Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Things That Can Suck It

1. Justice: I just spent an hour at the Brooklyn Borough Traffic Whatnot to contest a parking ticket I got the day we left for Canada. It was Sunday afternoon and we'd parked under a "no parking during street cleaning on Tues/Thurs/Fri" sign. What I didn't see was the sign at the end of the effing block that indicated that the whole block was for commuter vehicles only, all days and all times. The judge didn't buy my reasoning ("So, that street-cleaning sign only applies to the commuter vehicles?" "No, it applies to everyone." "But only commuter vehicles can ever park there, so really, it's only for them, right?" "Just pay the ticket."). Suck it, Justice.

2. National Grid (formerly known as KeySpan): Earlier this year they sent us a bunch of notices saying they were going to shut off our service. When I called about those, they were all, "Oopsie! We forgot to send you a bill, here's one for $400." Apparently they haven't sent us a bill since then because our final bill is for $500. Suck it, National Grid.

3. AT&T: I just called AT&T to invoke the "I'm leaving the country" clause that should waive the $175 early termination fee. Great, no problem! I just have to send them a utility bill or a bill from a new cell phone carrier with my new address on it. THOSE ARE THE ONLY TWO OPTIONS. Oh, and I can't fax it, because they only have a toll-free fax number that won't work outside of the U.S. Suck it, AT&T.

5 comments:

Candace said...

Ugh, sorry you had so much bureaucracy to get through to get everything in order. Have a wonderful trip!

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable!! Really time to get outta Dodge!! Enjoy this new adventure-

miketheman said...

Seems like AT&T (and companies like them) are getting stupider.
What if you tell them, "I'm leaving the country, going on a retreat in an ashram away from material belongings, and cancelling my credit card. Good luck charging me."
Wonder what they would do then.

Elizabeth said...

Hey! Fax to me and I can fax it for you!

Adam Wishneusky said...

I was just going to say, email it to me and I'll fax it from work. what a pain on all fronts :P

you're going to have such an awesome time that these little USA frustrations will be out of your mind in no time ;)