The Goodrums

I thought nothing could top our recent experience with Comcast. While this situation doesn't top Comcast, it competes.

After finishing my last job, we disconnected our home phone line. Previously, it was a dedicated fax line used for work purposes only. Without the job at home, we decided it was no longer needed. So I called Qwest and asked them to cut the service. The disconnect date on the line was 2/20/09. We got a final bill - "Closing Statement" - from Qwest that itemized services through that date. I paid the final bill.

Over a month later, Qwest evidently realized they wanted to charge us a couple pennies more, so they sent us a bill for 15 cents. Funny enough, half of the charges were for 2/21/09 (um, last I checked they cut our line on 2/20/09).

I thought about calling Qwest and contesting the charge - but would it really be worth my time for 15 cents? I mean who even sends a bill for 15 cents. Really... It cost them more to mail the bill to me than the bill amount. Along those lines, I wasn't about to mail them a check for 15 cents (um, cost of check and cost of postage - no). Last I checked, the credit card processing fees for a company are more than 15 cents per transaction. So I decided to stick it to them for being ridiculous and pay by credit card. Cost me almost nothing but cost them way more than the bill amount (between postage to mail me the bill and credit card processing fees).

Yeah, it's a bit spiteful but I'm sick and tired of stupidity among the service companies in our lives. I won't exactly be signing up for any new Qwest services anytime soon.

I don't make a habit of posting on the blog midday (or ever ;) anymore but I can't help but brag on my husband quickly. He just heard back from the final graduate school - 4/4, MIT included. I have such a talented and smart husband! I'm so proud of him! Now big decisions ahead...

So the blog is very neglected right now - sorry. Will work on getting some pictures and fun stuff posted. I think we may be all text on here. Yikes!

For now, and continuing in the text theme, a story about dinner.

Tonight I was craving Thai. We went to a little place nearby. Cute decor, good food. Hmm... the music. At first, the music was normal - well 10 or so years old but Top 40s from that era. Nothing too out of place.

A short time later the station switched to classical spanish. We decided it was "fusion" - spanish language music in a Thai restaurant. The hostess commented to the owner about how incongruent the music was.

A short time later the music switched again - to soft piano tunes. However, the closer I listened, the more puzzled I got. Soon enough, we confirmed that it was indeed Christmas music. O Christmas Tree was playing in the Thai restaurant in January. It was worth a good laugh if nothing else.

So, did I mention before that I went over at least three times with the customer service girl on Friday night which bill I wanted? December 19.

Did I mention that I wanted the bill dated December 19? Please look at the bill and confirm it's the December - January bill. You're sure it's the December bill?

So the promised bill showed up in the mail today. Date on the bill: November 19, 2008.

You... have... got... to... be... kidding... me...

Really. This is beyond - beyond I don't even know what. It's just beyond.

So I get in my car and drive all the way across town to a Comcast payment center. They are going to give me a copy of that bill. I'm not leaving that office until they give it to me. They will have to have the SWOT team come drag me out of there. I'm not leaving until someone figures this out.

I walk in and say that I need a copy of my December 19, 2008 bill. The girl scans my November bill and pulls up the account. She proceeds to tell me that there is no December invoice since the bill was already paid.

I seriously can't be the only person ever that would need a copy of a pre-paid bill for documentation. I can't be the only person who goes out of town and pays extra on a bill so their payment won't be late. I can't be the only person who needs invoices for reimbursement. I seriously can't be the only person who has ever been in this situation. What do you mean you don't generate a copy of the invoice if the bill is already paid? What kind of business practice is that???

Really. Really.

Holding back my rage, I politely ask what they can do for me. They oh-so-kindly provide me a copy of this printout:















(The quality of the scan is not very good, but it's enough to at least give the idea of what I'm left working with.)

First, there is nothing at all on this printout that identifies it as being from Comcast.

Do you have a stamp that you could put on it to show it's from Comcast? No.

Can you print it on Comcast letterhead? No.

People. Work with me.

It has your account number on it and your address. What more could you possibly need? Well, it only took me about 10 minutes to find those on the printout but ok (they are removed from the scan).

At first, I thought it didn't even have itemized charges or dates. I finally found them in the funky formatting.

In truth, there's really nothing here that identifies this as anything other than some numbers on a piece of paper. Minimalist but it's going to have to work - since I have no other ideas on what to do at this point.

I'm sure work's going to just love it. I'll just have to type up the whole story for them if they complain. If there's something more I can do, I'll oblige but I have a gut feeling that it's futile. The amount of time I've invested in this is probably worth more than the bill at this point.

Comcast, oh Comcast. They had the nerve to ask me to switch my home phone line to them in the middle of all this. I mean how out of touch can you be?

Oh the woes of Comcast. They add such brilliance to a Friday night.

So the story goes as follows:

November rolls along. Knowing that we're going to be gone in South Africa (post coming soon, I promise!) when the Comcast bill comes in December, I paid extra in November to cover the December bill. We return from our trip and there was no Comcast bill for December in our huge stack of mail. I guess they decided not to send a copy since the bill was already paid. Problem is I am required to have a copy of the bill to get reimbursed (the bill's for the internet service I use to work... since I currently work at home).

So... I tried to login to the Comcast.com billing site to print a copy of the bill. Login rejected. What? Even though I have the login and password recorded in a file and the login should be undebatable, I went ahead and tried several different combinations of usernames and passwords.

And then the ridiculousness really began.

Enter username and password. "Password is incorrect."

Since none of the passwords are working, click on the forgot password link. "Sorry. There is no security question associated with this profile. Please recreate your account." Hmmm... security question must be new since last login (granted last login has probably been a while).

Attempt to create a new profile using the original login as directed, complete with a security question. "This username already exists. Please login to your existing account." I can't folks. That's why I'm doing this.

Attempt to create a new profile using new login/email address. "We can not create your login at this time because the account number you are using already exists in our records. Please log in to your existing web membership or call 1-800-COMCAST for assistance."

Ok, so let me get this straight. My login/password doesn't work but I can't reset it because you added a security question that my online account doesn't have. You instruct me to recreate the login, but the login can't be recreated because that login already exists (please use your old login). Yet I can't use my old login because the password isn't working and I can't reset it. And a new login can't be created because there is already a login associated with the account number. Great.

So I called Comcast. After the requisite, "please continue to hold, your call is important to us" (yeah right!) for 20 minutes, I finally got connected to an agent who said "I can't help with internet problems" and transfers me to another agent (more holding), etc. After finally getting an agent in the right department on the line, I proceeded to explain the situation. Really... all I want is a copy of my bill.

The agent, of course, was "new" and not so competent. She spent 20 minutes figuring out how to reset the password to our Comcast.net account. For some reason, the Comcast.net account is not linked to the Comcast.com account. They are two separate logins run by two separate databases. Once the Comcast.net account was reset, she directed me to click on the "Manage Your Bill" link the account management section, which promptly asks you for your Comcast.com login. So all this accomplishes nothing.

Now we're actually working on the correct login - Comcast.com (the billing system). After another 20 minutes of hem-hawwing and checking with supervisors, they determined that our Comcast.com login is tied to a user ID jgoodrum@comcast.net. They reset the password to jgoodrum@comcast.net and had me attempt to login. I actually got past the login screen! Progress... or so I thought.

The screen that pulled up has a button "Send me an Activation Email." I clicked the button. It sends an email to jgoodrum@comcast.net, which you are supposed to then check and the click the email link to activate the account. Problem being, I don't have a password for jgoodrum@comcast.net. As they got to checking, they realized that jgoodrum@comcast.net belonged to me in one database but belonged to a Julie Goodrum in Colorado in another. She actually has access to the email account.

So this is really great. Someone else has now been sent activation emails to view our account. And I still don't have access to the SIMPLE BILL that I want.

At this point, Comcast told me that they have a mess on their hands (really?) and that it's going to take a week or longer to unscramble. I don't have a week or longer before my expense report is due, so they have to figure out a way to get me a copy of my bill quickly. They said they would connect me back to the billing department (where I started). At this point, I started chirping (South African term, I think it might really be spelled "chirruping") and said that they better talk to the billing agent and tell them what I'd been through and advocate to get a copy of this bill faxed or emailed to me immediately. After another 20 minutes on hold, the technical support agent finally came back on the line and said the billing department couldn't do anything. She had another 800# to give me. No contact person. No advocacy on my behalf. Not even sure they're open anymore. You... have... got... to... be... freaking... kidding... me...

So after over an hour on the phone and no progress, I call the second 800 number. 20 minutes on hold. "Your call is soooo important to us. Stay on the line for-stinking-ever." You start to wonder if all the customer service representatives left and went home and just left you in the endless loop of the "your call is so important to us" out of spite.

I put the phone on mute. I talked to Michael for a while. I went to the bathroom (this is when you know you've had it!). I heated up dinner. I sat down to eat. Finally, someone answered the phone. I'm like: "Look, I've been through way too much tonight. All I want is a copy of my bill. I need it now. I'm locked out of my Comcast account. I've spent over an hour on the phone with technical support. They are going to take a week or more to fix the problem. I just want my bill. It's your error in the first place. You didn't send me my bill. I just need it faxed or emailed tonight."

Thankfully this girl is actually nice and seems competent - but as it would have it, "I came from the accounting department and, unfortunately, Colorado law prohibits us from sending bills by fax or email." Seriously folks. Seriously.

They're supposed to mail a copy of the bill. It will arrive sometime next week. I might be able to go to a payment center and get a copy of the bill but I don't have much trust in the system at this point.

Seriously, how do these folks stay in business? Customer disservice. The incompetence floors me.

We are in a "testing" period of life right now. Sunday afternoon, while driving back from REI, we came across these two license plates side-by-side ahead of us.






















A close-up

Both the PE (EIT is a bit of a stretch but in the same genre) and GRE are on the radar for the end of this year. Reminder much?

Validation that my allergies really were worse in Jackson than they were in Houston. I still have no idea how Houston didn't make the top 10 list. Perhaps it's the "spring" qualifier that exempted Houston - Houston's allergy problems are year round.

"The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling."
- Paula Poundstone

It's been a productive weekend so far. In addition to replanting the tree, we took on our taxes yesterday afternoon and managed to finish them in spite of some oddities in this year's filing. It's so great that the IRS can get away with sending you a completely unexplained 1099 (technically a form that doesn't even exist). I mean how hard would it be for them to put two sentences on the form explaining why you are receiving the form and how to report the income they claim you earned.

All in all, we're thankful that our taxes were much simpler than in 2006 - when we bought and sold a house, moved cross country, lived in three states (all with state income taxes), had energy credits, HSAs and the works. Last year was a brutal tax filing.

We're also thankful not to have to file an extension this year due to a still-incorrect-in-April W2 from the employer. I really don't enjoy having taxes hanging over my head for more than four months out of the year.

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.
- John Kenneth Galbraith

We learned an important lesson today - don't run self-clean on the oven in the middle of the winter. It's 30 degrees, snowing, and we have a bunch of windows open. Still the fumes are a bit overwhelming!

Oven cleaning is a much better project to be done in the late spring, early fall or on summer nights - when you can open all the windows comfortably.

I made an exciting discovery today. I'm a bit behind the times - but hey, I've been all work, no play lately. (Michael made fun of me for not noticing the ads plastered everywhere, or so he claims). One of the allergy medications that I've taken by prescription for years went OTC. I'm happy to be able to buy my Zyrtec at the grocery store (and cheaper). Now if they'll just make Singulair OTC, I won't even need an allergist. :) Thankfully the move to Colorado has mostly alleviated my allergies and I can almost survive without any allergy medications now (except when traveling).

So our camera, so lovingly deemed "The Brick" by Luke (due to its massive size) has officially been retired.










The Brick
Fujifilm's stock pictures (which look a lot better than the actual)... As soon as the new camera resurfaces I will have to post actual pictures of the Brick.

Our way old-school digital camera has seen its better days. The screen on won't turn on more than 90% of the time now (not to mention the big crack in the screen cover), the lens keeps catching when expanding and retracting and there is something that rattles inside the lens mechanism anytime you move the camera - not to mention that it is horribly antiquated (e.g. 3 mega pixel resolution, etc.). The little guy has served us well and we honestly can't complain. However, thanks to great Black Friday sales we have acquired a new camera that will hopefully serve us well for many years to come.

Goodie/Michael took the new camera with him on a business trip to Hawaii. I am hoping that he will actually take some pictures with the new camera on the trip. His sole criteria for selecting the new camera was - SLIM. Hopefully Michael will use it now that he can fit it in his pocket. :)

Picture update 12/3
Non-stock pictures of the Brick...














Check out all the scratches, dents and dings















And a nice cracked screen...

There is a dry cleaner right by our house. I decided to try it out. I took in 6 items - 5 knit shirts and one sun dress. I got a funny vibe when I went in and worried that I might pay a pretty penny for the order. However, I had no idea what I was in store for.

With 6 items, I thought the worst the damage could be would be somewhere in the range of $30. Well, the damage is done - and it was over $50! That's an average cost of around $10 an item. Outrageous! Needless to say, I won't be going back there - EVER!

So I have needed to go to the eye doctor for at least 18 months now. I should have gone before we left Jackson - I was already overdue on my appointment then. However, since we were moving, I had this great theory that I should wait and find a new eye doctor on the other end of our move (since it's always good to have doctors established where you are living). Well life has been so hectic since we moved to Denver in January that I still haven't been to the eye doctor. Everyone I know has been on my case about it. I've had great intentions but no action. (I'm really good about going to doctors when I already have one established - it's just so much work to find a new one.)

So last night, we volunteered to babysit two of our friends' kids - Zoe, who is 18 months, and Eric, who is 2. As much as I used to babysit in my teenage and college years, it's probably been 5+ years since I've been responsible for a toddler. Boy, I sure don't have energy like I used to! We had a great time but I was EXHAUSTED after running after two active toddlers for a couple hours (sure slept well last night!). How do parents do it? As fun as they are, I was glad we could give them back at the end of the night. :)

Five years ago today, Michael flew to Denver to propose to me while I was in town for a work conference. Now we live here. How fun is that!

Sorry that our blogging has been all or nothing lately. Hopefully, it's about to move back into the "all" category again. We've had a crazy two months of business travel (6 of the last 8 weeks) and company. It looks like life may finally slow down a little... but I'm hesitant to get my hopes up too much.

Yesterday, we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. Man, time flies! It's been a great four years and I'm blessed beyond measure by my wonderful husband.

Michael goes by the book with anniversary gifts (at least so far). Year four is fruit/flowers. So he came up with the most creative gift - an Edible Arrangement. It's fruit and "flowers" (at least a bouquet) all in one.



















The Edible Arrangement

We had a low-key anniversary and it was great. We've both been super busy lately - so the time together was highly valued. I went and met Michael at work for lunch. We ate dinner out at a Thai place recommended by our neighbors. It was excellent!

I broke the rules of anniversary giving and found a great deal on a 14" non-stick skillet that Michael's been eyeing forever. We would have no kitchen gear if it weren't for him. I'm thankful for my built-in gourmet chef!

When did gas go up to $3.20 a gallon for the REGULAR variety?!? Guess I've been living under a rock. Actually, I don't really drive anymore.

...And it's still supposed to get worse before it gets better.

Living in a place with almost no humidity brings out all kinds of strange new ailments - cracked knuckles, funny rashes, nose bleeds and much more fun. I'm sure we'll adjust eventually but in the meantime we've needed some help.

One of those life savers is this great lotion made by one of the pharmacists I work with, Gramp Lyfords Vermont Salve. It is the only lotion type product that Michael will use. He says it's not greasy. He actually tolerates the texture (and he doesn't tolerate much by way of cosmetic products). It works wonders. It's one of the only things that actually helps your hands ([insert your favorite appendage here] as well) heal during dry Colorado winters. This week we ran out (I reordered, but not quickly enough) and Michael's hands are a mess now. He won't use anything else. I made sure that we have a stockpile at home now.

For all those that live in low humidity climates (especially the ones with cold winters), I highly recommend Gramp Lyfords.