GAGA IS ON HER SOAPBOX, YELLING, STOMPING & RANTING!
When exactly did getting a
newspaper paid for & delivered to the house turn into an unbelievably ludicrous ordeal? My 86 year old father moved to Roseville
Initially, on October 20th,
I asked them to start delivery on October 25th, the first day he would wake up
in his new home. When I arrived for some preliminary work on October 22nd,
there was the newspaper in the driveway. Good start, guys.....& it's gone
downhill from there.
I went online (they want you
to do EVERYTHING online these days - which is fine with me) & entered his
contact & credit card info & signed him up for "auto pay"
every 13 weeks. BUT a couple months later, he received a letter saying his
account was past due. Damn it! I went back online, filled out all of the
payment info AGAIN, submitted it & once again assumed that it was fixed
when I received the confirmation screen. I did not heed the old
"assume" adage - when you assume, it will make an ass out of u & me.
My bad.
Another month or two of
blissful ignorance goes by as my dad reads his morning newspaper. Now, fast forward
to a few weeks ago. He received another letter telling him that his account was
past due. For the third time I went online, entered & doubled checked all
the payment info & authorizing payment.
Last week my dad showed me
yet another FINAL NOTICE that his newspaper delivery would be stopped if his
account was not paid. After several expletive filled tirades, I was fit to be
tied. Can't anyone do anything right anymore? I certainly don't condone it but
I can sure understand why people take guns to businesses & start firing!
The next day I called the
newspaper & spoke to a young man who once again took the credit card info
& signed him up for "auto pay". He had no explanation as to why
it was not in their system. He assured me that it was all in order now & he
apologized profusely for all the problems. I reported to my dad that it was
supposedly now fixed - but added, don't hold your breath.
Three days later he didn't
receive a paper. They called the automated phone line but no newspaper was
delivered. The next morning no newspaper again. Now, I was full speed ahead
ranting & called the newspaper AGAIN. The woman informed me that it had
been cancelled due to lack of payment! What the fuck???? I was close to pulling
my hair out but explained the entire situation again. She was very sorry &
had no idea why it wasn't in their system & she assured me that it was now
fixed. I asked her to please forgive me for not believing her since I've heard
that before & asked to talk to a supervisor.
I waited 15 minutes on hold
for the supervisor but at this point, I HAD to have my say. I gave her the
Reader's Digest version of events & said they need to figure out what needs
to be done to provide decent customer service. I added that if there was
another choice of newspapers we would certainly try it.
She asked to explain what happened so I
begrudgingly shut up & let her. She talked sooooooo s - l - o - w - l - y
that I was ready to explode (& I'm sure my blood pressure was going up by
the minute!) Her entire defense was that they give customers a 90 day grace
period before canceling the newspaper & my dad's account hadn't been paid
since December so his 90 days were up.
At that point, I was totally
frustrated & forcefully said, "Let me interrupt you! I understand what
you are saying. IF I had not paid for my dad's newspaper in 90 days, I would
apologize profusely, thank you & say 'good-bye'. BUT I have entered the
info online 3 times & called last week to give you the info again. So,
please, just do me a favor, get your act (really meant shit) together &
deliver my dad's newspaper. Good-bye."
BUT it wasn't over yet. Why
am I not surprised? He received his paper for two days then this morning no
newspaper. I called yet again & spoke to first a customer service rep &
waited 20 minutes for another supervisor. Both of them kept apologizing every 30
seconds. I told both of them, "Stop apologizing! Your apologies mean
nothing to me. JUST FIX IT!" I was AGAIN assured it would be fixed this
time without another apology.
I have the supervisor's name
& call sign plus the name of a manager who will receive a scathing letter
regarding their maddening customer service. Would you believe that ALL of the managers were in a meeting & couldn't take my call? Right, neither did I. If my dad's credit card is not charged
tomorrow morning, I will try stopping service in his name then starting it in
my name. If that doesn't work, I'm contacting Call Kurtis, a local TV consumer
problem solver! This WILL get fixed!
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