Big companies stealing money from people

So, even the big companies are stealing from little folk like me. And, a famous pizzaria is treating customers like crap.

First things first, the big company in question is a well-known telephone service provider. Its name starts with the letter "T", and let's just say the name rhymes with "Phyllis."

So, I was behind in payment for this phone company on my residential line, and made a lumpsum payment of $158 on March 17 by Internet banking.

Only my next bill came--dated some 12 days later--saying I still owed that money.

I immediately called the company to verify the balance. Yup, that payment was not received. And since it was already nighttime, there were no live representatives to help me with this.

I double checked on the bank account and realized that I had erroneously sent the payment to the WRONG phone account. I had sent the payment to my inactive mobility account, which had been closed for a couple years.

So, the next morning, I called up the company and asked them to transfer the $158 from the inactive mobility account to the normal residential account. Yes, it was my fault, my error, but you would think in this day and age with fast transfer of accounts and such, this was not hard to fix.

Only the customer service rep told me he couldn't fix this, and had to transfer me to the Mobility department.

I explained my problem to the rep there, and she put me on hold for 10 minutes--ensuring I would be late for work (since I made the phone call at home).

(And when I was on hold, I was thinking that since the head teacher is consistently late himself, I wasn't too stressed out about the fact that I was going to be late. So there...he can't possibly say anything to me otherwise it would be hypocritical.)

So, 10 minutes later, the CSR came back and said they NEVER received the payment!! She claimed that I would have to call up my bank and do a "stop payment" because they (the phone company) "never received it."

Of course, very easy to verify - I called up the bank and was told that T---lus DID receive the payment, and it might have gone into their general account--ie. the lost account where misguided funds go to--and would send in a request on my behalf to get that refunded back.

So, basically, this phone service provider was ready to just STEAL my money and shrug it off like they didn't receive it. If I didn't check my own records--and waste a lot of time in the process by following up and being on hold, etc.--I would have been duped.

So, thanks for nothing, "Phyllis."

Anyway, never did I, at any point during this phone conversations, lose my temper or yell at anyone. If I weren't a mild-mannered person, I probably would have lashed out.

But on the same day, I went to this pizza place for lunch. Let's call it "D's" Pizza. It is, after all, a big American franchise.

Now, I don't know first hand if the cashier was having a bad day, or she simply hated her job, but she never at any point crack a smile to greet or talk to me.

When I asked her a question about toppings, she was NOT friendly and her tone/attitude was like I was asking a dumb question.

No sign or respect at all.

And when I gave her the debit card to pay for the order, she swiped it and put the card down, and didn't even bother to pass the debit pin device (whatever it's called) to me.

So I stood there for a couple seconds thinking it wasn't processed yet and waiting for her to hand it to me, only to realize she wasn't going to do it. I guess too big of her to do something simple.

Okay, again, if I weren't an easy-going person, she would have gotten an earful.

So, once again, these types of incidents have proven to me that these big corporations/companies are faceless, gutless outfits that just care about your money and don't bother to provide good service.

Well, if we're going to play this game, next time, if I go back to that pizza place, she ain't getting my card. She's going to get a handful of pennies thrown down on the counter--the kind of respect that she deserves.