Is anybody else struggling to remember it's now 2025?
Thank goodness cellphones and various other gadgets update on their own, which takes some of the pressure off as to what day, date and time it is.
A new year seems to call out for a clean slate, whether that be a cleared-out day book, an email cleanse, a Facebook friend dumping or whatever refresh seems appropriate.
With the postal strike now over in Canada, the unpleasant bills will be flowing in.
There may be some of you who actually know what dates your bills need to be paid each month, but that's not where my strength lies. I guessed at a few and paid them early, and some I forgot and got a late charge.
I decided it would be smarter to finally get all my bills to be paid through automatic online withdrawal. I do this in protest, as I still prefer a paper bill listing all of my expenditures. I like to be able to see my bills, feel them and then file them away where they will jam up filing cabinets from here to eternity.
Anyway, I spent several hours trying to contact the various agencies I make payments to and get them to take the money out of my bank account automatically.
The following is just a taste of how that went down.
First of all, despite the fact we are living in a 24/7 economy, there are very few companies that staff their phones on the weekend.
I collected all the toll-free numbers and made a list.
Do you know they try to hide the actual phone numbers from the customer?
OK, so I don’t have actual proof of that, but it seems highly likely and plausible.
Guess which company hides its phone number the best? The phone company!
I still have a land line (I know, how old school) with Bell Canada. This is how that communication went once I located a number.
Me: “Hi, I am me from this address and this phone number and I want to set up automatic billing. Can you help me?”
Bell lady: “Yes, I can absolutely assist you with that, but first I have just a few (possibly 25) simple questions to verify your identity."
Me: “OK, sure. Well, again this is my name, my address, my phone number.”
Bell lady: “Can you tell me the code number on your bill?”
I proceeded to read off an 11-digit code.
Bell lady: “No, not the 11-digit one, the nine-digit one.”
Me: “I don’t see another number. Can you verify another way? Can I just offer my first born?”
Bell lady: (fake amusement) "When was your phone service installed? What was the date?”
Me: “Do you mean back in 2003? I have no earthly idea.”
Bell lady: “What bundle do you have? What is the name of the package?”
Me: “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re asking? I have long distance, call display, but not call waiting. Is that what you mean?”
Bell lady: “No, I need the name of the package you have.”
Me: “I can’t answer that. I’ve been through two moves and one husband since then.”
Bell lady: “I’ll need that 11-digit code to verify.”
Me: “OK, I will search my old paperwork and call you another day.”
Bell lady: “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”
I wanted desperately to tell her she didn’t help me with a blessed thing to this point, but I refrained.
From there, I kept going down the list of payees.
There was one that handled it quickly and efficiently and with a follow-up confirmation email.
The rest wasted my time, spouting off the website, which I obviously had chosen not to use as I was on the phone. Oh, they had time to try to sell me new products or upgrade my services, but nobody had the know-how or authority to just change the way I pay my account.
I’m not demanding the nuclear codes. I just want to pay my bills.
After that, I still needed to try to cancel some extra TV streaming services. Those would be the ones you can sign up for (free) for a month and then cancel at anytime.
You know about those? Fake news!
They are going to want the password I used when I signed up, aren’t they?
I can’t face it.
This new year is getting old and my mind is numbing while I’m searching.
Yeah, it's OK. I’ll just be over here enjoying BritBox, Paramount and Netflix for the rest of my days.
