I'M UNSTOPPABLE

Rarely a month goes by where I don't have to call the customer service line of some company and politely demand they rescind the most recent charges to my account because of one error or another. This month it happened twice. First, Audible charged me for an account I'd supposedly closed late last year. In fact, this was the second time they'd charged me on the apparently-not-closed account. It didn't take them long to initiate a refund and fix it ... or tell me they'd fixed it. I'll find out in early February. But I got two free audio books.

Today it turned out Sprint was charging me for a second line I never asked for — doubling my monthly bill. To remove the charges, they either needed me to pay a $150 disconnect fee or wanted back my new phone, which they'd recently sent me as part of an agreement to reup for a few more years. I refused both options, expressomg my dissatisfaction while making it clear I didn't hold the operator accountable. She wanted to file a case and have a supervisor get back to me within five business days. Instead, I held out and got a supervisor on the line within five minutes. Not only did that supervisor rescind the charges, she even knocked five percent off my monthly bill.

I'm as big a booster of capitalism as the next guy (and often bigger) but this sort of thing drives me nuts. It's almost as if they make routine errors with the hope I won't notice and will just sign off and not get inquisitive about the extra charges. Well, I do. And not only do I obtain justice, I usually wind up ahead.

Come on, Corporate America. You want to a piece of me? I dare you.

---

posted by WWB at 8:18 PM |