Monday, November 26, 2007

It's Electric

I was really worried about the electric bill at our new home.

We've added a dishwasher, garbage disposal, washer and dryer, and an electric stove to our appliances. There is a lot more lighting. And my beau has been running the AC whenever he gets hot and often overnight.

The first bill came this weekend. It covers a full month. And it's less than our bill was at the old place.

Go figure.

Friday, November 23, 2007

They Picked A Bad Day

I just got home from visiting my daughter.

I checked my email.

There was a message from Bank of America that my latest credit card statement was in so I logged in to to check it out.

Because of my move last month, my paper statement didn't get here early enough to send a check so I paid online for the first time.

I logged in over the weekend to pay. It wouldn't let me enter the actual date because it wasn't a business day. In fact, the bill's due date wasn't a business day either so the earliest day I was allowed to enter was the day after the due date even though I was paying before the due date. So my bill was due on the 12th, but I would have had to pay it by 3:30 on the 9th in order to be able to enter a date on or before the due date.

I wondered if I would end up with a charge, but assumed that a large bank would have their system set up to handle due dates that fall on weekends and holidays without charging a bunch of customers late fees.

I was wrong.

I had a huge late fee and finance charges despite the fact that I've paid my bill in full for three months straight. Plus, the interest rate doubles when you're charged a late fee.

I was furious.

I called. I was the customer that no one wants to talk to. It was the wrong day to piss me off. It took a lot of arguing to get everything fixed. She claimed she was doing me a favor by offering me a partial fix. I countered that it wasn't a favor because it wasn't my mistake. I know she was annoyed with me. I could hear it in her voice. She could barely maintain politeness. But I got everything I asked for, even though I kept trying to remind myself that I'd have more luck if I was polite.

I couldn't be polite. And I'm still angry.

I need a new credit card company.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Lucky Us

All I want to say is that we have lots of ladybugs hanging around our house.

I'm sure it's a sign.