(no subject)
I have a cell phone through TracFone's free phone program. Don't get indignant; you have to be below the poverty line to get this. I would be much happier to be well above the poverty line and able to afford my own phone. Because SafeLink is a Romneyesque company: it is constantly threatening to cancel my account.
There is no reason for this. According to federal regulations, I must use the phone one day per month to stay in the program. I use the cell phone, on average, five days out of seven. By my count that is more than one day per month. I have a verified account that does not have to be renewed until July 2013. I am doing everything right.
Yet ever since July of this year, I have been told over and over again, that I am NOT using the phone and that they are going to cancel my service. In fact, they DID cancel the service in late September and I had to fight in early October to get my account and my minutes back.
Today I got such a call again. This was the sixth time. Let me repeat that. The. SIXTH. Time. And once again--this time on the brink of a hurricane!--I was notified that Safelink Wireless would be cancelling my phone for non-usage.
I exploded. I demanded to know what was WRONG with Safelink. I told the man on the other end how often I used the phone. I told him that I had dealt with this last week and that I had been assured then that I would receive no more phone calls regarding this, as the screw-up was definitely on their end and not on mine. I demanded to know WHY Safelink was doing this. And I did this all without swearing, because Safelink support hangs up on you if you swear, even if it's as mild as "damn."
The man hastily hung up, saying he'd call back later.
Of course, I knew that nothing had been resolved. So I called TracFone's customer service number: 1-800-323-2366. I waited to speak to a human being. When I finally got a human on the line, I explained the situation (rather testily--if you had to keep explaining this every week, you'd be upset too), I was sent to the enrollment department at 1-800-977-3768. This, unfortunately, is fully automated. I needed to talk to a human being. So I was sent on to 1-800-378-1684.
There I talked to a sane person--Paolo--to whom I explained the situation. He not only fixed the account (AGAIN!) but gave me my November minutes early in case I didn't have power on November 1, thanks to the Frankenstorm. So bless Paolo.
But was that the end? No. For at 6 o'clock, a woman called from Safelink telling me for the SEVENTH time that my account was going to be canceled.
"Didn't I take care of this already?" I said, sounding tired even to myself. "I just talked to someone about this two hours ago.
She checked. Yes, it was taken care of two hours ago. She just hadn't bothered to look up the account to see if it should be canceled before threatening me with cancellation.
Because, you know, THAT'S the right way to do business. Sheesh.
There is no reason for this. According to federal regulations, I must use the phone one day per month to stay in the program. I use the cell phone, on average, five days out of seven. By my count that is more than one day per month. I have a verified account that does not have to be renewed until July 2013. I am doing everything right.
Yet ever since July of this year, I have been told over and over again, that I am NOT using the phone and that they are going to cancel my service. In fact, they DID cancel the service in late September and I had to fight in early October to get my account and my minutes back.
Today I got such a call again. This was the sixth time. Let me repeat that. The. SIXTH. Time. And once again--this time on the brink of a hurricane!--I was notified that Safelink Wireless would be cancelling my phone for non-usage.
I exploded. I demanded to know what was WRONG with Safelink. I told the man on the other end how often I used the phone. I told him that I had dealt with this last week and that I had been assured then that I would receive no more phone calls regarding this, as the screw-up was definitely on their end and not on mine. I demanded to know WHY Safelink was doing this. And I did this all without swearing, because Safelink support hangs up on you if you swear, even if it's as mild as "damn."
The man hastily hung up, saying he'd call back later.
Of course, I knew that nothing had been resolved. So I called TracFone's customer service number: 1-800-323-2366. I waited to speak to a human being. When I finally got a human on the line, I explained the situation (rather testily--if you had to keep explaining this every week, you'd be upset too), I was sent to the enrollment department at 1-800-977-3768. This, unfortunately, is fully automated. I needed to talk to a human being. So I was sent on to 1-800-378-1684.
There I talked to a sane person--Paolo--to whom I explained the situation. He not only fixed the account (AGAIN!) but gave me my November minutes early in case I didn't have power on November 1, thanks to the Frankenstorm. So bless Paolo.
But was that the end? No. For at 6 o'clock, a woman called from Safelink telling me for the SEVENTH time that my account was going to be canceled.
"Didn't I take care of this already?" I said, sounding tired even to myself. "I just talked to someone about this two hours ago.
She checked. Yes, it was taken care of two hours ago. She just hadn't bothered to look up the account to see if it should be canceled before threatening me with cancellation.
Because, you know, THAT'S the right way to do business. Sheesh.