Goodbye Bob
What?? Robert Schimmel passed away on Friday?
I couldn’t believe it as I read the headline this morning. This guy was a comic genius.
He was a comedian that could have you doubled over laughing at simple human nature. Robert Schimmel was probably not the guy you’d watch with the kids or introduce to mom but he had a wonderful adult take on humanity. You’d catch yourself laughing at things you’d be embarrassed to admit you’ve thought about.
What a loss.
Many will miss this comedic legend. I will be one of them.
Rest in peace Bob.
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Why I HATE Directv
I was a Directv customer for over 5 years and to be honest, I never had too many issues with them. The service was pretty decent until I ‘upgraded’ to the HD DVR. The equipment was expensive, there was no way to ‘demo’ the service and of course.. the coveted 2 year agreement.
Like it or hate it… you were in a contract. A 2 YEAR contract. I was counting the seconds.. all 63,072,000 of them.
The HD DVR interface was very sluggish… the service sucked. Calling ‘tech support’ meant long hold times and talking to some guy from India or Mexico.
Root canal anyone?
I finally had enough in April of this year. Called and told the rep to get this thing outta my house. She said a box would be coming via FedEx, I should receive it in a couple days.
Guess what… the box never came. Can you guess what did?
That’s right… a bill for $618.
Of course, after a couple weeks, I forgot about the box. She never sent it… and life is busy. But they didn’t forget to start billing me for the receiver.
In May, the big ‘ol bill shows up in my mailbox. I freak out.
Called again, talked to a Billing Supervisor… the key word here is supervisor. After a little back and forth, she removed the charges and promised a box would be sent within a couple days.
I had enough by now and just wanted to cancel my service completely. I asked her “what would it take to buy out the remainder of the contract and cancel the service?” – “hold as I figure the total..” – long pause – “$192.79” She says.
Are you sure? No future bills? “Yes… $192.79” she says confidently.
I must sound like a broken record here… but I even ask her again. “$192.79 is the total sir.”
Don’t believe me? Listen to the highlights of the conversation yourself…
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Just when I thought I was free and clear of these incompetent boobs… guess what shows up a month later???
That’s right… another bill for $56.88
It seems the Billing Supervisor was incorrect and the verbal contract we entered into for $192.79 was negated by the all powerful, faceless corporation.
You’ve heard it before… it’s the insincere rambling you hear right before you get screwed. “We’re so sorry that person told you the wrong thing… but this is the right thing… now pay us for our incompetence”
Assholes.
Last week, I called again and talked to yet another Billing Supervisor… and after a whopping 45+ minutes on the phone, I resolved nothing.
When I explained the previous Directv representative had assured me this would be the last bill… [another long pause] – I’m sorry sir… the previous representative was incorrect, we will not remove the additional charges.
I did get several of those corporately inspired ‘apologies’
Oh well… why go on and on about it… listen to the highlights of the call yourself.
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So my next call was to the ‘Customer Advocate Team’ as listed on the Directv website.
Customer Advocate Team… what a joke this is.
A few hours later, I get a call from ‘Cindy’ – who I can only describe as baiting and argumentative. Her voice reminded me of that stupid Bernadette Peters character in the movie “The Jerk”.
After a few minutes with her… I knew she wasn’t calling to help me. She was calling to shut me down, shut me up… the corporate advocate.
At one point she was telling me “Directv advised me there may be future bills” – when I explained this wasn’t the case and in fact, the ‘Billing Supervisor’ assured me there would not be any further bills.
I then asked her if she wanted to hear the recorded conversation… her words were:
“If you are asking me if I want to hear recorded conversation of our representative telling you there will be no further bills… I choose no.”
WTF? Are you kidding me?
I had to go. After a couple choice words… I hung up. What a bitch.
I paid the damn bill.
Not because I owed it… but because a huge, faceless corporation essentially sent Bruno over… and I need my knees.
Isn’t extortion a crime?
Hey.. we say you owe money.. and there’s nothing you can do about it. Pay up or face the consequences.
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Oil everywhere…
It’s like 40 degrees today and I am contemplating a quick ride. So… I head out to the garage to start my bike and crank…crank…crank… POW!
Oil is everywhere. WTF?
It looks like someone shot my bike and it’s bleeding out on the garage floor. Along with the huge puddle under the bike, there’s oil sprayed all over my tractor… the wall… it’s everywhere damn it!
What a mess… there’s a big puddle of oil under those rags
Upon closer investigation.. it now appears that the cause of the problem was the oil filter. You should have seen it.. it looked like it was tightened down by a machine… some sort of robot with the vice-like grip.
This filter is whipped.. you should have seen the gasket :-)
The person who helped me change the oil.. (let’s call him “Fred”) gave this oil filter a real twist… I mean it was crushed!!
The cold must have been the last deciding factor for this whipped filter and gasket… and you know the rest of the story.
POW!
Oh well… it was time to change the oil anyway :-)
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