I don't know if it's the coronavirus, the spring weather, the phase of the moon or what, but I've been having more than the usual amount of hassles the past two weeks.
It started with my Directv account being charged for a service I hadn't ordered, then a DVR that didn't work, then being charged for equipment I didn't possess. It took more than three hours on the phone with various customer service people to get it all straightened out.
While I was in the middle of all the Directv mess, my credit card was skimmed, leading to false charges all over the place. I had to close the account and get a new card. Fortunately, Wells Fargo handled it very effectively, and I wasn't out any money.
A second bank I do business with then "lost" two of my CDs. This is a "modern" bank that does not send out printed statements. That's OK with me, because I don't mind checking on line. However, when I checked a couple of days ago, the two CDs were no longer listed. When I called, the banker could access them on his computer (whew!) but couldn't get them to appear on my online account. He turned it over to the IT people, and the next day it was all OK.
Our local newspaper transitioned to electronic edition only this week, and despite my subscription being in good standing I could not access it. I logged on multiple times and filled in every information form with no success. Multiple calls to their help line went unanswered. Finally, after three emails, I got a response, and was able to gain access.
This morning's email brought an unpleasant surprise. Once again Directv is demanding I return a piece equipment that I never possessed, or they'll charge my account $145. This is the same piece of phantom equipment I'd spent 90 minutes proving I never had two weeks earlier. Another 20-minute call to Directv supposedly took care of it, but somehow, I doubt it.
And to top off the two-week Festival of Annoyances, in the middle of my call to Directv, the power went out. I was on my landline with back-up power, so I was able to complete the conversation. However, with a freezer full of precious and increasingly hard-to-find meat, I was pretty concerned. Fortunately, I discovered, our city-owned power company is pretty efficient. Our street was soon swarming with service trucks, and they quickly narrowed down the source of the outage to a transformer in a box next to our driveway. When repairs failed, a crane truck with a new transformer appeared, and within 30 minutes, power was restored. Mrs. swsig and I have been sheltering in place, so having four or five service trucks with lights flashing pull up in front of our house, and then having eight electrical workers bustle around our front yard, provided us with the most entertainment we've had in nearly two months. And I guess you could say those guys saved our meat.
Anyone else having more-than-usual misadventures these days?
It started with my Directv account being charged for a service I hadn't ordered, then a DVR that didn't work, then being charged for equipment I didn't possess. It took more than three hours on the phone with various customer service people to get it all straightened out.
While I was in the middle of all the Directv mess, my credit card was skimmed, leading to false charges all over the place. I had to close the account and get a new card. Fortunately, Wells Fargo handled it very effectively, and I wasn't out any money.
A second bank I do business with then "lost" two of my CDs. This is a "modern" bank that does not send out printed statements. That's OK with me, because I don't mind checking on line. However, when I checked a couple of days ago, the two CDs were no longer listed. When I called, the banker could access them on his computer (whew!) but couldn't get them to appear on my online account. He turned it over to the IT people, and the next day it was all OK.
Our local newspaper transitioned to electronic edition only this week, and despite my subscription being in good standing I could not access it. I logged on multiple times and filled in every information form with no success. Multiple calls to their help line went unanswered. Finally, after three emails, I got a response, and was able to gain access.
This morning's email brought an unpleasant surprise. Once again Directv is demanding I return a piece equipment that I never possessed, or they'll charge my account $145. This is the same piece of phantom equipment I'd spent 90 minutes proving I never had two weeks earlier. Another 20-minute call to Directv supposedly took care of it, but somehow, I doubt it.
And to top off the two-week Festival of Annoyances, in the middle of my call to Directv, the power went out. I was on my landline with back-up power, so I was able to complete the conversation. However, with a freezer full of precious and increasingly hard-to-find meat, I was pretty concerned. Fortunately, I discovered, our city-owned power company is pretty efficient. Our street was soon swarming with service trucks, and they quickly narrowed down the source of the outage to a transformer in a box next to our driveway. When repairs failed, a crane truck with a new transformer appeared, and within 30 minutes, power was restored. Mrs. swsig and I have been sheltering in place, so having four or five service trucks with lights flashing pull up in front of our house, and then having eight electrical workers bustle around our front yard, provided us with the most entertainment we've had in nearly two months. And I guess you could say those guys saved our meat.
Anyone else having more-than-usual misadventures these days?
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Larry
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