I'm particuarly displeased to announce that my local tax dollars go to paying the salaries of nincompoops. I would write a letter to local government to complain if I weren't certain the response would be a forum for further nincompoopery.
To my great misfortune, I've had to speak with the idiots at Durham city government's billing service several times over the past few years, both for residential and work issues. 98% of the time, I end up speaking with some idiot who lacks the correct brain synapses to connect certain clues to resolve a case.
You have to repeat yourself time and time again to get your point across. More often than not, that point never does get made clear to them.
I have a "wait and see" philosophy on things. I [sometimes incorrectly] assume that if I do what I'm supposed to when people tell me to that my obligation has been fulfilled. I mailed a check in for our water bill two months ago. It never posted to my bank account, however the thought never crossed my mind that I should call and ask said nincompoops if they'd received it. In the past they'd been incredibly slow about depositing checks, so I didn't think anything of it.
Over the weekend I got a letter about the amount in question telling me that if I didn't pay it they'd put the smack-down on me. I returned the letter with a note scribbled on it telling them when I mailed the check, the amount of the check, and the check number. I then proceeded to use a yellow hi-lighter to emphasize the information asking if they hadn't received it to let me know so I could put a stop payment on the check and issue a new one.
Today, a nincompoop in the cashier's department calls and leaves a message about the note. She was confused because that wasn't the check number of the check they just recieved (for ANOTHER bill, duh). But first, she left an "accidental" message where she was mumbling to a coworker about how I got the check numbers wrong (insinuating that I was lying) and yada yada, not realizing she was recording. Then she called back. The letter clearly stated what money was due according to their records. Why would I be commenting about another bill on that letter?
I called her back and explained that there OBVIOUSLY is a missing check somewhere. Normally, I would have just put another check in the mail, but there's something about mommyhood that makes you want to crack skulls about these errors. I don't have the patience for this shit anymore.
She couldn't connect point A to point B to see that the check I paid the most recent bill with was EXACTLY the amount of the most recent bill. It had nothing to do with the note that I sent about the missing check. "...But that's not the check number of the check that came in today." FUCKING DUHHHHHH! I had to have explained myself a gazillion times, finally resorting to using small words and short sentences. If I could have gone down there and drawn her a picture I would have.
I asked if there was any danger of them sending a flunky out here to shut our service off, explaining that would be incredibly unfair since I sent that payment in two months ago. If they didn't recieve it, they could have taken me at my word and given me a chance to replace the check or else go ask their dumbass cashiers if it was misplaced. I was told to call the customer service office, where I got the same runaround. "You can call the cashiers and see if they can trace the check," she said. "Um, she told to call YOU."
Anyway, they provided no reassurance that they would try to trace the missing check. I was about ten seconds from giving someone a serious cussing, but I instead held myself in check, thanked the woman, and hung up. I'll deal with the post office and see if they can find it (wild goose chase).
Every damn time I call there I deal with incompetence. One time they lost an electronic payment I submitted through their own website and I had to call two or three different idiots for them to find it and credit it to my account. Their system is so backwards that money can be drafted from your checking account and they still won't know who it came from.
Fucking idiots. With the Duke lacrosse shit, the idiot school board, and everything else going on in Durham I'm totally ready to move a county over just to shake the "dumb" out of my clothes.
I. Am. So. Annoyed. Now my kid has to be held by angry mommy.
Posted by Tiffany at December 18, 2006 04:43 PM | TrackBack