OK, so I need to seriously stop tempting fate with some comments I make… The upside is that I can truly see the absurdity and humor in it all…
On a roll this morning, kicking ass and taking names and generally getting shit done. Then I left the house… We’ll just leave the Terminix experience at: what a complete friggin’ waste of time, and I left the townhouse a little riled up to say the least.
Off to the Cox customer service place in Herndon since I was over that direction anyway. They told me I needed to bring in the death cert so I wouldn’t have to deal w/ any reconnect fees. I’m thinking, “Cool, at least they’re not trying to screw me on fees.” I get there and discover that apparently the cable was in my Dad’s name, not my Mom’s… Yeah, something I should have checked ahead of time… Of course, I don’t carry around his death certificate. At this point I’m already not in a pleasant mood, so I tell them screw the reconnect fee, just do it. Nope - they can’t even disconnect without the death certificate. OMFG. I tell the guy that I realize this is not his rule, but this is damn ridiculous and this should not be THAT difficult.
Dominion Power, Washington Gas, Verizon, Fairfax County Water Authority. All transferred with a phone call, no questions asked. This is a damn cable bill, not a numbered Swiss bank account.
Get in the car and sit for a minute and of all the things to think about, I realize that none of the trance I have is on my ipod, and I should tend to that when I get home. I think it was trying to drown out the other part of my brain that wanted to drive the car through the lobby.
Go back home, take a little time to attempt to compose myself, realize I still need to drop the check for the gutters at the townhouse. Checkbook? God knows where, of course. So, on to the next book of checks from the box…
Get the other death cert and head to the office in Kingstowne since it’s actually closer. First, they must get a lot of angry customers at that location, cause they actually have a security guard there. Get things put in my name, and then I ask for the full account number, since I know I’ll need it if I want to get registered online. Guess what? They can’t give it to me. They can give me the last 6 digits, but they don’t know what the full account number would be. WTF? Whatever, I’ll just wait for the bill I suppose. I confirmed more than once that there would be no interruption in service and this was a transfer on the billing side only - oh no, no interruptions, no worries.
Head home, stop & drop off the check for the gutters, and then arrive at the house to be greeted by a cable box that has - - - - instead of the time, and a message on the screen that says “Your Explorer Settop is not authorized for use. Please call 703-378-8422.”
This is where Cindy’s head explodes. I took a moment, picked up the phone and called. I did not yell or take off anyone’s head. They had it fixed within two minutes of getting on the line, thank god. Had it been any longer, I would have someone’s head on a stake.
