My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

[dogsdad]

Think about this: how much time do you spend on the telephone trying to straighten out messes created by other people? How often do you have to go to someone (a perfect example is your friendy health insurance provider) to do something over again to get it right?<br /><br />I'll tell ya what: the wife and I are sick and tired of having to go around behind people WE PAY to do things for us, and straighten out their screw-ups! We spend HOURS of our precious time trying to get a bunch of INCOMPETENT A******* to do what they are paid to do!!<br /><br />And ya know what's another maddening thing about it all? Everytime there's a screw-up, it works in THEIR FAVOR!!! I do not remember a time EVER IN MY WHOLE FREEKIN' LIFE that a bank, insurance company, o any other merchant made a mistake in my favor! N-E-V-E-R!!! I'll go to my grave believing that they do it intentionally, with the hope that you'll just wear down and let it slide.<br /><br />I hereby declare WAR on incompetence. I'm just not going to tolerate it any more. I have HAD IT!!!<br /><br />AAAAAAAAARRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[ob]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

My son has been trying to get a glitch settled with the power company for 9 mos.He has recieved two disconnection notices,and three late charge notices.He has yet to recieve his bill in his apartment mailbox,despite several contacts with the billing dept.that said the problem would be resolved.They just can't seem to get it through their head ,that he doesn't live is apt #603.In fact ,noone does ,and hasn't in over a year.It's a condo complex.<br /><br />As a matter of fact ,I've been corresponding with the proper depts. also since being added as a contact person for his account.All sounds good until the next bill never arrives.It's getting very old.They were supposed to mail him a summary of the accrued bills to date ,but my son has not recieved it yet.It's a deregulated ,buck passing can of worms.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

I keep screaming about this too. Too many idiots that dont care and have no reason to care. Many many medical bills are compeltely wrong, and then end up billing the consumer, when the insurance would pay for it if they filed it correctly.<br /><br />The solution is to tie the workers pay into their performance.<br /><br />Have a backlog of data entry, and employees dont care. Solution, make thier pay dependant on how fast and accurate they complete the task. Guess what, the backlog would be gone in half the time.<br /><br />Ken

 

[Homerr]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

Find the main corporate office and send a certified letter (w/signature required) of the situation OB.<br /><br />If they cut off power, then you have a huge leg to stand on when you sue their pants off.<br /><br />Certified letters are my friend. I've stopped many problems with them!<br /><br />Insurance billing errors? HAA!<br />I can write a life story on the errors.<br />I can't count on 1 hand the amount of billings that have been correct!<br />You have to watch every billing procedure like a hawk too. I've found multiple procedures billed to my insurance company that I never had done.<br /><br />And I agree Ken... Make them responsible.<br />I sign work orders when I complete a job at work. If the job is bad, guess who answers for it? I do. If I deserve a bun-chewing for messing up, then by all means.. let me have it.<br /><br />H.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

You think that is bad try the IRS. I just got last years refund about a week ago. I remember one phone call the women said “we are disallowing the two children, you have to prove that you have them” as the 2 year old is pulling out the 4 year olds hair and both screaming at the top of there lungs . I asked if she could hear? In a not so good tone. That is when the wife took over the phone call Thank God. After a year it was sent down to a review board. They are only there during the “evening” (no actual hours) you have to leave a message with there answer machine and they will call you back (caller ID-name and number unknown) any time in the next couple of days. If you don't pick up (screening calls) or not at home they will not leave a message. If you think you have missed the call (you need ESP) you then you have to call them back and leave another message for them to call you back. When we finally got a hold of a person they looked at our tax forms and said all looks in order you will get your full refund within two weeks. After 30 hours on the phone a five min review and it was over and I feel lucky.<br />PS I still haven't got G Bush’s tax refund and I voted for him. The accountant is working on that.

 

[ob]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

That will perhaps be the next step Homerr.Last time I spoke to the billing dept. supervisior,he assured me that the problem would be promptly resolved.That was the third time. <br /><br />Dang kid is just trying to get his life started and begin establishing credit,and the incompetance of the power company's employees are getting him off on the wrong foot.What happened to customer appreciation? What do we both get for our wasted time and grief?

 

[Homerr]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

They actually ASKED you to prove you had children?<br /><br />My God.. This is the USA isn't it? Did the KJB move in here overnight?<br /><br />Man... I feel for you. Jeees! <br /><br />H.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

Yea <br />Up till that point we were ready to settle for what ever they were going to give us. After that day it was all or nothing. If we had to we would have took it to court on principal. I am sure my lawyer would have ate up most of our refund with all the litigation and being on hold but they were not going to keep it.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

OB – I know someone that just went thru this very problem. Took a year to get a bill. When it arrived, PG&E demanded payment within 30-days. It is the power company’s right to do so…even for late billing!!! My friend was hit with almost $4000 bill. She negotiated to pay it over 1-year…basically making double PG&E payments for a year. PG&E agreed to not shut off her pwr or assess any other charges in the late payment.<br /><br />I suggest your son should be making payments he estimates is correct, minus a little. Make a note in the memo section of the check and have him save the returned checks in a safe place. This is a battle you (and your son) cannot win.

 

[ob]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

18Rabbit,He has done just that with regards to the check record keeping.He is actually paid up until next months bill and his estimations of monthly payments have been estimated.We just don't have validated meter readings on a bill that will reflect this.Been taking their word for it up to now .Once he does ,if ever,recieve this itemized accrued written account of his KW usage,I most definately plan to review it with him.It's just been eating at him lately as he has been on long hours at work and is getting frazzled when he checks his mailbox and finds he is being repremanded for non - payment of bills he hasn't recieved.<br /><br />I wasn't going to get too detailed on the entire situation but ironically as it may be,we were the ones that initially contacted the power company to begin paying the bills that he had not been recieving since he occupied the condo for the first 4 months.They promptly got him and his address into the system and sent out a meter reader to get the reading.They then ,by phone,were contacted by us appparently foolishly honest consumers 1 week later and were given the amount owed to date,which my son promptly paid.That is when he was notified of the glitch and that the next bill would be sent on time.Which brings us to where we are at now,some 5 months later.<br /><br />I'm not a betting man,nor loosely optimistic,but I have a gut feeling that maybe,...just maybe ..that he will begin recieving his bills on a monthly basis and that we will be reviewing the updated itemization soon.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

OB – I'm glad to hear that. Power companies have all kinds of legal latitude that other business don’t have. I have a theory why the quality of customer service tanked…and why ‘hired help’ just doesn’t give a hoot anymore…but it is so politically incorrect …<br />I hope everything works out with your son and the power company soon so he does have to worry about any of this stuff, anymore.

 

[lakelover]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

I had surgery last May, paid my co-pays at the pre-op testing by credit card (thankfully). Ten months later, here comes the hospital telling me I owe them the co-pays, sending letters, phoning me, telling me "contact the insurance company", who tells me to "contact the hospital". This went on for months. When the hospital threatened using a collection agency, I called them again, and told them I was holding my credit card statement in my hand, and it showed the charges billed to the card on the date of the pre-op testing. <br /><br />They wanted me to make a copy of the statement and send it to them. Finally I got pi**ed off and said "No, it's your mistake and your problem, I'm not wasting any more of my time on this, YOU fix it". And guess what, they did! <br /><br />So yeah, I think you're right, a lot of people doing their jobs are incompetent, and it causes a lot of hassle and wasted time for everyday honest people.

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

the hospital recently billed me $450 to cast my<br />broken ankle... only problem is, it was an aircast!<br />idiocy worked in my favor some years ago with cable<br />co. they had my address wrong (924 instead of 942)<br />and when they called me due to non payment, i told<br />them send me a bill and I'll pay it and even gave<br />them the correct address. never got a bill or even<br />another phone call and had free cable for 3yrs.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

Many years ago I had a problem with the cable co and cancelled. They missed the pickup of their decoder box two times then started billing me a couple hundred $$$ for it and then threatened to report it to the credit reporting agencies. The manager of the cable co would not take my call or return messages I left. I researched the corp that owned the cable co…turned out to be Group W. I know them as Westinghouse so I call the president of Westinghouse, the head of a billion $$$ corp. Of course, there is no way I was going to get to talk to the top dog but I did get his ‘personal aide’ who said he would “take care of it.” He did. Within 45min the manager of the cable co called me and said “I don’t know you, you never had an account with us, and there is no decoder box to be picked up.” All billing stopped and I never heard from the cable co again. That left me hold a cable decoder box…one of those thing where a single bent contact results in the viewing of every cable channel…even the paid ones.

 

[mattttt25]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

ever notice how everyone screws up except us? i've never met someone that simply admits they are incompetent. makes ya think...

 

[dogsdad]

Re: My Turn to Rant: INCOMPETENCE

Well, I'll tell ya what: in the rare instance I make a mistake, I own up to it and make it right. I do not send people on wild goose chases and I do not pass the buck. And I most certainly do NOT charge people "accidentally" for services they never received.<br /><br />I am still at war with incompetence, and I will not tolerate it anymore!!