By Shannon Williams
Monday was a holiday, and I usually use these days to get some real work done, since the phones are usually quiet, but today, I needed to work on a couple of issues that I could not get resolved, so had to make plans to try and stay on hold on the phone till I got a real live person, who might be able to help me resolve these issues. So, I am worn out and tired and grumpy and only got 2 out of the six issues resolved!

The biggest issue was our Direct TV bill. I got notice that there was going to be a price increase in late January, but my bill for January was almost $80 higher. Each year, I call and talk to the “loyalty department” and tell them I am leaving Direct TV if they don’t give me a better price and each year they usually give me some sort of discount for anywhere from 6 to 12 months. I forgot to make a note on my calendar that our current deal ended the end of 2021, so was really shocked when I got the bill. I really don’t understand why I have to do this each year, you would think a company that I have done business with for well over 20 years would want to give me the best price, but no they want you to beg for it. After waiting on hold for about 30 minutes, I did get a very nice young woman, who understood my concerns and also my frustration at even having to do this each year. I feel that they want you to call in so in the end they get you to add more services and then they say they will decrease part of your old package. Well I know the drill and gave her the list of the channels we have to have, she was able to get almost $70 off my bill. The remaining is the price increase for this year, so that was one out of the way.

I travel a lot and work to keep track of all my points so I can then travel more, but this time where I want to go and with who I want to go with. I had a couple of hotel stays that did not give me the correct amount of points. I like those points and feel it is part of my work benefits. My company allows you to keep any travel rewards you earn and use them for your personal travel. I have sent a few emails to the hotel group, but just was not getting anywhere. OK, so #2 for waiting on the phone, (I was doing timesheets for work during all of this, so did use the time in a positive way) Short wait time and they resolved it while I was on the phone and tossed in another 500 points to make me happy. I have plans for those points!!!

The rest of the calls did not go as well and I was getting a little testy waiting. I needed to continue to work on my insurance claim for concert tickets in West Texas that we cancelled when Paul got sick this summer. I feel if I buy the insurance policy that I should get my money back regardless of why I did not go to the event. OMG, they want medial records for my husband, and we are only talking about 2 $60 tickets, not a cruise or big trip. I am sure that any sort of travel insurance company has had awful years in the past two years, but I paid my $15 and want my money back, minus the cancellation fee and this fee and that fee. I sent them the note that we used for my husband to be off work, you think that would be enough, oh no, they want a statement from his doctor of why he could not fly to Midland, Texas to see the Gatlin Brothers concert! I am not going to call and request that, doctors have enough to do already and most charge a fee for letters! I have been trying since this summer, so as of today, I have written that one off! oh well,

Next task was to obtain a copy of a receipt for a meal while I traveled. I have had to do that a few times, and usually if you can give them the date and cc number they get it without problems. We have a system that we upload our travel receipts on an app on the phone and I have been much better at keeping it all together since then, BUT this was a long day and only $17.63 (but who’s counting) and I totally failed to upload it and have never found the paper receipt. Well, that went nowhere. It was a chain in Colorado Springs, but they had no interest in trying to help. I made sure to call in off hours, again, I know they are busy, but. Oh well, gave up on that one after 14 minutes of hold and transfers. I did have luck with our comptroller, (who as usually was working on a holiday) I told her I would send a check for the $17.63, she said I do a better job that most and had not lost a receipt in a few years, so not to worry she would use my email about what happened. So, I guess that was a win and the emails took 3 minutes.

For the past year, I have been working with one of my company’s project managers on a big remodel of one of the sites I oversee in Portland, OR. Project Managers, do just that they manage or mismanage the project. As most big projects go, there is stress and often different departments have different needs and thus the battle is on. I had not worked with this project manager before, so was not sure what to expect. It has been a delight and so nice to work on a project with someone who cares about what will happen after the remodel is finished. I wanted to do something nice for him and he is a big Atlanta Braves fan, so I ordered a world series ink pen. It has now been almost three months and still no pen! My hope is dying after a brief call with the company, they almost laughed about not getting the orders from last years World Series filled before the start of spring training. She could give me not date of when it might come and if I cancelled how long the refund would take, so that one stays on the list for another day.

The final one was an important one, in that my son wanted a certain baseball Jersey this year. Well there was a reason that all of the big online sports shops tell you they don’t have it and most likely won’t. They know it only exists in someone mind. I cannot even get a phone number to call the company I ordered it from. I did not research before I ordered it as I was thrill to see they had it. I feel I might have been taken on this one. I send emails and have only got one of 8 answered, they referred me to a website that did not exist. So, the day had some wins but a few that were not.

I hate that it takes so much work just to get what you paid for, but these days it does. I think they feel if they make it hard, people will give up and just accept what they did or did not get. I hate to do that, and should not really have to.

[Jan-18-2022]