This post was going to be called "How can that be the highlight of the week?" and was going to be extremely depressing. But things have turned around since I got home. It's also been a while since I ranted about a company messing me about... so that's what you should expect.
On Monday, I ran into a traffic jam on the M9 that turned my leisurely 34 minute commute into a near 3-hour epic. This really set the tone for the week, and would have been counted the highlight but for recent events. That should show how truly woeful the week has been.
Work has been a matter of fixing all the bugs we found in testing last week. These were annoying things like, "why does it crash once the test is finished?" and "why does it not work properly?" Trivial little things like that. It's generally been a pain, since I really wanted to put that bit of work behind me. Still, it had to be done. I also learned this week that the project that has been cancelled twice appears now to be truly gone, which is no bad thing, except that it means leaving it unfinished, which bugs me on a metaphysical level.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's some background info you need before the next part of my story makes sense. I got paid on Friday. I therefore took the opportunity over the weekend to pay off the balance on my credit card, which was artificially high because of the money I spent in France (which I will get back at some future time from the company). As is always the case with these things, the bank immediately deducted the money from my current account, but didn't apply it to my credit card until first thing on Thursday morning. This is intensely annoying, but can't actually be helped, and is irrelevant to the story anyway - all that matters is that that money was in 'limbo'.
On Monday, my gas bill finally arrived. Id' been waiting for this for some time, and fully expected it to be pretty high - eight months of gas won't be cheap. But, on reading the amount, I was absolutely horrified, and began the inquest as to why.
Well, it wasn't much of an inquest. As I'd been told, they had estimated my initial reading from May. However, having used the reading taken in October and the reading taken in January, they'd come up with an intial figure of 00000. Never mind that everyone uses more gas in winter than summer, and never mind that that figure was obviously wrong.
So, I called them. It was an obvious misake, I thought, and surely they'd correct it? What an idiot I was! Of course the figure must be right - a computer had calculated it! In fact, the girl even took the precise value at that moment from me, and stated that this was totally in-line with the calculations. My objection that "January is still winter" apparently didn't count for much.
You'd think that was bad enough, but the situation is actually worse. I am lucky enough to have to hand the last bill from the previous tenant. According to which, the estimated meter reading from July last year is 01095 units. So, in fact, I wasn't merely defending my position with logic, but also had real evidence. Of course, that doesn't matter when dealing with a company who are in the process of charging you for not using more than 1,000 units of gas. They absolutely could not discuss the previous account holder's bill in any way, shape or form. Nope, the computer was obviously right.
Well, I was stuck. They weren't going to budge, and since I couldn't actually prove my wild claim, I would have to pay. And, I would have to pay before the 8th of February, because that's when the money was due. (The option theoretically existed to refuse payment, and fight them in court. Unfortunately, that would tie me to this appartment until the case was concluded, which might be years. Not an acceptable option when I'm planning on moving as soon as possible.)
So, how to pay? Well, it would need to be by credit card - I don't keep enough money in my current account for that sort of an emergency (one business day earlier, and it would have been fine, but as it was...). So, she transferred me to the appropriate person...
whereupon I suffered the embarrasment of habing my credit card declined, because the funds hadn't cleared. Still, no matter, I arranged for them to call me back on Wednesday, when that would be sorted out. (Can you see where this is going?)
I then proceeded to write a nasty letter of complaint to the company's complaints department, informing them that I would cease doing business with them as soon as I was empowered to do so (not in this flat, alas), and would never return to them.
Tuesday was a bad day, because I was still extremely angry about the events of the night before. Plus, I was having to miss Richard's birthday celebration for the second successive year because my game was on, and I couldn't cancel two weeks in a row. I drove the hour and a half to the game, only to find that it was cancelled because three of the people had had things crop up at the last minute. Naturally, it's too much to ask that they actually phone me to let me know not to waste my time!
Wednesday saw the repeated embarrasment of not being able to pay my bill again, because the funds were not yet transferred. When I explained this to the girl at the gas company, she accepted that it was a problem, but said that if I didn't pay they would start sending debt letters, and a late payment fee would apply! It's a good thing I wasn't already annoyed at them, else I might have shouted a stream of invective once I'd hung up the phone. Oh, wait...
Anyway, first thing on Thursday morning, I checked my bank, and found that the money had cleared that morning, precisely one business second too late to actually help me the night before. Brilliant.
I phoned back that night, and tried to use the automated systems to pay the bill, only to find that their automated systems only accept debit cards. Apparently, it's too difficult for the computers to understand sixteen whole digits from the front of a credit card. (The sixteen digits on the debit card are inherently easier to understand.) I tried going through the menu system to speak to an actual person, but was put on hold for too long, so had to hang up.
But today, things turn around. I phoned again, intent on just asking to be put through to pay the bill and have done with this disaster. But, I thought "what the hell?" So, when the phone was answered, I explained the situation again, explaining how there had been a mistake in May that led to me not calling them, explaining that the estimated value was wrong, and explaining that I had the previous bill, and the estimates therefrom. I suggested that, just perhaps, there might be a mistake?
Well, apparently, it was just about possible that the estimate might be wrong. After all, people do tend to use more gas in winter than in summer. So, the girl said she would have the values corrected, and a new bill issued. The likelihood is that I'll save something like £300.
Huzzah!
Better still, I don't have to pay until the revised bill is issued, which may take up to 28 days... placing it just after payday. Now, what's the betting it doesn't work out like that?
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