complainer!

I am not having a great day. Nothing too terrible has happened, but those little things have a tendency to stack up against me until I feel like breaking every dish in the cupboard! I thought blogging would be a better way to vent than throwing a tantrum in front of my kids.
I woke up this morning on Kara's bedroom floor. I could just not sleep through Ben's snoring last night and since my brother was here for the night, I couldn't go to the guestroom. Not sure why I didn't sleep on the couch, but I guess at 4 am it seemed like a better idea to throw the luv sacs on Kara's floor and sleep there. So things didn't start out too great. As I was finishing my cereal and waiting for the girls to wake up, Ben called to say he forgot his suit coat and needed me to bring it to him by 10. (his first appt. of the morning.) So I showered and got ready, woke the girls up, fed them, and got them both ready to leave by 9. I was right on schedule to be there at 9:45. I wanted to be early in case his appointment showed up early. But as I was driving up I-5, I suddenly saw a sea of brake lights. We were completely stopped for almost 3 minutes, and then it took 10 minutes to get through the traffic. I never saw an accident, so I have no clue why traffic was held up. it was not a spot that I usually have a problem. Anyway, I was freaking out, worrying about getting Ben his jacket. (silly, I know) And I admit to speeding a bit. I made it to the branch a few minutes before 10 and got it to him just as his client arrived. Then I got to turn around and head back home with the girls. That wasn't too bad a way to start the morning, just a bit of an inconvenience.
I needed to get Ben's car registered also, so I drove straight to the licensing place, only to realize I had forgotten to grab the emmissions report. Luckily, I was only 5 minutes away from home. I went home and got all the paperwork and headed back. When I got inside with the girls, I found that I can not register the car without Ben being present to sign a paper, since he is listed as the primary driver. They said they can't even accept a notarized signature if I bring it. So that was annoying. Especially since this same thing happened about 2 years ago with the buick, and I guess I had just forgotten.
I came home and fed the girls lunch. Then I needed to call our credit union. We recieved a letter saying that we had insufficient funds to pay our loan, and that we got charged $20 for that. Ben checked it out, and we were only $1 short and they took it out on a sunday. he had the money there on monday, so it just seemed silly that we be charged the $20. So I was calling to see if they would waive the fee. I spoke to Amber, who got really obnoxious with me. she just started defending their actions and asking me if I understood how banking and loans even work! I finally had to tell her that I know they had every right to charge the fee, and why they did, but given the circumstances, I wanted to see if they would take it off. I could not get any answer out of her other than a lecture about my being required to have sufficient funds at all times, and they can take the $ on a sunday if they want to. So I finally asked for a supervisor. she angrily said okay, then asked what she had done that was wrong. I couldn't even explain to her though, because she cut me off at every word with a reason why I couldn't be refunded. Finally, I was sick of talking to her and I actually said, "I'm not interested in hearing another word out of your mouth, please get a supervisor." (rude, I know, but nicer than what I really wanted to say) She agreed, and then after 4 minutes on hold, I got transferred back into the phone system! did she think I wouldn't call back?!? Anyway, I went through the phone tree again and got susan, who was able to see who had last pulled up my account a few minutes prior. She gave me the name of Amber's supervisor, and tried to transfer me to her. unfortunately the supervisor was at lunch, so susan came back on the line. I told her what I had originally been calling for, and she was surprised. She said of course they would take the charge off. in those circumstances it was obvious we were not being delinquent on the loan. She wondered why this other girl had a problem with it, seeing as we have been members there for years, and never had any late payments or any kind of problem on any of our accounts. so just easy as a mouse click the fee was removed. no lecture, no attitude, just done. She said she will email Amber's supervisor to call me back so I can make a complaint. (I always feel the need to complain about bad customer service. Especially about being dumped back into the phone queue!) I was steaming mad, but made myself calm down. who needs the stress? I had just sat down on the couch with Kara when my phone rang. I thought it would be the supervisor, so I answered quickly. It was a message from the hospital and it said, "If you are Rebecca Miller, press one" so I did, curious what they would be calling about. I was on hold for 6 minutes, but I didn't want to hang up, in case Ben was at the hospital. Finally I heard a faint, "hello?" so I answered with my own "hello" Then she asked if I was Christian Miller. I said, "no. but I have a daughter named Kiersten Miller, who is one year old, and doesn't take phone calls." I thought I was funny, but this woman didn't. She verified that I was actually Rebecca Miller and had Kiersten at the hospital over a year ago. That's when I knew why she was calling. grrrr! We have recieved all kinds of bills from the different hospital services for Kiersten's birth. It seemed like we might be getting billed wrong, but we just paid them all. Then we got a refund check because they had over charged us, which wasn't surprising at all. So about a month ago, we got a letter saying we had an unpaid balance of $80 and pay up or go to collections since this was seriously past due. I looked through all of the bills to ensure we had paid them all, and we had. So I gave them a call to see what this was all about. It was a very long phone call. The guy I spoke to had a hard time figuring out what the charges were for. He told me that the check we were sent as a reimbursement was a seperate acct # than the balance due, and he didn't know why they didn't just apply the overpayment to the other acct#. Who knowss why they would have different acct #'s for the same thing, but I just accepted that. I asked why this stern letter was the first I was hearing of the balance. he told me that the insurane company just barely made the decision for what they would cover, and that's why it had taken so long for us to be billed. When I asked when they sent us a bill, he said they DIDN'T. they could see in their system that they had never sent us a bill, and still felt the need to send me this letter! He couldn't tell me what the charges were actually for, because it is private info that he couldn't access. so I told him to send me a bill and I will pay it. he said okay and that he would put my acct on hold for now.
that brings us to today. Terry is who called me this afternoon. what she had to say was that I have a seriously past due balance of $80 and if I can't pay now, over the phone, I will be sent to collections and assessed late charges. I was surprised to be able to keep my cool, as I explained the situation to her, and that in the month since I had spoken to the last guy, I still have not recieved a bill. She said she could see his notes that matched what I told her. Then she asked, "so you didn't get the bill?" I asked her, "have you sent me a bill?" to which she replied, "it shows here that we haven't." I did not know what to say, the AUDACITY! she said, "could you please send the payment, or pay over the phone today?" that is when I LOST it on poor Terry. How could they expect me to pay the bill that they never sent? why would I pay a bill that I don't even know what the charges are for? Why would she call me up and demand payment if she could clearly see on my account that they have not sent me one single bill?!?!?!? I asked for a supervisor, of course, (that's my thing, ya know) and she said that she is the supervisor who has been working on my account for the past year, and that she had decided to call me herself since the account was so far past due. I explained to her that she could send me a bill, and I will gladly pay anything I owe. I also suggested that if they want people to pay, they need to actually send a bill, and that when she calls someone about their account, she might read over the notes, or actually find out what is going on and who she is calling, maybe get the name right, and ask for the parent, not a baby. She assured me she would not send it to collections, and reset the due date for the charge. I told her if I don't get the bill, don't expect me to pay. It's just $80, and I know I should have just paid it and be done with the headache, but who knows what would be next? I want my account straightened out, with no more over charges, or bills they expect me to pay without any knowledge that I owe them. I don't think I've been unreasonable. Take the damn $80, just tell me why I am paying it, oh, and tell me THAT I am supposed to pay it before you get after me for not sending the check!
So that is my frustrating day. I feel tons better now that I've whined and complained about it. I think I'll go sit outside with the girls for a while and not do anything. If my phone rings again today I am NOT answering it! unless it's Ben. COME HOME BEN! I need a hug!