I Lost It!

I am normally cool-headed (although I may vent often to friends and family about things), but I was pushed over my limit today and completely lost it!

Background information: So we moved to CO in July. As my DH was already in CO, I handled the move and all that goes with it on my own. Not complaining or whining here, just a fact. I "interviewed" moving companies, handled the "viewings" of our house up for sale, getting a few repairs done once we had a contract on the house, and canceled and set up utilities and various services in preparation for the move.

The Story: A few weeks ago after being in CO for over a month, I noticed on a CC statement that we were charged for the "bug" company to spray our home in July. We had service set up for every other month and auto-debited from our CC, and I had told our service tech in May that we would not need further service as we were moving at the end of June. So when I saw this charge, I called the company to get this refunded.

Call #1: I made the 1st call on 8-17, and spoke to a nice woman (we'll call her "Sally") who asked if I had given a 30-day written notice of cancellation. I replied honestly that no I had not given a written notice, but that I had told my service tech that we were moving and canceling service as of June. When I mentioned this to him, he never once said that I would need to give a 30-day written notice. Mind you, I was able to cancel all other services over the phone, so why would I ever think I needed to give written notice to the exterminating company??? Seriously! So, she told me that she would need to ask her boss "Bob" about the refund. Of course, he was out of the office for the rest of the day, and she would have to call me back the next day.

Call #2: Forward to 8/24 when I realized I had not heard from "Sally", I call back. I actually spoke with "Sally" again. I had to remind her who I was by relaying our entire conversation from the week before, then she tells me that "Bob" is gone for the day....AGAIN. So, I asked her to please get with "Bob" the next Monday and please get back with me so we could get this remedied.

Calls #3, 4 & 5: I never received a call back on Monday. I then tried calling the office on Wednesday and Thursday and just got the answering service. So I called again on Friday morning. "Sally" answered my call, and I had to reiterate our previous conversations with her. Once she "remembered" who I was, she then told me that her boss was out. I then asked if "Bob" would be back today? She said "yes". I then asked, "What time do you expect him back?" She replied, "He should be back by 2 pm." "Great! Would you please get with him on this, and please call me back this afternoon?" She agreed, and I went about my day.

Call #6: By 3:30 pm my time (4:30 pm bug co. time), I had not received a call, so I called back and "Sally" answered. She tells me that she was just trying to call me, yeah right! She then tells me that "Al" said they could not refund the $$ as I had not provided the 30-day written notice and that if I had read my service contract it states it there. So I then ask, "who is Al?? You told me you needed to talk to Bob?" She says, "Oh, Al is the Branch Mgr., and Bob is just the "Service Mgr". Ugh!!!

As I disagreed with Al's decision since we had been loyal good-paying customers, I then asked Sally if I could please speak with "Al". She puts me on hold, then comes back to tell me that he would have to call me back. I ask her when I could expect his return call. She doesn't even put me on hold this time so I can actually hear her ask him...she tells me that he will call me back in about an hour. Now, it is already almost 5 pm on a Friday, I seriously doubt he is calling me back today.

So, I then ask "Sally" since I have her on the phone to please confirm that my service is cancelled and that I won't be charged next month for service at a home I don't even own anymore. She then utters these words..."Oh, well, we still haven't received your 30-day written notice of cancellation, so you are still scheduled for service next week and will be charged."

Losing It: At this point, I literally scream into the phone. I say to her (okay...shouting) while hyperventilating, "You have got to be kidding me! I believe I have made it clear that I want this service cancelled!" I then apologize for screaming at her as I have always worked with customers or clients, and I never wanted to be screamed at. I then tell her she should get Al on the phone now, as I was still angry with the situation. We have been customers of this national company for over 10 years (their local office about 5 years), so I was really upset that they could not handle this a little bit better. I concede that yes, I should read all contracts, but in the midst of moving to another state, I was not concerned about getting my "bug" service contract out to peruse the fine print to find out if I needed to cancel it in writing. Come on!

So "Al" finally gets on the phone to finesse things! He agrees to refund half and confirms that I will not be charged for September. At this point, I am ready to be done with this, so I agree in paying half. But just in case, I'm calling my cc company now to let them know I will be expecting a refund and not to accept any further charges from this company.

Now, I will tell you, I have never had a problem with this co. previously, and I am not asking anyone to boycott them. Our service tech was always nice...we did have a new service tech the last 2 times, but again no problems.

Sadly this confirms the fact that being nice doesn't seem to get you anywhere. I was honest about not giving a written 30-day notice, and I was nice each and every time I talked with "Sally" until I lost it. I could have just lied and said I had "mailed it". It was only when I totally lost it with her that I received any compromise on the company's part.