( We do) In November, We began receiving notices ( with bold type 3/4" high placed diagonally across the letter saying, "This Is Not A Bill" I received four such statements, all with these words emblazoned across the paper. The last with a letter saying this is what we owe...but nothing other than this other piece of paper clearly stating that this is not a bill. I have to enter here, it is not uncommon for the doctor to persist in emphasizing to Medicare, that this is needed. This process can sometimes take as long as a year.

Last Friday my wife comes on and wakes me up with the words " They're going to repossess my toilet seat."

Having just woken up and being a little groggy, I of course assumed I was still in the land of extremely absurd dreams. I replied " What?"

" Some guy name Bill...is coming to repossess my toilet seat at noon. " she said, with a tiny sense of panic in her voice. Then she added..." This must be the Bill they never sent."
( One of her better puns)

So here I am, laying into the poor receptionist, over the absurdity of using intimidation in repoing a toilet seat and their inane practice of sending us bills that state they aren't bills. I was very tempted to write in the memo line of the check...This Is Not A Check. I however weighed out the legal options and thought they might actually come to get her toilet seat the next week. Never underestimate the human mind for its ability to do absolutely caving to the stupidest possible action. (I also toyed with the idea of phoning the local television stations and having them video the repossession of the toilet seat.) Truth really is stranger than fiction.

This of course lead me in to the seven months we have been waiting for a motor for her wheelchair. They claim that they tried to come on the third of January and my Wife told them not to. In actuality, what she told them was that because of her limitations she could not let the wheelchair go into the shop. It had to be fixed here. As it has been in the past. So they of course claim that it wasn't doing it anymore, and my wife said they weren't needed. Tomorrow they are supposed to come to assess a problem that has already been established. You'd think that would be it. We now have an entirely new company to cause trouble here.

Teleblend... in their wisdom decided to stop accepting a certain credit card. They didn't tell anyone this... they just let the accounts default. They have not reactivated the phone even though we have switched to a card they accept. The process begins again.

Our phone still isn't connected and we have a company that can't fathom, that when you write "this is not a bill" on a bill...that they might have trouble getting paid... A company that seems to think it is wise to repossess toilet seats... A company that will be unable to get a hold of us to confirm what time they are showing up at. I have a feeling we are going to be writing all day tomorrow.