on a more prosaic note...
Updates on my posts from yesterday.
The washing machine update: When I got home last night, I checked on the washing machine and it seemed un-sticky...but had a lot of tiny white feathers in it. Not just within the basin (or whatever you call it) but coming through the little holes in the basin as well. I was like, "whatever!!" so I pulled out a few items that I wouldn't be horribly devastated if they got ruined, and I ran them through as a small load. When they were done, I took them to the dryer and discovered that it too was full of white feathers. I pulled out the lint filter and out with it came a HUGE cloud of the damn things. Ugh!
I am pretty sure that Charles (Brian's roommate) is responsible for the feathers. He probably washed a down comforter or something. Charles is fairly notorious for his complete and utter lack of common sense.
In any case, I ran my stuff through the dryer and it came out fine. Even after that small load, the lint trap was again full of feathers. Then I did another, larger load, and that came out fine too. I told Brian about the feathers, because I'm a little worried that they might be getting into the inner workings of the dryer and causing a fire hazard. I couldn't go to bed last night until the dryer had finished, because I was having nightmare visions of fire (and the dryer is directly underneath Ruthie's bed). But so far so good.
So, I at least have clean laundry again, which is a very good thing.
The update on the banking situation: I called ING Direct again last night. I won't go into the gory details but suffice it to say that I reached the end of my rope with them. The woman made everything sound very reasonable and natural, but after I finished talking to her, I realized a few things:
a. She claimed that the latest problem was that they didn't have my birthdate. But they DID have my phone number, so why did they never call me to resolve this? answer: because they suck.
b. She claimed that she could not give me an email address, phone extension, or even a last name for this Shirl person who has supposedly been handling my application. This boils down to, either she didn't have the last name, or she refused/was told not to give it to me. Either of which is just ridiculous and stupid.
c. Last night's chick claimed that this kind of thing happens fairly frequently (she made it sound like no big deal). Whereas the guy I spoke to last week made it sound like it's very rare. Bullshit meter: on high alert.
d. I've spoken to, by now, at least half a dozen different people at ING Direct about this ongoing issue. And not once have I heard anything remotely resembling "I'm really sorry this has been such a hassle for you. We're going to clear it up as quickly as possible." Mind you, everyone I've spoken to has been perfectly polite and friendly and (to the extent they were capable) helpful. But when the issue is dragging on into its third week with no resolution in sight, a bit of customer management is in order, and that means apologies, a bit of ass-kissing, some acknowledgements that the customer's time is valuable.
And finally,
e. This is just WAY too much effort to be putting into something when it isn't even the exact kind of account that I want anyway! ING's checking account, to reiterate, is that "paperless" thing where you don't get actual checks. I'm not crazy about that, but had decided to live with it for the benefit of the higher interest rate. But now I've reached the point where that equation has tipped the other way. Now the hassle is outweighing my desire to earn the higher interest.
Thanks to you, person who reads my LJ but doesn't comment because you don't have an LJ of your own (you know who you are), I came to the conclusion that the interest isn't worth it. I know that your point when you emailed me was to compare the interest vs. the fees that I'd be incurring via the minimum-balance threshold; but the way I look at it is more like, if we're talking say $50 in interest for the entire year, well damn, that's small change and really not worth all this hassle.
So I have decided: To give Wainwright Bank another chance. To keep my checking account with them, and open a savings account with them as well, which will earn a measly 0.4% interest, but hey, at least that's something. And all of this ridiculous hassle will be behind me.
Of course, now that I've decided that, odds are ING will open my account anyway. *roll eyes* I'm going to call them as soon as I can and tell them not to, but I'm betting, given how incompetent they've been up to now, that it won't take. Ah well. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
And now, I have to go pick up Ruthie from daycare and take her to the doctor. She'll be getting some number of shots. She has no idea, of course. Wish us luck.
The washing machine update: When I got home last night, I checked on the washing machine and it seemed un-sticky...but had a lot of tiny white feathers in it. Not just within the basin (or whatever you call it) but coming through the little holes in the basin as well. I was like, "whatever!!" so I pulled out a few items that I wouldn't be horribly devastated if they got ruined, and I ran them through as a small load. When they were done, I took them to the dryer and discovered that it too was full of white feathers. I pulled out the lint filter and out with it came a HUGE cloud of the damn things. Ugh!
I am pretty sure that Charles (Brian's roommate) is responsible for the feathers. He probably washed a down comforter or something. Charles is fairly notorious for his complete and utter lack of common sense.
In any case, I ran my stuff through the dryer and it came out fine. Even after that small load, the lint trap was again full of feathers. Then I did another, larger load, and that came out fine too. I told Brian about the feathers, because I'm a little worried that they might be getting into the inner workings of the dryer and causing a fire hazard. I couldn't go to bed last night until the dryer had finished, because I was having nightmare visions of fire (and the dryer is directly underneath Ruthie's bed). But so far so good.
So, I at least have clean laundry again, which is a very good thing.
The update on the banking situation: I called ING Direct again last night. I won't go into the gory details but suffice it to say that I reached the end of my rope with them. The woman made everything sound very reasonable and natural, but after I finished talking to her, I realized a few things:
a. She claimed that the latest problem was that they didn't have my birthdate. But they DID have my phone number, so why did they never call me to resolve this? answer: because they suck.
b. She claimed that she could not give me an email address, phone extension, or even a last name for this Shirl person who has supposedly been handling my application. This boils down to, either she didn't have the last name, or she refused/was told not to give it to me. Either of which is just ridiculous and stupid.
c. Last night's chick claimed that this kind of thing happens fairly frequently (she made it sound like no big deal). Whereas the guy I spoke to last week made it sound like it's very rare. Bullshit meter: on high alert.
d. I've spoken to, by now, at least half a dozen different people at ING Direct about this ongoing issue. And not once have I heard anything remotely resembling "I'm really sorry this has been such a hassle for you. We're going to clear it up as quickly as possible." Mind you, everyone I've spoken to has been perfectly polite and friendly and (to the extent they were capable) helpful. But when the issue is dragging on into its third week with no resolution in sight, a bit of customer management is in order, and that means apologies, a bit of ass-kissing, some acknowledgements that the customer's time is valuable.
And finally,
e. This is just WAY too much effort to be putting into something when it isn't even the exact kind of account that I want anyway! ING's checking account, to reiterate, is that "paperless" thing where you don't get actual checks. I'm not crazy about that, but had decided to live with it for the benefit of the higher interest rate. But now I've reached the point where that equation has tipped the other way. Now the hassle is outweighing my desire to earn the higher interest.
Thanks to you, person who reads my LJ but doesn't comment because you don't have an LJ of your own (you know who you are), I came to the conclusion that the interest isn't worth it. I know that your point when you emailed me was to compare the interest vs. the fees that I'd be incurring via the minimum-balance threshold; but the way I look at it is more like, if we're talking say $50 in interest for the entire year, well damn, that's small change and really not worth all this hassle.
So I have decided: To give Wainwright Bank another chance. To keep my checking account with them, and open a savings account with them as well, which will earn a measly 0.4% interest, but hey, at least that's something. And all of this ridiculous hassle will be behind me.
Of course, now that I've decided that, odds are ING will open my account anyway. *roll eyes* I'm going to call them as soon as I can and tell them not to, but I'm betting, given how incompetent they've been up to now, that it won't take. Ah well. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
And now, I have to go pick up Ruthie from daycare and take her to the doctor. She'll be getting some number of shots. She has no idea, of course. Wish us luck.