Thursday, February 23, 2012

Yay, more incompetence!

[Warning: bloody photo ahead after the AT&T stuff, so if you don't want to scroll after the long story short, just know I'm doing well after a minor kitchen accident. I could use some ice cream though.]

I am so pissed. I talked with a great lady at AT&T to verify that the former home phone number, which is now a wireless number, is set to be an additional line in my FamilyTalk plan instead of as an individual line due to incompetent setup last month. It's flipping at the next bill cycle and all charge adjustments have been made, so wicked cool.

Then I talked with a total asshat about this lovely email I received upon cancelling my iPad data plan. I'd cancelled service within the two hours specified in another email notifying me of the autorenewal, but was charged anyway after it stuck as "pending" in my bank account for five days. He unsincerely apologized at the beginning of each of his new conversational tidbits, and mentioned blah blah cancelling within 15 days. I asked where this was in writing and he smugly pointed to the terms and conditions. Fine. This wasn't even f'ing available on the AT&T site from any of the menu options for everything! (I couldn't find it, anyway.) After 10 minutes of frustration, I goo-searched "ipad data plan terms and conditions att" and found the wireless data services agreement two links down.

I need to call back and get someone else to talk with, because it clearly states that what I was trying to do was kosher.

IF YOU SELECT A DOMESTIC 30 DAY SPECIFIED DEVICE PLAN, THE PLAN WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW EVERY 30 DAYS, AND YOU AUTHORIZE US TO CHARGE YOUR CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD OR YOUR WIRELESS BILL FOR YOUR INITIAL AND ANY SUBSEQUENT SPECIFIED DEVICE PLAN, UNLESS YOU CANCEL THE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL OF YOUR SERVICE. TO CANCEL AUTOMATIC RENEWAL, GO TO WWW.ATT.COM/BUYASESSION, LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AND CANCEL AUTOMATIC RENEWAL PRIOR TO YOUR NEXT SCHEDULED PAYMENT TO AVOID BEING CHARGED. IN ORDER TO PROCESS YOUR AUTOMATIC RENEWAL IN A TIMELY FASHION AND ENSURE YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SERVICE, AT&T WILL CHARGE YOUR CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD OR YOUR WIRELESS BILL FOR THE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS BEFORE YOUR NEW 30 DAY AUTOMATIC RENEWAL IS SET TO BEGIN. SHOULD YOU CANCEL AUTOMATIC RENEWAL AFTER WE HAVE CHARGED YOUR CARD OR YOUR WIRELESS BILL BUT BEFORE THE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL PERIOD IS SET TO BEGIN (E.G. WE CHARGED YOUR CREDIT CARD FOR THE RENEWAL AT 7 AM ET FOR A 9 AM ET AUTO RENEWAL AND YOU NOTIFIED US TO CANCEL THE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL AT 8 AM ET), PLEASE CONTACT AT&T CUSTOMER SERVICE TO PROCESS A CREDIT FOR THE AUTOMATIC RENEWAL.

Even though I cancelled within the two hour window and didn't select autorenew in the first place (it was apparently selected for me since I paid with credit card), I got nothing. As far as I'm concerned, the AT&T session based services idiot I spoke with can wipe my ass and eat a bag of dicks.

The real pisser was that he said I was charged for the whole next month because of 13 MB of data. I had switched the 3G off two weeks prior so know that wasn't me. I'm thinking software update or some crap, which naturally counts as data for the session based services plan, but that shouldn't even matter because I was within the two hour window! The only reason why I didn't cancel it when I switched it to wifi was moving craziness coupled with hella fun repetitive arguments with incompetent Shitna phone jockeys, jobbing, cancer scare crap (Aurora breast MRI and ductogram)... yeah, nothing big going on. (Yay for all the tests coming out negative, too.)

Speaking of wiping my ass, it's kinda hard to do that with my left hand as I'm right handed. See, I had a stupid onion slicing accident yesterday and took a trip to the local emergency department for not following Rule 1 of my mantra. (Rule 1: Don't be stupid. Rule 2: Be cheap like Amy.) (Amy was my matron of honor, among other friendshippy things, like encouraging hubby and I to get together before we'd even met each other.) I am now irritated at having to explain what happened to everyone I happen to talk with in person.

Long story short, 1) I'm sticking with knives for food prep, 2) it's pathetic when a person in tears and obvious severe pain asks to be given a painkiller before taking off a paper towel stuck to a bloody mangled finger, and 3) it's absolutely sad when someone giving medical care comes across to said person as patronizing, cold, and uncaring, even while healing that person as much as possible.

This is what happened when the paper towel
with blood stuck to my mangled skin came off.
My thumb bled for at least two hours nonstop
and this was about an hour into the fun.
Be glad I didn't post any wound pics.
Short story medium, 1) when the safety widget on the mandoline doesn't hold a veggie properly, it is best to use a knife for the rest of slicing instead of using one's hand, 2) physician assistants working in an emergency department should act like dentists and make sure a body area is at least partway numb before jabbing a needle full of lidocaine in a body part (twice) before surgical suturing (stitches), especially when the patient has several chronic pain syndromes including fibro, which is a disease of glitches in pain processing. In normal people terms, the chronic pain was at about an 8.5, and the numbing (that kicked in five minutes after she knotted my stitchery) made the acute pain go from a 7 to a 3. The total pain went to 42 when she was jabbing me and doing the stitching (giving me only one stitch instead of two because everything hurt so much I almost broke hubby's hand and arm while screaming bloody murder). Oh, and 3) I have an amazing husband, even though he's not going to let me forget my idiocy for a long while. I still blame fibro fog for that.

There's lots more going on but I really need to not type more for a bit. Sigh.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Quote of the Day and life update

"... not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."  - William Bruce Cameron

This is usually attributed to my homeboy Albert Einstein, who apparently often said, "Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count really count."

I like that. It sounds better when he says it, in my head.

In life news, we've moved but still haven't unpacked everything. I can't find any matching pairs of socks. I tried to not freak out too much while on the phone with SOMEONE COMPETENT at Cigna today. She confirmed that my Certificates of Creditable Coverage were on file and proceeded to kick three things back to Claims for processing. Hallefreakinglujah, especially since one was from, oh, LAST MAY. She was also not sure why I got a form for a physician re: seeing another physician during a certain time period, since the CCCs cover any pre-existing conditions. Incompetence. It's not what's for dinner or lunch today! *happy dance*

Claude (my iPhone, named after Claude Debussy) is senile. I'd love to play with a Samsung Galaxy Note in person since I love everything about it, but since I'm still jobbing, I may or may not get that soon. I'm also looking at less expensive Android phones like the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, wondering if I should wait and consider a Galaxy S III Skyrocket and/or iPhone 5, and fretting about Claude's power constantly draining at an alarming rate because the power button doesn't work. (I can't even snap photos 90% of the time.) I used to have a Samsung not-so-smart phone and it worked very well for me, so I'm looking forward to seeing what all they have out now. Okay, maybe I'll have to consider the HTC Titan 2, which isn't on AT&T's site at present, but OMG with the 16 MP camera plus second camera for chatting. I used to have a Windows Mobile phone 6 years ago (Cingular 8125) and loved it, so I might have to look at the WinMo7.5 now. Hope that OS has improved.

We had a friend (I'll call her Red Fraggle since I'm totally Mokey Fraggle) stay with us one recent weekend due to a sci fi expo in town. With 4 of the cast of Firefly there, uh, yeah. No brainer. I still need to go through my photos. I definitely need to learn how to knit so I can get in on some Jayne Hat action.