1.

Ok, in my quest to note down all things annoying, here is the latest.

1. I used to go to Barack Obama's dentist when I worked for the hospital. It was a really nice place overlooking Millenium Park. However, with the job change I now have a different insurer. When I tried to make an appt with Mr. President's dentist and told them I am insured by Delta, they told me I have to pay up front and get paid by my insurer. Since this is annoying I decided to try a different place located in my hood. I went to my new Dentist and she was awful. The main issue was my chipped teeth. I explained the problem and she nodded and got to work. I looked around at the walls and ceilings- it was really gross. There were holes in the wall from where a coat hook used to be. All of the equipment was covered by this yellowed plastic that was probably purchased in 1979. I think she's from Eastern Europe and she barely said a word. I vowed never to go back.

When I went to the reception desk at the end of the visit I was told I didn't have to pay a $20 co-pay (strange). It's a month later and I received a bill for $116. It turns out Delta Insurance doesn't pay for chipped teeth to be smoothed out? Called the dentist's office. They agree it is strange that the insurance wouldn't pay, and that is why the paid 1/2 of the bill (each chipped tooth cost $116 to repair). Funny thing is that my teeth feel and look the same and it was the worst but most expensive visit of my life.

Long story short- President Obama's dentist totally knows what's up when it comes to Delta being a shitty insurer. I

2. I bought a Blackberry on craigslist for $100 because I needed a new phone and wanted a better keyboard to text with. I also like the games it comes with and its overall quality. I asked the dude to just switch my info from my old cell to my new one. He did so with no qualms. I guess he didn't think the $80 hike in fees would matter to me? How ridiculous. I went back into the store a month later and asked why the fees had gone up. Turns out I now have a data plan (internet). I told them I didn't want it, they say I have to have it. F*&% that! Since when?

After doing some research online it appears that many others have run into this same situation with mixed results. Sometimes Verizon lets you cancel your data plan while other people have been forced to continue it or cancel their plan altogether. How ridiculous is this? Why does one company apply different rules in different locations?

I think my next step is to pay someone from craigslist to "unlock" my phone and then switch carriers. Is this really necessary?

Why I hate AT&T, Post #2

So, after all the bullshit of waiting a month and jumping through hoops to get someone to come out and fix my internet line, I have yet another issue pending with AT&T!!! I HATE THEM! Not only did they send me a bill for the past month when I did not have service (and I expected this b/c it is par for the course) but they also increased my bill by $5/month. I guess I should have expected this but in my naivete I was blindsided. So, it's Saturday morning and these are the steps I take to rectify THEIR awe inspiring bureaucratic piece o crap system :

1. I call the number listed on my bill
2. I go through a bunch of the voice prompts (approximately 2 minutes which seems like an eternity when you know you just need to talk to a human being but they won't give you the option)
3. When I finally get to the prompt about high speed wireless billing it tells me to dial a different number!!! Why WHY WHY is this? I don't get it. My bill is for high speed internet but they put a useless "customer service" number on my bill? Again, and I can't say it enough, I hate them.
4. I call this different number
5. I go through a bunch of voice prompts
6. The office is closed and I need to call back during normal business hours. I so hate them.

So, I'm ready to make the switch. My good friend Maile tells me that RCN is better. She too hates AT&T and has gone through this rigmarole before. I get to speak with a human within one minute of calling! I thinks YES, now we're talking. Helloooo RCN and goodbye AT&T! Unfortunately, they do not service my area so I'm thwarted again. But I don't lose hope...

I look up Comcast. YES! I will go to Comcast. Goodbye AT&T and helllloo Comcast! [They advertise as being Comcastic, right? How great is that?] I know I'm off to a bad start, though, when I call the number that they provide online and the robot voice keeps asking me about my account number. It takes about 3 minutes to try and retry the system. Eventually I get a human. I'm willing to take this in stride. I will win! I will beat AT&T. Comcast gives me their quote for high speed internet service: $59/month! DOH! Crap! $#*! Fuck, damn, shit shit shit on everything!!!!! Turns out that Comcasticness is in no way linked to fantasticness.

My friend Scott sent me a link on how to crack Wireless connections about a week ago (deets are on YouTube..I think it's called Aircrack or something similar). I didn't think I would use it. I want to do the right thing. But, seriously, I consider going to the dark side.

STAY TUNED.

AT&T = A BIG SMELLY PIECE OF CRAP

I moved to a new apartment on October 1. I called AT&T to have my service changed over to the new apartment approximately 1 week before the move. When I moved in I was unable to connect to the internet. Here is the process I went through to attain internet access:

Call #1: Went through the voice prompt menu (this takes about 2 minutes). Spoke with a service desk person. He told me to disconnect everything. Then I had to reconnect everything. DIDN'T WORK. Next I had to change the phone line cord so that the side that was plugged into the wall was now plugged into the modem and vice versa. DIDN'T WORK. Next he told me to hit the reset button. NOTHIN' HAPPENED. He told me he would check the line and I would get a call back within 30 minutes. In thirty minutes I got an automated call back saying my line was clear and I should have internet access. Guess what! It didn't work!

Call #2: Basically followed all of the same steps as call #1 (including the godforsaken voice prompt menu). Was told my modem probably needed to be replaced. He gave me a ticket number and said it would at my place in two business days. I said that I didn't think that was necessary since my old modem was working just fine at my old place a couple days ago. He said I should at least try. He gave me my trouble ticket # and a number to call if I did not receive the modem

Waited 1.5 weeks, modem never came.

Call #3: Dialed the number that the last "helper" gave me. Turns out it was the AT&T store and since I only had the trouble ticket # and not the order number, I would need to go through entire process again.

Call #4: Repeat of Calls 1 and 2 except this time I refused to try plugging and re-plugging stuff in. I told them I'd already gone through this and I needed the order number for the modem I didn't think I needed. They submitted new order and gave me the number. They said it would arrive in 7-10 business days.

Waited 1 week. Received new modem. Plugged it in. It didn't help get me internet access.

Call #5: Repeat of calls 1-4. I refused to do the replugging and demanded to talk with a technician. Technician accessed my line and said I had a strong signal. Then he realized that something must be wrong with the circuits. He hypothesized that they were crossed and he would have to send out a technician. "Great, that is exactly what I have been asking for!", I said. He replied the technician would visit my place the next day (Saturday) between the hours of 8-5. "Will they call me when they are on their way so I can make sure to be home?". "Yes", he said.

Call #6: The next day rolls by and at about 4 pm I really begin to worry the technician won't show. I call AT&T again. They tell me that a technician was at my house at 8 am but could not get in to see the circuits. ARRRRRGH. I was home at 8 am, why didn't they call me? The guy apologize and sets up an appointment time for another technician to come out. I tell him I can do any day except next Tuesday. We hang up so he can call them. He calls me back and says that he scheduled an appointment for 6 pm next Tuesday. ARRRRRGH. He has to hang up and call me back again when they figure out another day. He calls back and schedules technician to come out the following Friday.

1.5 MONTHS AFTER PLACING MY FIRST CALL OF DISTRESS, A TECHNICIAN ARRIVES AT MY HOUSE.
He is a kind man originally from Ethiopia. He recommends an Ethiopian restaurant on Broadway and Lawrence. He goes into the basement, he comes back up. Problem solved- the circuit was crossed. I love this man. I hate AT&T.

Thanks for reading all of that.

Flexible Spending...a bit too flexible (I do not have a dependent and if I did, their name would not be Tom)

I received a check for $91.34 from United Healthcare Insurance Company. At the top of the document the document it says "Flexible Spending Account Statement". I did sign up for a Flex account through CPS so I thought this correspondence must have something to do with my account. However, I was suspicious when I saw "Dependent Name: Tom". I do not have any dependents. Hmmmm, I wasn't sure what to do. It'd be great to pocket this $90, however it usually works out that the bank or whoever makes the error figures it out six months from now at one of those times where I don't have $90 to spare. So, I called United Healthcare to check up on my Flex Spending for Tom. I went through two automated voice cycles before I spoke with an account rep who asked me the same thing as the automated voices: "What is your account #?" I replied, "I don't know, I don't think I have one, but I received this check for my dependent Tom and the thing is, I don't know Tom". They recommended I write "Void" across the check and send it back to them. I recommended that instead of spending 41 cents and an envelope on this, why not just tear it up and throw it away. "Yes, you could do that too", he said.

Great. I guess I just should not have called at all.

WAMU-- Maybe I'm glad they're being gobbled up by Chase afterall

I signed up for WAMU's paperless bills/statments about 5 months ago. Every two months I receive bills/statments in the mail. I called them to ask that they rectify this issue in June. I just received another paper bill/statement today.

Editor's Note: A couple months after I wrote this I called again. This time it was explained to me that I'm probably receiving mail because I have to set both my checking AND saving accounts to the e-notification preference. I'll keep you updated.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS)-- Benefits

I started working for Chicago Public Schools on July 21 and my benefits were supposed to take effect starting on Day 1. On August 20 I called CPS to ask when I could expect my insrance cards. They looked me up in the system and determined that "it was strange" because I had registered correctly for benefits in the CPS system but "for some reason" BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield) didn't get the info they needed. I was forwarded to the voicemail of a "specialist". I left her a message that day... and then the next day, then a few days later and so on and forth for the next 1.5 weeks. She never returned my calls! I hate her.

Fortunately, while calling the CPS HR Deparmtnet for the twentieth time, a man named Jerome (who is very wonderful in my opinion) answered the phone and took me under his wing. His investigation got the ball rolling. While I never heard from him again, 2 weeks later I was in the system for BCBS. "Great," I thought, "Now I can get my prescription filled!". Nope. Turns out Caremark takes care of any thing related to prescriptions. However, the good folks at BCBS were kind enough to provide their number. I called Caremark and to get my "Bin #" (which was requested by the pharmacy). Well-- and oh darn-- it turned out I wasn't in their system. Actually, that's not quite right, I was previously in their system but my eligibility ended on August 1, 2008.

Short story long, it is now September 17 and all has been taken care of. I haven't actually received my insurance cards but, after one internet attempt and two phone calls to pick a primary care physician, someone on the phone tells me that they will arrive shortly.

Yay.

Why a blog on bureaucracy?

I need a venue to describe the numerous bureaucratic nightmares I encounter in my everyday life. It seems that the assaults of bureaucracy/red tape/insitutionalized stupidity have only increased in recent years. Is this because I'm getting older and as a result have to deal with more grown up crap? Or, is it because technology--which is touted as a tool that makes things easier-- has created even more (virtually infused) bureaucracy? Or, is it because of something entirely different that I haven't thought of yet? I'm not sure, but let's keep tabs.