Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Paying bills AKA ranting

This will not have any pictures unless I can find one showing me very frustrated. I have finally sat down to pay bills. And of them is my Charter bill. First I see that supposedly someone ordered a movie off of PayDemand. It wasn't me, I was off working that day. My son, Ian, and I decide that it was probably my husband, who says it wasn't him. So I call Charter and they say that it played for 2 hours. Hmmm, I go to Wikipedia and they say that movie runs for 93 minutes. Isn't 2 hours 120 minutes? For $3.99 I am not going to argue, but I do put a block on pay movies. No more. You want a movie, you will have to pick up the phone, figure out which number to call, then go through the process of ordering one. No more accidential getting a movie that lasts 120 mins when it should only be 93 minutes. The bill is still not paid as I am told that to pay my bill on the phone will cost me $8. I love it. I am paying them and I get to pay an additional $8 for the pleasure. So I tell them I am not going to do that and I go to the Internet. The Internet tells me that to pay my bill I have to have a security code, but it does not tell me how to get this security code. I call Charter back and this time I get a nice man that I cannot understand. The little I do understand is that I can go to my local Charter office and they will give me my security code, he cannot give me my security code over the phone. Now, how is that all of the other bills I pay on line do not require this? I have never had to drive to the local office of whatever to set up my account on the Internet. In fact, 20 minutes before I was talking to Charter, I had paid my CellularOne bill on the phone, without being charged $8 for the honor. They took my money for free. I explain that the Charter office is in Traverse City, which is an hour's drive away from my home, it is 8:30 at night and I do not think they are open. So sorry, that is what I have to do. So......no Charter bill paid tonight. I will admit it is my fault that I waited until the night before the bill was due, but they really make it hard to take my money. So, tomorrow I will call my local office and see what they tell me. Really wish that the local cable company had not sold out many years ago to Charter. I do not like losing the local home page to something that talks about things I could care less. In fact, I changed my home page to Leelanau.com. Much nicer, they talk about things I care to read.