Mad as Hell!

[Ecomike]

Had the same thing happen two years ago with American General.


Bought my kid sister a grandfather clock for her wedding. $2500, six months same as cash.

Bought it the last week of June, they said the first payment would be due the first of August.
Middle of July, I still hadn't seen a bill, so I called. They said it should be there any day.

Another week, nothing. Called again. "Hm, shoulda been there by now. You sure you didn't get it?" "Yes, I'm sure." "Well, give it a couple more days."

Last week of July, nothing. I call again: "Just give me your address, I'll send the payment without the bill."
They read me an address on the other side of town. I say "Forget it, I'll bring it in person." And I did.


Then on Friday the 31st the bill finally shows up. Postmarked the 29th, due the first.
If I had taken it out of the mailbox, enclosed a check, and put it back in the box, it still woulda been late.
(Wouldn't have gone out til Saturday, the due date.)

Fukkers waited til THREE days before the due date to even send the bill, to try to get me to default, and take it in the shorts for almost $700 in interest/fees/penalties.


One more reason I hate banks.

Robert

To quote my son:

"Thats Just Wrong, in so many ways!"

Who else has horror stories! Let's hear them!

 

[5-90]

How about the factoid that "the Computer is always right - even when it is wrong?"

This was ca. 1995 - I was getting bills in the mail. For $0.00.

Therefore, I ignored them.

I got a collections notice - for $0.00. I called them and asked - "Don't you think it's a little bit stupid? You're going to spend money to come after me for $0.00?"

"Sorry sir - but it's what's in the computer, and we can't change it unless we get a payment."

"I don't have a bank account, and I wouldn't give you the numbers for it anyhow. I don't have a chequing account. The only way I do payments by mail is using postal money orders - and they're going to look at me awfully funny if I go in to buy a money order for $0.00"

"Well sir, we need to get some variety of payment to close the account."

"For nothing?"

"It's what we're stuck with."

"OK gang - here's the deal. If you want me to send you a money order for $0.00 to close this account, you're going to have to pay for the money order, for the stamp, for my time to go out of my way to get the thing, for my time to mail the thing, and just for my time in dealing with this asininity in general. You're going to have to send me ten dollars - cash. I don't have a bank account to put it in.

"Alternatively, you can send me a money order from the Postal People - I can cash those readily enough.

"But, if you don't send me the money to get the money order, we're going to end up in court. Guess who's going to look stupid when it comes to light that you're hauling me in to court for literally nothing. It will be small-claims, so you can't send an attorney. And I'll slice and dice whoever you do select as your champion - it's going to cost you a lot more than ten dollars when I'm through."

Three days later, I got an envelope with a ten-dollar USPS money order in it. I got them their MO for $0.00 and sent it back. Then called them a week later.

"Did you get the MO yet?"

"Yeah. Why'd you send a MO for $0.00?"

Here we go again...

"... Listen up. I went roundy-rounds with you guys on this last week, and apparently I'm the only one who took notes. You were going to haul me into court over $0.00 if I didn't pay it. I told you that you would have to pay me to get the MO, or it wouldn't happen. You sent me ten bucks to cover everything. I got the MO for $0.00 and sent it in. I'm calling to make sure you got it - you say you did. Apply it to my account balance and close the account."

"How am I going to credit $0.00 to your account?"

"That's your problem. If I have to call you guys again, I'll be securing an attorney for harassment. I've recorded this conversation, I recorded the last one, and have your permission for recording both of them given by inference - since you're probably recording me. Then, it's going to cost you a lot more than ten dollars, believe me! I tire of this - the next thing I should hear from your outfit is that my account is closed - I'll look for your letter next week. Good day."

It finally did get cleared up, but that was the single most irritating bill I ever had to deal with.

The second was a hospital bill - I got sent to collections four years after the ER visit (which was covered by insurance) for a bill I never got. I wrote collections, told them what was going on, and told them to stay the Hell out of it. Then I wrote the hospital, told them that their billing department was a "model of efficiency that should have been built from a better kit" and asked them to send me a copy of the original bill.

I got a copy of a ledger entry.

I wrote back to them and told them that if I do not get a copy of an actual bill, the resolution to this will be that you're not going to get one red cent, you're going to get collections off my back, and anything else will result in my being all over you for harassment. I don't need this - what I visited there for was a migraine headache, and you're trying to give me another one?!?

Me mum's sister used to work in a hospital billing deparment, before she quit on moral grounds. Hospitals in general will double- or triple-bill at least, and most people just pay it (it's a hospital bill, it must be valid, right?) And yet we're always hearing about how they're running out of money - although having acute care clinincs in the neighbourhoods would help with that greatly...

 

[Ecomike]

Probably before your time, but do you remember punch computer cards?

When ever the phone company POed my father one too many times (it was a monopoly, ATT, back then) he would carefully add an extra hole in the punch card that had to be returned with his payment (back in the 60s). When the computer guys would load a few thousand payment cards including his in the computer reader it would get indigestion from the card with the extra hole. IT would spit cards all over the room, eat cards, get them all out of order. As I recall it would cost them huge when that happened. Kinda reminds of sending an infinite loop line feed command to a room full of school, old style dot matrix printers from and old IBM PC, like an XT. The printers would spit out all the paper supply, all at once.

My Father was an IBM computer geek in that day.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Probably before your time, but do you remember punch computer cards?

When ever the phone company POed my father one too many times (it was a monopoly, ATT, back then) he would carefully add an extra hole in the punch card that had to be returned with his payment (back in the 60s). When the computer guys would load a few thousand payment cards including his in the computer reader it would get indigestion from the card with the extra hole. IT would spit cards all over the room, eat cards, get them all out of order. As I recall it would cost them huge when that happened. Kinda reminds of sending an infinite loop line feed command to a room full of school, old style dot matrix printers from and old IBM PC, like an XT. The printers would spit out all the paper supply, all at once.

My Father was an IBM computer geek in that day.

Damn, that's funnier than dumping pennies into the automatic toll hopper!

 

[tbburg]

My Father was an IBM computer geek in that day.

Awesome game as long as you know where to put the extra hole!

 

[bjoehandley]

How about the factoid that "the Computer is always right - even when it is wrong?"

This was ca. 1995 - I was getting bills in the mail. For $0.00.

Therefore, I ignored them.

I got a collections notice - for $0.00. I called them and asked - "Don't you think it's a little bit stupid? You're going to spend money to come after me for $0.00?"

"Sorry sir - but it's what's in the computer, and we can't change it unless we get a payment."

"I don't have a bank account, and I wouldn't give you the numbers for it anyhow. I don't have a chequing account. The only way I do payments by mail is using postal money orders - and they're going to look at me awfully funny if I go in to buy a money order for $0.00"

"Well sir, we need to get some variety of payment to close the account."

"For nothing?"

"It's what we're stuck with."

"OK gang - here's the deal. If you want me to send you a money order for $0.00 to close this account, you're going to have to pay for the money order, for the stamp, for my time to go out of my way to get the thing, for my time to mail the thing, and just for my time in dealing with this asininity in general. You're going to have to send me ten dollars - cash. I don't have a bank account to put it in.

"Alternatively, you can send me a money order from the Postal People - I can cash those readily enough.

"But, if you don't send me the money to get the money order, we're going to end up in court. Guess who's going to look stupid when it comes to light that you're hauling me in to court for literally nothing. It will be small-claims, so you can't send an attorney. And I'll slice and dice whoever you do select as your champion - it's going to cost you a lot more than ten dollars when I'm through."

Three days later, I got an envelope with a ten-dollar USPS money order in it. I got them their MO for $0.00 and sent it back. Then called them a week later.

"Did you get the MO yet?"

"Yeah. Why'd you send a MO for $0.00?"

Here we go again...

"... Listen up. I went roundy-rounds with you guys on this last week, and apparently I'm the only one who took notes. You were going to haul me into court over $0.00 if I didn't pay it. I told you that you would have to pay me to get the MO, or it wouldn't happen. You sent me ten bucks to cover everything. I got the MO for $0.00 and sent it in. I'm calling to make sure you got it - you say you did. Apply it to my account balance and close the account."

"How am I going to credit $0.00 to your account?"

"That's your problem. If I have to call you guys again, I'll be securing an attorney for harassment. I've recorded this conversation, I recorded the last one, and have your permission for recording both of them given by inference - since you're probably recording me. Then, it's going to cost you a lot more than ten dollars, believe me! I tire of this - the next thing I should hear from your outfit is that my account is closed - I'll look for your letter next week. Good day."

It finally did get cleared up, but that was the single most irritating bill I ever had to deal with.

Probably before your time, but do you remember punch computer cards?

When ever the phone company POed my father one too many times (it was a monopoly, ATT, back then) he would carefully add an extra hole in the punch card that had to be returned with his payment (back in the 60s). When the computer guys would load a few thousand payment cards including his in the computer reader it would get indigestion from the card with the extra hole. IT would spit cards all over the room, eat cards, get them all out of order. As I recall it would cost them huge when that happened. Kinda reminds of sending an infinite loop line feed command to a room full of school, old style dot matrix printers from and old IBM PC, like an XT. The printers would spit out all the paper supply, all at once.

My Father was an IBM computer geek in that day.

Damn, that's funnier than dumping pennies into the automatic toll hopper!

Awesome game as long as you know where to put the extra hole!

Told my Dad about these two, he was laughing hard enough his face started to turn red:cheers:

 

[Ecomike]

Well it has been an interesting week here. To add insult to injury, Wells Fargo failed to post a $1000 deposit I made. I discovered this 3 days after making the deposit in the lobby when I checked my bill billpay online. Then they fixed their mistake, twice. Then 2 days later they caught the second mistake and unfixed it. That does not leave one with a lot of trust and confidence in ones favorite bank.:shiver:

Then Barclays Bank, Juniper Credit card, sent me a notice giving just a few days to OPT out of their plan to double my interest rate, and go from fixed to variable rates. They insisted on opt out declarations being sent by US mail only to their PO Box, with a get this, Wait......! A due date of August 16th, 2009. Check your calender folks, that is a Sunday! Last time I checked the USPS does not deliver on Sundays, and banks do not read and post mail on Sundays.

A local town here pulls that trick when the issue speeding tickets on the interstate. They use Sundays, (when they are closed) as due dates for traffic tickets, so they can screw you over a second time. I think it is in FleecetheTurist, Texas.

 

[Ecomike]

5-90. Your story of the collection effort for 0.00, reminds me of the day my mother closed a bank account and left .01 cent in the account. The bank had to mail here a check for 0.01 cents to clear their books (no doubt it cost them more than that for the check and stamp). They had PO'd her. That was her payback. She also use to get a stock dividend four times a year for the last share of stock she ended up with. It was several cents a quarter.

 

[5-90]

5-90. Your story of the collection effort for 0.00, reminds me of the day my mother closed a bank account and left .01 cent in the account. The bank had to mail here a check for 0.01 cents to clear their books (no doubt it cost them more than that for the check and stamp). They had PO'd her. That was her payback. She also use to get a stock dividend four times a year for the last share of stock she ended up with. It was several cents a quarter.

Yawp.

Kinda like when the DNC would send their fundraiser mail around - they'd give you the prepaid envelope to stick your cheque in.

Trivia - did you know you could stick that envelope on a boxful of lead bricks and mail it back - on their dime?

Did you know that's also a good way to get rid of small scrap steel (up to 70#) that isn't worth hauling in to the metal yard?

Did you know that's also a great way to empty that bucket of wrecked fasteners you've got in the corner?

I'd also do that to HCI/VPC, Greenpeace, and other "lunatic fringe" organisations - they're contracted to pay the postage when it comes in, because that's how they keep being able to send out the postage pre-paid envelopes.

I grew up five doors down from our mail carrier, and I'd learned that little factoid about thirty years ago.

I think you can even stick it on a Priority or Express box (I'm not sure anymore) - and screw them extra so your scrap gets there overnight!

As long as you're not sending anything hazzardous, it's never been a problem.

 

[bjoehandley]

heh, never thought of that before:roflmao:

 

[Ecomike]

Yawp.

Kinda like when the DNC would send their fundraiser mail around - they'd give you the prepaid envelope to stick your cheque in.

Trivia - did you know you could stick that envelope on a boxful of lead bricks and mail it back - on their dime?

Did you know that's also a good way to get rid of small scrap steel (up to 70#) that isn't worth hauling in to the metal yard?

Did you know that's also a great way to empty that bucket of wrecked fasteners you've got in the corner?

I'd also do that to HCI/VPC, Greenpeace, and other "lunatic fringe" organisations - they're contracted to pay the postage when it comes in, because that's how they keep being able to send out the postage pre-paid envelopes.

I grew up five doors down from our mail carrier, and I'd learned that little factoid about thirty years ago.

I think you can even stick it on a Priority or Express box (I'm not sure anymore) - and screw them extra so your scrap gets there overnight!

As long as you're not sending anything hazardous, it's never been a problem.

The EPA was auditing a plating shop about 20 years ago. I forget the exact details, but they found out the owner was shipping his hazardous waste plating sludge out via the post office to a non existent company at a non existent address, with no return address. The postage was far cheaper than the disposal cost of haz waste. He was shipping it in small containers. He was in a federal Pen last I heard, as the EPA did not find it funny.:wantyou:

 

[Ecomike]

LOL. Back on topic here, I just got an email from Citibank saying congratulations we just raised your credit limit 30%! This came one week after I closed the Juniper account.

They also extended a transfer offer for 0% interest for 12 months on credit card debt transfers.

 

[8Mud]

LOL. Back on topic here, I just got an email from Citibank saying congratulations we just raised your credit limit 30%! This came one week after I closed the Juniper account.

They also extended a transfer offer for 0% interest for 12 months on credit card debt transfers.

I'd be looking for the other shoe to drop, the last time they raised my limit, a few months later they had a 3% interest increase (very small print at the bottom of a statement type notification). I typically pay mine off every month, so they tried to throw me out of my flat rate plan and then raising my fees.
That's what those people do, they stay up late at night trying to figure out ways to screw the customer.
A banker once explained to me, that if they can figure out a way to keep every customers money, one minute more on any given day, they stand to make millions.

 

[Ecomike]

I'd be looking for the other shoe to drop, the last time they raised my limit, a few months later they had a 3% interest increase (very small print at the bottom of a statement type notification). I typically pay mine off every month, so they tried to throw me out of my flat rate plan and then raising my fees.
That's what those people do, they stay up late at night trying to figure out ways to screw the customer.
A banker once explained to me, that if they can figure out a way to keep every customers money, one minute more on any given day, they stand to make millions.

Funny part is this was shoe number 3, in 12 months, LOL.

 

[MaxxXJ]

i need a bail out on my credit cards, i owe about 4500-5000 on one card and thats all i need paid off, then i will shread it and move on with my life, i hate credit cards its like eveytime your credit score looks pretty they want to find some way to bash it down a little bit.

 

[RichP]

i need a bail out on my credit cards, i owe about 4500-5000 on one card and thats all i need paid off, then i will shread it and move on with my life, i hate credit cards its like eveytime your credit score looks pretty they want to find some way to bash it down a little bit.

I like my amex, pay it off every month, the only real credit card I keep is Sears for my tool toys and house stuff. Been hard though not to lay down a grand on a new flat panel though. Been saving my change and other stuff, almost there BUT I figure that some dam household appliance will bite the dust like the last three times

 

[MaxxXJ]

lol that sucks man, thats what killed me on this credit card! i bought a DVD player a full klipsch surround sound with a nice yamaha reciever and 10" klipsch sub, then i needed tires so i bought some bfg km's which killed me some more, and it slowly goes from there lol fixing my jeep on the cc...

 

[XJEEPER]

Yup, living within your means and saving up for stuff you need/want is such a drag....

 

[RichP]

Yup, living within your means and saving up for stuff you need/want is such a drag....

I got no problem with saving for what I want, but damn, does the frgging hot water heater HAVE to puke just when I get the money for something I WANT. Sheesh.... not to mention the crap appliances they make now a days, used to be a stove would last 10-15 or more years, now you are lucky to get 5 out of them. I finally put all my Sears stuff under contract and so far I've had 3 calls on the stove, two on the refrigerator and one on the washer, all covered
How I have fallen to take pleasure in this stuff I WANT A 60" now, not a 50"

 

[Ecomike]

I got no problem with saving for what I want, but damn, does the frgging hot water heater HAVE to puke just when I get the money for something I WANT. Sheesh.... not to mention the crap appliances they make now a days, used to be a stove would last 10-15 or more years, now you are lucky to get 5 out of them. I finally put all my Sears stuff under contract and so far I've had 3 calls on the stove, two on the refrigerator and one on the washer, all covered
How I have fallen to take pleasure in this stuff I WANT A 60" now, not a 50"

A famous Vulcan once said "Sometimes the wanting is better than the having. It is not logical, but sometimes true." Turns out wanting my Ex was better than having my Ex! LOL. It was also much cheaper.