Gimme a Break!!!

I feel like John Stossel... I have recently been blindsided by the absolute ineptitude of just about all those around me in the service and banking industry.

It was just over four years ago that Steve and I moved to Arizona from Northern California. When we arrived, we were bowled over by how competent and friendly everyone was. Perhaps our view of the world had been warped by the general population of Oakland, and the near hostility that spewed forth from the folks at the bank, grocery store, dry cleaners - name it.

We reveled in the outgoing, customer friendly world of Scottsdale. We needed something taken care of, and Voila - it was taken care of - AMAZING....

Something has changed. Maybe I've grown complacent or jaded, or perhaps immune to the overall good nature and intelligence of those around me here. Or, possibly, we were wearing rose colored glasses for the first few years. Whatever the cause, I've gotta say, things have gone downhill swiftly and without question.

For an example - on July 30th, we closed on an equity line. We wanted to do some consolidation of debt (student loans, an old credit card..) and took out an equity line. Fine - good. We have it written IN OUR CLOSING DOCS that they BANK would dispurse the funds to the creditors. Ok. Works for me.

We then find out that we were mistaken. We needed to pick up the disbursement checks from the bank. We only know this because someone at the bank called because our checks had been sitting there for over a week. WHAT? Ok, convince the bank that THEY can incur the cost of mailing said checks. This was August 12th. It is now the 23rd, and the checks have still not arrived at the creditors. The bank cannot find them. They think they were mailed, but cannot really prove it. Gimme a break!

We ordered a chair and ottoman set from Breuners furniture for our bedroom. They delivered a mis-matched set. Right ottoman, wrong chair. The customer service folks cannot figure out what we have because the computer shows everything to be in order. Except, it is not. They think they can have this solved this week. Gimme a break.

As a teacher, our incentive based pay comes over the summer. We were suppposed to get a check on Aug. 19th. I called the school, as the checks were delivered to the school, at 10:30. Since I had not shown up for a staff meeting, they sent my check back to the district office, who now, cannot find it. They think it will be arriving in the next day or two. HUH??

We wanted to add two boxes to our DirecTV service. Over the internet, we ordered, paid for and scheduled our installation. The guy shows up the day I am coming home from the hospital. We arrange for someone to be here, but NO, it has to be a homeowner. We were literally 6 minutes away, but the guy cannot wait. He leaves. I call DTV and yell. They reschedule for that Friday. Then call that morning to say the install guy cannot make it. (I'm thinking this is fine because Parker's Open House for 1st grade fell into their window of arrival time) The gal asks if it would be OK for someone to come by later on, say, after 5. COOL - works for me.

Someone whose name I cannot pronouce shows up at 2, works until 3:40 (the open house ends at 4:00) hooks the boxes he brought to a satelite that clearly says DISH NETWORK, recognizes his mistake, cuts the cables and leaves. WTF??

We then get Scott to come out, another DTV guy who happens to live near us, on a Saturday to fix the first guys' errors. Only he can't because he needs a taller ladder than the one he has, so he leaves, vowing to return the next day...Yes - he was fine with working on a Sunday. Its Tuesday night and we have not heard from him.

GIMME A FLIPPIN BREAK!!!