We can all learn from lessons of the past, or from past lessons of others. The trick is in the listening, in the absorbing. Unfortunately, many businesses wait until customer attrition, business failure, significant revenue loss, before they wake up and work on changing things. (DTV comes to mind again)
I always find this incredible and amazing. I invision the worker bees not being "heard" by the powers of change, such as the CEO and Execs, until THEY spot the bottom line dwindling and only then begin to listen and act. A smarter approach would be to provide and maintain an open communication line for the worker bees to channel their concerns. Much like canaries in a coalmine, worker bees see it all...and usually long before it happens financially to the company.
Before I get to my story, the lesson is simply this: Always listen to your customer and with a little empathy, please. If you are not empowered to make a legitimate complaint right, escalate the concern. Keep escalating that. Write annonomously to the CEO if you have to.
So here is my story about Target. They went after my business, and gave me an initial 15k limit. We have a ton of cards, we cycle through them. I have to say my favourites are DiscoverCard, Amex Blue, StateFarm Visa, Fidelity, Nordstrom, and the now defunct Starbucks Visa....oh, Starbucks Visa, you are sooooo missed! We use the cards, typically 3 at a time, pay them in full when the bill arrives, wash, rinse, repeat. We had not used the Target card in several months, so when we took it out of our safe to shop, we were not initially surprised to have it declined after a couple of small purchases. We figured they wanted to validate that, yes, it is just us using the card. Instead, the bottom line is that, without any notice, they had lowered our limit down to $200 bucks. I daresay our Starbuck coffee bill is higher. What ensued next is just crazy. I spoke with various folks, several supervisors, numerous emails were exchanged, at which point I promised to blog about this! Target refused to raise the limit (at all), refused to re-run a credit check, if that is what they needed to still feel all warm and fuzzy about us, and said, when I asked why not, this was due to cost cutting. I paraphrased just to make sure I heard things correctly: Target is refusing to listen to its customers legitimate concerns, refusing to do the necessary business conductions, such as periodic credit checks, in order to manage its credit department, preferring to LOSE business instead by lowering limits to very unreasonable, unusable levels and not budging. The rep said yes, if that is how I want to put it. I asked that my account then be cancelled as it was not worth the wallet space with only a $200 limit. I tried reason...I've got cards with 20k limit, so why would I bother with $200? Makes alot of sense to my mind, but TARGET clearly prefers I take my good business elsewhere. So, my employer does business with Target. And I used to work in AR. I double checked Target was still paying our bill. Yep, still paying us...and I will continue to check on this, since the company really sounds distressed to me.
On that note, and particularly in this economy, EVERY employee out there should be alert to any subtle signs from any of your vendors, that things may be off. When you are doing your own personal business, just keep in the back of your mind anything that might affect your employer (and paycheck) downstream. Something that is odd behaviour personally can manifest financial hardship that is more global. We all need to step a bit outside ourselves and look around, and act more globally. Everything is connected so everything must be observed and acted upon accordingly. I like that I have saved my company alot of money by watching the AR of companies doing strange things, over the years. Just by following my gut and providing a heads up my company might otherwise not have had. Jobs get saved, maybe even mine.
In the case of target, they are paying, so appear to be solvent for now, although their shelves are very bare at the one near us (things that make you go hmmmmm).
My take at this point is Target is clearly cutting back on stocking shelves, at least in some areas, and more obviously, they have got to be phasing out their credit department. This should be huge news! Target closing their credit doors. I was told, repeatedly, that they do not check credit on any redcard accounts, any longer. Those customers are no longer being supported. Period.
Am thinking it would be cleaner to just make the announement, provide 60-90 days grace prior and then cancel the cards after notice is sent to the account holders, then close the department and be done with that. Why continue to hold it on a shoestring with a total lack of customer service and support? My personal interactions make me much less likely to even shop there using one of my real credit cards!
And in other news....CHASE Bank preferred I close my 4 savings and checking accounts, close my 6 credit cards, close my HELOC and our two business accounts, rather than give me back the $45.63 in fees for my Pier 1 card who, unfortunately chose Chase as their carrier, because they either failed to send the statement (to gain revenue in fees) or it actually honestly got lost in the mail.
We have all heard of banks 'forgetting' to mail out statements so they can collect on fees, but I cannot prove Chase did this egregious activity. There was a slight issue with the address, which I got fixed with the rep I was working with (in India), and since I always pay all our accounts on time and in full, after getting the statement, I asked for a break on this, as a good customer, because I just did not get the statement. I was blamed for their not sending me a statement, that I somehow should have known the bill was due. The break was denied. In all communication Chase remains very appologetic, sure, but do they offer to adjust the $45 bucks? Nope...so I am still no longer a customer. What was very funny, is that while talking to Mr. India, he saw 4 cards associated with the Pier 1 card, and offered right then and there to cancel them! I said sure, NUKE 'EM and Enjoy your $45.63...if that is the customer service level Chase is now offering, I want no further part.
BANKS - Just a hint on how to do business successfully: STOP blaming your customers, unless you want all of us to write you off as idiots who deserve to get stuffed and take our business elsewhere, we can, and we will! Looking into my crystal ball, what we will see soon is more and more worker bees getting good and righteously pissed off. Anger can be a very good and empowering energy, if channelled correctly. We will all close accounts we really don't need. You have to wake up, banks, because the populous are more savvy about rates and where to shop, and we already have way too much stress in our lives so one more stupid policy or more of the typical blame game and we are outta there! The beauty of individuals is when we come together, en mass, to fight for justice! With my pretty credit, I figure if Chase is pissing me off, then these guys are pissing off the world. And so is Target. This canary is squaking! So, like a guy (or gal) who treated you poorly, in a year or so, with enough customer attrition, banks will wake up and get to grovelling for all of us to come back. Do you go back to that bad significant other? Or do you finally realize you were happier single after all?
With enough of us fed up, banks will become a service driven industry! When we stop banking, when we stop buying, we change the world, and that is huge power.
Ages ago, Discover card did this very thing. I had great service for years, then *poof* they irritated me, would not listen and I closed the account. They were suddenly so aweful, I asked if they'd been bought out. Turns out they had. I waited a full decade to come back, after they got nice again. So far, they treat me like gold.
In any economy, customers are Number 1. They have to come first, they are 'the money'. If you rent, you ARE the customer. If you owe a mortgage, once again, you ARE the customer. If somebody else wants something FROM you, that makes you the customer. Any customer, any debtor should come first, for nothing more but common sense in business. Should we stop paying, for any reason, a business, a bank, feels that real fast! Frankly, if I were strapped for cash, which thank goodness I am not, (whew, survived yet another layoff round) I would first pay those nicest to me. I have always paid the nice people first. So, big business...BE NICE. :-)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
FLAT FACED IAN - TRIBUTE TO A GREAT CAT 1/4/2010
Today is my husbands birthday (same as Elvis) and I have got to just pull myself together, at least on the outside, for him. I've got a major cold and now it is difficult to tell if my furthering weakness is this damn cold or grief. Ian was really an accident, much as I was too. Mini Meow, who is still with us, was very small and when we took her into our home. Although she was with us for a few months, she was so tiny, but we took her to get fixed feeling it was about time. The vet asked that we bring her back in 3 more months, that she was too young for the proceedure.
That same week-end she went into her 1st heat and spawned 3 kittens; Nikki, Mendy and Ian. Mr Nikki got run over by a car several years back. Mendy is still with us.
Ian, was half the size of her siblings, requiring me to push her up to a teet to get her milk and assure she did not get pushed out of the way by her brother or sister at feeding times. Unlike her siblings and mother, she never wanted to go outside, prefering the balconies or a comfy chair or window sill.
She was a charmer, walking over, meowing then falling over hard on the floor to be petted. She had a unique meow, always chirped when touched to acknowledge it, loved her snacky treats, hated wet food, and fish, but loved good hard food and chicken and kitten milk.
In 2003, she was only about 3 years old, she went into congestive heart failure. Ian ended up at the emergency clinic overnight and further tests at Hillside Vet confirmed Advanced HCM, a fatal heart condition. She went on Enalpril, flaxseed oil (hates fish) and Hawthornberry, an herb that is supposed to strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
The enalpril made her stomach upset, so a few years later, when I took her in for a check up, and they were amazed she was still alive, but even more amazed that her heart seemed fine, I took her off the medication.
Flash forward to a couple years later, she suddenly got very sick to her stomach and was tossing up a bit of blood (pink) , refused to eat, so I took her in. They found a mass in her stomach, that must have been there a long time as her stomach lining was very thick. While her kidneys and heart, blood work up etc seemed fine, nothing was passing through her stomach, which had suddenly filled with fluid to 5x its normal size. With her stomach so large, she was in a ton of pain with all her organs squeezed for room in her tiny little body.
It seemed the upshot was to cut her open and confirm cancer, or leave her be and call it cancer. Either way, it was up to her body to release the fluid in her stomach and it was not doing so, causing a big issue. There was nothing that could be done for my little darling.
She had stayed overnight at the vet, to get fluids into her, since she was dehydrated from vomiting. While she stood up when she saw us, she did not make a sound, no greeting meow, and was drooling which the vet explained is what cats do when they are nauseated. She was not the kind of cat to rub up against you. So when Ian walked over accross the table toward me and placed her head against my abdomen, I understood. She had a catheter in her already for fluids so they put the kill dose of whatever they use in there. It was silent and quick. She went from scratching an ear to limp. Then her heart stopped beating. It was suggested we could bring her home, love on her then bring her back the next day to euthanize her but that seemed the most cruel to Ian.
I will remember how she would look right in my eyes when I would speak to her or pet her. How she would play chase the string with me, and how she, every day, tried to enjoy her life. A decade is short and I wanted more time. We always want more of a good thing.
All creatures are their own signature and uniqueness. It is to be treasured as it is never exactly duplicated again. Devinity is in the every day moments with the people and other creatures we are blessed with sharing our lives with. None of us are promised anything beyond the breath we are now taking. Although it hurts greatly to lose her, I am blessed knowing her. The happy accident of both our births allowed us both much joy. Since I will not truly know what happens when we die until I do, all I can hope is that her spirit is alive and well on some other plane, waiting for me.
That same week-end she went into her 1st heat and spawned 3 kittens; Nikki, Mendy and Ian. Mr Nikki got run over by a car several years back. Mendy is still with us.
Ian, was half the size of her siblings, requiring me to push her up to a teet to get her milk and assure she did not get pushed out of the way by her brother or sister at feeding times. Unlike her siblings and mother, she never wanted to go outside, prefering the balconies or a comfy chair or window sill.
She was a charmer, walking over, meowing then falling over hard on the floor to be petted. She had a unique meow, always chirped when touched to acknowledge it, loved her snacky treats, hated wet food, and fish, but loved good hard food and chicken and kitten milk.
In 2003, she was only about 3 years old, she went into congestive heart failure. Ian ended up at the emergency clinic overnight and further tests at Hillside Vet confirmed Advanced HCM, a fatal heart condition. She went on Enalpril, flaxseed oil (hates fish) and Hawthornberry, an herb that is supposed to strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
The enalpril made her stomach upset, so a few years later, when I took her in for a check up, and they were amazed she was still alive, but even more amazed that her heart seemed fine, I took her off the medication.
Flash forward to a couple years later, she suddenly got very sick to her stomach and was tossing up a bit of blood (pink) , refused to eat, so I took her in. They found a mass in her stomach, that must have been there a long time as her stomach lining was very thick. While her kidneys and heart, blood work up etc seemed fine, nothing was passing through her stomach, which had suddenly filled with fluid to 5x its normal size. With her stomach so large, she was in a ton of pain with all her organs squeezed for room in her tiny little body.
It seemed the upshot was to cut her open and confirm cancer, or leave her be and call it cancer. Either way, it was up to her body to release the fluid in her stomach and it was not doing so, causing a big issue. There was nothing that could be done for my little darling.
She had stayed overnight at the vet, to get fluids into her, since she was dehydrated from vomiting. While she stood up when she saw us, she did not make a sound, no greeting meow, and was drooling which the vet explained is what cats do when they are nauseated. She was not the kind of cat to rub up against you. So when Ian walked over accross the table toward me and placed her head against my abdomen, I understood. She had a catheter in her already for fluids so they put the kill dose of whatever they use in there. It was silent and quick. She went from scratching an ear to limp. Then her heart stopped beating. It was suggested we could bring her home, love on her then bring her back the next day to euthanize her but that seemed the most cruel to Ian.
I will remember how she would look right in my eyes when I would speak to her or pet her. How she would play chase the string with me, and how she, every day, tried to enjoy her life. A decade is short and I wanted more time. We always want more of a good thing.
All creatures are their own signature and uniqueness. It is to be treasured as it is never exactly duplicated again. Devinity is in the every day moments with the people and other creatures we are blessed with sharing our lives with. None of us are promised anything beyond the breath we are now taking. Although it hurts greatly to lose her, I am blessed knowing her. The happy accident of both our births allowed us both much joy. Since I will not truly know what happens when we die until I do, all I can hope is that her spirit is alive and well on some other plane, waiting for me.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
LAYOFFS AND FEELINGS
We've been through 8 years of quarterly layoffs at my place of work. I saw friends get hit last week and am waiting for the round in December to see if I get taken out or have a job going into 2010. Then in 2010, I will see how far I last. For years I have continued to do righ by my company, by my customers, continued to work smart, smile and do my very best. Last year, due to lack of people, I put in over 500 non paid overtime hours for free. I am just a worker bee. But watching all of this play out, I had a thought, which makes me feel much better about things and maybe it helps you.
What if, at your company, the CEO, and all the top execs, upper management folks etc, were to just *poof* evaporate one day and not show up to work? What would happen to your company? My guess is the company would continue on, with all the daily business needs being met. Direction at the top could always be hired later, but the business of the day, the orders, implementations, AR, AP, billing and Customer Service functions would all still happen because the people who know what to do, and know where they are with things, would all still be there to do it. Thanks to the worker bee!
Now let's imagine that the CEO and Execs are all still there, but you are not. Imagine every lower manager and all staff *poof* evaporate, right now. What then? My hunch is the business would fold in on itself in less than 48 hours. Work would grind to a screeching halt, with no way to compensate adequately for all the balls right and left being dropped. A company could not survive it. Neither would the CEO and Execs. They don't know how to do what you do and there are not enough of them to get the daily business accomplished.
Now who's really all that important?
Greed is still very much alive in America and it will be our undoing if we cannot relearn how to love our fellow man, take less for ourselves and share. One of my buddies at another company was recetly let go so his upper management could get their bonuses.
I've not had a raise in 3 years and I am ok. I have friends who've taken pay cuts and they still have the same house and car and food on the table. Many of us could take less. Our business leaders could show us all by example if they took paycuts and nixed their bonuses. Or do what Lee Iacocca did and waive an annual salary perhaps.
If you have a job now, save as much as you can and plan as best as you can and contemplate next steps. Do the best work you can do and be proud of what you contribute. This is all you are in control of. And when the ax falls, extend grace under pressure, knowing that all things end, all things change and sometimes something must end in order to create a new beginning.
Whatever dollar figure is currently placed on your head today, when your company is looking to let you go, you can take pride in the fact you have directly helped to build and sustain both your company and the salaries and bonuses your upper guys are getting today. YOU did that. If you do your job correctly, there really isn't anybody working where you do that is more important than you are. If you have done your job with excellence and dilligence, your value is priceless. The fact this may not be recognized by someone laying you off is their karma and not your problem. With faith and balance, you will move on and find your gold elsewhere, you will also sleep good at night.
What if, at your company, the CEO, and all the top execs, upper management folks etc, were to just *poof* evaporate one day and not show up to work? What would happen to your company? My guess is the company would continue on, with all the daily business needs being met. Direction at the top could always be hired later, but the business of the day, the orders, implementations, AR, AP, billing and Customer Service functions would all still happen because the people who know what to do, and know where they are with things, would all still be there to do it. Thanks to the worker bee!
Now let's imagine that the CEO and Execs are all still there, but you are not. Imagine every lower manager and all staff *poof* evaporate, right now. What then? My hunch is the business would fold in on itself in less than 48 hours. Work would grind to a screeching halt, with no way to compensate adequately for all the balls right and left being dropped. A company could not survive it. Neither would the CEO and Execs. They don't know how to do what you do and there are not enough of them to get the daily business accomplished.
Now who's really all that important?
Greed is still very much alive in America and it will be our undoing if we cannot relearn how to love our fellow man, take less for ourselves and share. One of my buddies at another company was recetly let go so his upper management could get their bonuses.
I've not had a raise in 3 years and I am ok. I have friends who've taken pay cuts and they still have the same house and car and food on the table. Many of us could take less. Our business leaders could show us all by example if they took paycuts and nixed their bonuses. Or do what Lee Iacocca did and waive an annual salary perhaps.
If you have a job now, save as much as you can and plan as best as you can and contemplate next steps. Do the best work you can do and be proud of what you contribute. This is all you are in control of. And when the ax falls, extend grace under pressure, knowing that all things end, all things change and sometimes something must end in order to create a new beginning.
Whatever dollar figure is currently placed on your head today, when your company is looking to let you go, you can take pride in the fact you have directly helped to build and sustain both your company and the salaries and bonuses your upper guys are getting today. YOU did that. If you do your job correctly, there really isn't anybody working where you do that is more important than you are. If you have done your job with excellence and dilligence, your value is priceless. The fact this may not be recognized by someone laying you off is their karma and not your problem. With faith and balance, you will move on and find your gold elsewhere, you will also sleep good at night.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
BAD BAD BAD COMPANY - HOW DTV & PERHAPS OTHER COMPANIES ARE FRAUDULENTLY CHARGING YOU TO TRY TO STAY IN BUSINESS IN THIS ECONOMY
While we are all watching our pocket books, it is a very good time to review all of your statements for hidden fees, hidden rules....and hidden contracts that you, apparently legally, do not have to sign for or be told about!
Here is my DTV story, in hopes that it helps you not have to go through this fiasco I am currently battling. If you are suffering over this kind of situation, I hope you stay strong and don't fall for their game and pay them what you do not owe....because it only encourages their wrongful acts of greed.
ATT Uverse offered me a sweet deal. We'd been with DTV for ages, with two old receivers on life support, occassionally working, occasionally not workin. I called to cancel service in order to switch over to ATT.
DTV offered to match the Uverse deal, provide HD, 2 HD receivers and a DVR and match the pricing. Groovy so far.
Very unfortunately, what actually ensued was only a partial installation by DTV, and damage to my house in installing the sattelite dish, which DTV later paid me for.
As far as matching Uverse as promised? Nope, never happened. What I got was 1 HD receiver, which I was charged $100.00 for, no 2nd receiver and no DVR. Even when i shipped them back the HD receiver, I never received any credit off the $100 I paid them to purchase the receiver ATT provides for free.
I spent months arguing trying to get them to complete the installation. If I paid to get my car worked on and the idiot did half the job, or damaged my car in the process, I would not expect to pay for half arsed shoddy workmanship.
But in this case, DTV will not budge and expects me to pay for my unused months they say I owe them contractually for. It is not enough I continued to pay full price for months of partial service.
The other bone of contention is their discrimination against women. I ordered the service and yet they somehow have my husband's information, perhaps from years ago, which they have continued to refuse to correct.
After about 6 months of this crud, I called to cancel service. (hmmmm, can I legally cancel someone else' service?) DTV, after months of telling us they could not help us with a 2nd HD reciever and DVR, suddenly was very agreeable, telling me they could and would match the Uverse offer. it reminded me of this awful relationship years back I got myself out of....where he was only good if I was threatening to leave. I explained that Uverse had just been installed a few moments ago, in fact the ATT rep was right here in my living room. I explaind how after paying in full on time for years, and how after 6 months of arguing to get my new service fully installed, I no longer trusted them to do what they promise. Then they told me then I was under contract. I retorted I'd not signed anything for this new and only partially installed service and that, as it was only partially installed, I did not consider that I legally had any valid contract at all. In fact, matching ATT as they promised meant that I had no further contract terms because by promising to match, they agreed to no contract term.
DTV, without my authorization, charged my Discover card the $300 bucks for the months they claim I owe them for my term. I sent the $100.00 receiver back to them and never got a refund for it. After months of disputing with Discover and arguing with DTV, they finally removed the charge stating they would issue credit.
Now they've sent my husband to a collection agency, even though, again, it was me who ordered the service and me who cancelled it! Michael had nothing to do with it but be frustrated along with me.
I am, out of principle, refusing to pay and my husband agrees but is absolutely not at all happy this is on his credit report when he had nothing to do with this mess.
ATT Uverse, meanwhile, provided us with 2 HD receivers, a DVR and HD service as they promised to, on the day of the installation. Unlike the 6 months I spent arguing with DTV, I have been able to actually fully use and enjoy the service. We do have a strange thing going on with our remote but I will never ever go back to DTV. I'd rather watch snow.
It is refreshing to do business with a company that actually does what they say they will do, but what is even better...is I am under NO FREAKING CONTRACT AT ALL!!!!! It is business as it should be, I can cancel at any time, for any reason. Oh, and those receivers and DVR? No charge!
There are some greedy companies who are acting crazy these days. Watch out, know your rights and don't let yourself be bullied into paying unfair charges.
I work for a utility company. While we do have contracts, we spell out the terms and if someone cancels due to poor service or an incompleted installation, we waive the contract term fees, it is just common sense and good business.
The bottom line is that many of us "little people" feel helpless in front of a big company. The truth is that, collectively, we are so powerful it is scary. With each purchase made, we are voting, with our cash, voting a bad business off the island or back on. The choice is all yours whom you choose to pay and conitnue to spend your cash with.
If you are unhappy and feeling "stuck" make sure you do not have any credit cards or bank accounts set up for auto drafts. If you do, cancel and change your cards/accounts prior to cancelling your bad service with the bad company. This will prevent them from invalid debits against your account, it is quite the little nightmare to fight.
Lastly, if the company has zero common sense and continues to go after you for money you do not owe them (poor service is a breach of contract) then assure you have documented calls, letters of complaint etc showing you tried to work things out. You can use this as dispute fodder when they go after your credit report.
Pay everything else you owe scrupulously. But to my mind, no body should EVER get away with bullying and threatening your credit ruin to gets any kind of bucks out of you that you truly do not owe.
The greedy will eventually perish....just be patient.
Here is my DTV story, in hopes that it helps you not have to go through this fiasco I am currently battling. If you are suffering over this kind of situation, I hope you stay strong and don't fall for their game and pay them what you do not owe....because it only encourages their wrongful acts of greed.
ATT Uverse offered me a sweet deal. We'd been with DTV for ages, with two old receivers on life support, occassionally working, occasionally not workin. I called to cancel service in order to switch over to ATT.
DTV offered to match the Uverse deal, provide HD, 2 HD receivers and a DVR and match the pricing. Groovy so far.
Very unfortunately, what actually ensued was only a partial installation by DTV, and damage to my house in installing the sattelite dish, which DTV later paid me for.
As far as matching Uverse as promised? Nope, never happened. What I got was 1 HD receiver, which I was charged $100.00 for, no 2nd receiver and no DVR. Even when i shipped them back the HD receiver, I never received any credit off the $100 I paid them to purchase the receiver ATT provides for free.
I spent months arguing trying to get them to complete the installation. If I paid to get my car worked on and the idiot did half the job, or damaged my car in the process, I would not expect to pay for half arsed shoddy workmanship.
But in this case, DTV will not budge and expects me to pay for my unused months they say I owe them contractually for. It is not enough I continued to pay full price for months of partial service.
The other bone of contention is their discrimination against women. I ordered the service and yet they somehow have my husband's information, perhaps from years ago, which they have continued to refuse to correct.
After about 6 months of this crud, I called to cancel service. (hmmmm, can I legally cancel someone else' service?) DTV, after months of telling us they could not help us with a 2nd HD reciever and DVR, suddenly was very agreeable, telling me they could and would match the Uverse offer. it reminded me of this awful relationship years back I got myself out of....where he was only good if I was threatening to leave. I explained that Uverse had just been installed a few moments ago, in fact the ATT rep was right here in my living room. I explaind how after paying in full on time for years, and how after 6 months of arguing to get my new service fully installed, I no longer trusted them to do what they promise. Then they told me then I was under contract. I retorted I'd not signed anything for this new and only partially installed service and that, as it was only partially installed, I did not consider that I legally had any valid contract at all. In fact, matching ATT as they promised meant that I had no further contract terms because by promising to match, they agreed to no contract term.
DTV, without my authorization, charged my Discover card the $300 bucks for the months they claim I owe them for my term. I sent the $100.00 receiver back to them and never got a refund for it. After months of disputing with Discover and arguing with DTV, they finally removed the charge stating they would issue credit.
Now they've sent my husband to a collection agency, even though, again, it was me who ordered the service and me who cancelled it! Michael had nothing to do with it but be frustrated along with me.
I am, out of principle, refusing to pay and my husband agrees but is absolutely not at all happy this is on his credit report when he had nothing to do with this mess.
ATT Uverse, meanwhile, provided us with 2 HD receivers, a DVR and HD service as they promised to, on the day of the installation. Unlike the 6 months I spent arguing with DTV, I have been able to actually fully use and enjoy the service. We do have a strange thing going on with our remote but I will never ever go back to DTV. I'd rather watch snow.
It is refreshing to do business with a company that actually does what they say they will do, but what is even better...is I am under NO FREAKING CONTRACT AT ALL!!!!! It is business as it should be, I can cancel at any time, for any reason. Oh, and those receivers and DVR? No charge!
There are some greedy companies who are acting crazy these days. Watch out, know your rights and don't let yourself be bullied into paying unfair charges.
I work for a utility company. While we do have contracts, we spell out the terms and if someone cancels due to poor service or an incompleted installation, we waive the contract term fees, it is just common sense and good business.
The bottom line is that many of us "little people" feel helpless in front of a big company. The truth is that, collectively, we are so powerful it is scary. With each purchase made, we are voting, with our cash, voting a bad business off the island or back on. The choice is all yours whom you choose to pay and conitnue to spend your cash with.
If you are unhappy and feeling "stuck" make sure you do not have any credit cards or bank accounts set up for auto drafts. If you do, cancel and change your cards/accounts prior to cancelling your bad service with the bad company. This will prevent them from invalid debits against your account, it is quite the little nightmare to fight.
Lastly, if the company has zero common sense and continues to go after you for money you do not owe them (poor service is a breach of contract) then assure you have documented calls, letters of complaint etc showing you tried to work things out. You can use this as dispute fodder when they go after your credit report.
Pay everything else you owe scrupulously. But to my mind, no body should EVER get away with bullying and threatening your credit ruin to gets any kind of bucks out of you that you truly do not owe.
The greedy will eventually perish....just be patient.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
BUYING LOCAL THINKING GREEN 3/50
Hi. Well, I have been rather devoted to the whole buy local movement. The idea is to spend $50.00 per month, between the 3 brick and mortar stores local to you, that you'd be upset about losing from your neighborhood if they closed their doors. I think there are some who will not be able to afford that and others who can spend way more than that (ahem...me...just cuz I love to shop!) So, for those of us currently employed and feelin' spendy, let's help boost our local economy by searching for our need to be met first by local merchants, secondly, by the local big box stores and lastly, online or outside our area. With everyone participating, the results can be huge. We collectively have the power to save businesses and our community. It has been hard to pull myself away from finding the better online deal but in the end, it will be worth it. Loyalty is a great thing. It is wonderful to come into a place where the owner/workers remember and welcome you back. Every purchase we make is a vote. This might get a tad deeper but we can also spend our money where the businesses are trying to go greener. For example, Sprint has just introduced a feature rich green phone for $50 bucks. Every purchase is a vote. We can also give more (as we are each able) to neighbors who may have lost jobs recently. Nobody reads me anyway, but it could happen so I wish you peace. :-)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
GREED, BAILOUTS, THE FHA & PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
I get why FDIC came along, so that citizens feel comfortable depositing their hard earned cash into the banking system, knowing that, in the event the bank fails, thier money is guanteed.
What I do not understand is why the Government is anylonger involved in housing loans of any kind.
We have greedy people who have talked so many of us into buying more house than we can afford, taught us that buying a home and "trading up" every few years is the normal thing to do, that it is just a-ok to get into interest only loans and just plan on paying the interest...only....never touching the principle. We are all making other greedy people very very rich.
Now we have baby boomers, who, per Consumer Reports, are turning 65 at a rate of around 10,000 per day. With more than 80% owning their own home, the greedy people want you to get a reverse mortgage so they can charge you 30k+ in fees and interest and make a killing...all backed by the government. On a reverse mortgage, that hits 98% of the maximum lending limit, the FHA currently pays back the lender 98% of the loan and takes on servicing the loan as long as the borrower lives on the property. With the housing market tumbling, many of these houses are under water, leaving the tax payer to shore up the difference when the property gets sold at less than the amount due.
Unless you are completely desperate, and even then, think on it twice, using your home as a piggy bank is a very bad idea. In my opinion, it seems a better avenue to get a HELOC, pay the 1st Mortgage off, if there is one, then use the HELOC for only what is absolutely necessary. This still means you are tying up your home into a debt that could mean you are evicted if you cannot pay, but at least the fees are considerably less and much more flexible.
If I make a bad investment decision, I suffer personally for it. The government does not bail me out for being stupid. So, I have a difficult time grasping why are we bailing out banks who make the poor choice of providing loans that should not be provided in the 1st place. Should they not be held accountable for their own poor choices too?
Life is risk. Business is risk. The greater the reward, typically, means there is inherently a greater risk involved too. There should not be a free ride here.
What I do not understand is why the Government is anylonger involved in housing loans of any kind.
We have greedy people who have talked so many of us into buying more house than we can afford, taught us that buying a home and "trading up" every few years is the normal thing to do, that it is just a-ok to get into interest only loans and just plan on paying the interest...only....never touching the principle. We are all making other greedy people very very rich.
Now we have baby boomers, who, per Consumer Reports, are turning 65 at a rate of around 10,000 per day. With more than 80% owning their own home, the greedy people want you to get a reverse mortgage so they can charge you 30k+ in fees and interest and make a killing...all backed by the government. On a reverse mortgage, that hits 98% of the maximum lending limit, the FHA currently pays back the lender 98% of the loan and takes on servicing the loan as long as the borrower lives on the property. With the housing market tumbling, many of these houses are under water, leaving the tax payer to shore up the difference when the property gets sold at less than the amount due.
Unless you are completely desperate, and even then, think on it twice, using your home as a piggy bank is a very bad idea. In my opinion, it seems a better avenue to get a HELOC, pay the 1st Mortgage off, if there is one, then use the HELOC for only what is absolutely necessary. This still means you are tying up your home into a debt that could mean you are evicted if you cannot pay, but at least the fees are considerably less and much more flexible.
If I make a bad investment decision, I suffer personally for it. The government does not bail me out for being stupid. So, I have a difficult time grasping why are we bailing out banks who make the poor choice of providing loans that should not be provided in the 1st place. Should they not be held accountable for their own poor choices too?
Life is risk. Business is risk. The greater the reward, typically, means there is inherently a greater risk involved too. There should not be a free ride here.
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