Dial-A-Ride, Part Deux
Some of you saw me complaining yesterday about Dial-A-Ride failing to show up yet again. Well, I think you should know the aftermath of that.
First off, that charming warning letter that I got provided a number and an extension to call if there were customer service issues. Second, there was an e-mail address. As soon as 3:34 rolled around and the driver was officially late, I called Customer Service.
Naturally, I didn't get to speak to a human being. That would have been expecting too much. But I did get to leave a detailed and coldly angry message on voicemail. I then went back to the computer and sent an e-mail to Customer Service. No sooner had I sent it, however, when the e-mail bounced back with the message "NO SUCH USER."
It undoubtedly says something about Dial-A-Ride that my first thought was not that someone had erred in typing up the e-mail address, but that there really was no such person and the e-mail had been created as a con, as most of the clients would be old-fashioned in thinking and therefore wouldn't try the e-mail and therefore wouldn't notice that the messages were going nowhere.
Back to the phone. This time I called the number of the people taking reservations and cancellations, and asked the gentleman (Peter, by name) answering the phone if he knew of another e-mail address for the customer service department, as the one that had been provided in the new No-Show and Cancellation Policy didn't work, and was telling me that the contact person did not exist.
I swear I could hear the "Oh, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit" tone in Peter's voice when I said that. And from his perspective, it didn't get any better, because he blurted out that no one was in Customer Service at the moment (about quarter to four in the afternoon), which didn't exactly inspire confidence that a Customer Service department even existed.
After finishing my talk with Peter, I went back to the computer and began preparing to send the Customer Service e-mail to the Executive Director of the company, the Director of Paratransit Operations (the person in charge of the vans for the disabled, that is--there's another division that deals strictly with the vans for the elderly), and a couple of other people in Paratransit with even longer titles.
I'd been working on it for about fifteen minutes when a Dial-A-Ride van pulled up. The phone calls and e-mail apparently scared the shit out of someone, because the company came up with a substitute driver. And, since I had been kept waiting for an hour and a half for a no-show driver, I got to change my time of return with no argument from the driver or dispatcher at all. In fact, the driver suggested it.
In other news, CL&P has started pushing up the electric charges again, but I've caught them out too. I've already told them that the furnace had no oil until November 15 and therefore could not have raised energy costs in October or the first two weeks of November.
Their response: "It's your hot water heater."
Me: "I don't THINK so, since there was no fuel in the furnace and the hot water tank is linked to the furnace. If the furnace has no fuel to run, there's not going to be any hot water.
Their response: "Oh. Uh. We assumed that if someone was living in the house, there would be hot water."
To me, that sounds a lot like "We tacked on this increased cost based on the fact that most people in a well-to-do neighborhood have their furnaces and hot water going by October."
They're still claiming that the usage is there, but I am insisting that someone come out and examine the meter in person. For all I know, it's malfunctioning. And I want someone to check every ounce of the house, too, to see what's causing these numbers.
So...two victories this week.
Unfortunately, there's also a defeat. The furnace stopped working at two in the morning last night. And this is a brand-new furnace. It shouldn't be broken.
This is the third Thanksgiving in a row that I've spent with no heat.
Hopefully I'll have sold the house by this time next year, and I won't have to deal with this a fourth time.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm not feeling especially thankful at the moment, but I hope you guys are.
First off, that charming warning letter that I got provided a number and an extension to call if there were customer service issues. Second, there was an e-mail address. As soon as 3:34 rolled around and the driver was officially late, I called Customer Service.
Naturally, I didn't get to speak to a human being. That would have been expecting too much. But I did get to leave a detailed and coldly angry message on voicemail. I then went back to the computer and sent an e-mail to Customer Service. No sooner had I sent it, however, when the e-mail bounced back with the message "NO SUCH USER."
It undoubtedly says something about Dial-A-Ride that my first thought was not that someone had erred in typing up the e-mail address, but that there really was no such person and the e-mail had been created as a con, as most of the clients would be old-fashioned in thinking and therefore wouldn't try the e-mail and therefore wouldn't notice that the messages were going nowhere.
Back to the phone. This time I called the number of the people taking reservations and cancellations, and asked the gentleman (Peter, by name) answering the phone if he knew of another e-mail address for the customer service department, as the one that had been provided in the new No-Show and Cancellation Policy didn't work, and was telling me that the contact person did not exist.
I swear I could hear the "Oh, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit" tone in Peter's voice when I said that. And from his perspective, it didn't get any better, because he blurted out that no one was in Customer Service at the moment (about quarter to four in the afternoon), which didn't exactly inspire confidence that a Customer Service department even existed.
After finishing my talk with Peter, I went back to the computer and began preparing to send the Customer Service e-mail to the Executive Director of the company, the Director of Paratransit Operations (the person in charge of the vans for the disabled, that is--there's another division that deals strictly with the vans for the elderly), and a couple of other people in Paratransit with even longer titles.
I'd been working on it for about fifteen minutes when a Dial-A-Ride van pulled up. The phone calls and e-mail apparently scared the shit out of someone, because the company came up with a substitute driver. And, since I had been kept waiting for an hour and a half for a no-show driver, I got to change my time of return with no argument from the driver or dispatcher at all. In fact, the driver suggested it.
In other news, CL&P has started pushing up the electric charges again, but I've caught them out too. I've already told them that the furnace had no oil until November 15 and therefore could not have raised energy costs in October or the first two weeks of November.
Their response: "It's your hot water heater."
Me: "I don't THINK so, since there was no fuel in the furnace and the hot water tank is linked to the furnace. If the furnace has no fuel to run, there's not going to be any hot water.
Their response: "Oh. Uh. We assumed that if someone was living in the house, there would be hot water."
To me, that sounds a lot like "We tacked on this increased cost based on the fact that most people in a well-to-do neighborhood have their furnaces and hot water going by October."
They're still claiming that the usage is there, but I am insisting that someone come out and examine the meter in person. For all I know, it's malfunctioning. And I want someone to check every ounce of the house, too, to see what's causing these numbers.
So...two victories this week.
Unfortunately, there's also a defeat. The furnace stopped working at two in the morning last night. And this is a brand-new furnace. It shouldn't be broken.
This is the third Thanksgiving in a row that I've spent with no heat.
Hopefully I'll have sold the house by this time next year, and I won't have to deal with this a fourth time.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm not feeling especially thankful at the moment, but I hope you guys are.