Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Fool me infinity (or how I learned to stop worrying and just pay) - Part 2

Hi all,

In October of 2011, I was brought back into the warm and wonderful folds of my previous employer, and with that lavishness came a company phone again.

Not needing a personal line anymore, I was very glad that I hadn't signed up for a contract that I'd have to pay out. I thought I'd be able to walk away financially unscathed.

I called my carrier to cancel my service, did the whole "It's not you, it's me" thing (which was very true), and then I was presented with an excellent option, or so I thought.  Instead of cancelling the account outright, I could convert it into a Pay-as-you-go plan, and with the credit I was due, buy some airtime, and keep the phone for emergencies.  I loved the sound of it, and it looked like no one would be hurt.

The next month, I was surprised to get a mobile phone bill, and even more surprised that it had an amount owing on it, similar to what I had seen in previous months. Hmmmm.

I called the nice folks back to see what happened - turned out they hadn't made the change at all, but there were luckily notes saying that this was what I wanted to do.  I was told they would make the switch, but there would be another bad bill coming in the meantime.  I was cool with that, although confused, so I let it slide.  Computers are hard to interrupt.

2 months passed, and I got not only a bad bill (as promised), but another bill with the charge now doubled. Hmmmm.  Another call found that the change hadn't gone through again, but this time, they were able to take care of the whole thing, and backdate my account for 3 months, give me my credit, apply it to pay-as-you-go, and away I went. Awesome.  I was free.

Just like Michael Corleone (at least in my mind), just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.

Read part 3 to find out how!

1 comment: