Wednesday, December 8, 2010

All Day Long


It took all day long yesterday calling the home warranty people over and over again to get them to "authorize" payment for the well pump. I spoke to seven different people and was on hold for at least 15 minutes with each call and one call for over an hour. From 9 am in the morning till 6:30 pm in the evening I hassled with the warranty company to get them to approve payment for the well pump replacement.

The well company also had to talk to the warranty company on the phone many times, including the bookkeeper, the owner, and the well technician numerous times, faxing the estimate and re faxing the estimate over and over again. They even questioned why the final bill was less than originally estimated. I tried to explain to them the well company didn't know how deep the well was till they pulled up the casing and that the well wasn't as deep as they thought, so the estimate was less because of that. All they did was repeat again and again, but why was the final bill less?

I had to verify my name, address, phone number, and claim number each time I called and listen to them saying this call may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance. I almost told them I was recording their call for quality assurance on the last call but I didn't. Wonder what they would have said to that?

I think warranty companies hope homeowners will give up and pay themselves. Then the warranty people say the work wasn't authorized and won't pay for it. But I was persistent and got them to pay for the pump. We had to pay $376 and the warranty people agreed to pay $821. They will pay for the pump, but not the labor to pull it out of the ground or install it and they wouldn't pay to replace the wire from 2 wires to three which is standard or code now. They wanted to know why the wire needed to be replaced? I said because it was in the ground since 1982 and it was corroded. There was the extra $65 we paid originally to have the well pump covered in the warranty in the first place as our cost too. As of 6:30 pm we now have a new well pump and running water, but the well company and I were put through the ringer to get it done.

Needless to say I didn't get anything else done all day long. I was totally exhausted dealing with them anyway. This platter was from the other day. I was going to paint some chicken wire over the top in a grid, but was worried I'd smear the chickens so I left it like it is. I overlapped the slip colors on the chickens and then blended it with my fingers. I might make some baby chick plates to go with the platter. Hopefully I'll have more energy today for some creativity.

8 comments:

  1. Oh Linda,
    What a day you have had! The whole insurance paper shuffling nightmare must be repeated for every claim that they deal with.... it is a mind numbing thought! I guess that the expensive premiums that we have to pay keep a lot of crazy people employed who maybe actually get a kick out of writing out forms and asking stupid questions! Congratulations for enduring the process and actually getting paid something...., even if it wasn't the full amount. I am glad that you now have running water! Whew!

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  2. what a mess!
    Love them and hate them- can't do without them.
    Our system is so screwed up - we pay then they fight with us.
    They just did not know who they were messing with- go Linda!

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  3. They really do try to wear you down to the point of giving up don't they? Glad you persisted though not sure how the lining of your stomach and blood vessels fared.
    You mostly won and that is the important thing.
    Rest up, you have earned it.

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  4. home warranty companies are as bad as it gets! A couple of years ago our heat went out eight weeks before Thanksgiving and it took me that entire eight weeks to get them to fix it, we got heat the day before 15 people showed up at my house for dinner. Then our dryer went out, another eight weeks of hanging clothes on the line while I waited for them to get to it. THEN, my dishwasher broke and yep another eight weeks. What a pain these people are!!!!

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  5. Oh Linda, sorry to hear of the day yesterday..... I've had the same thing happened to me two years ago with a computer I bought and it was a lemon from the moment I got it out of the box..... I finally got a replacement two months later and gotta say is better but not happy with it, it has too many problems, I have no interest of ever buying any HP products.

    Great platter, I love the shape and the "crinkle" edges.... if you know what I mean. Can't wait to see it all finished.

    Linda I want to take a moment to wish you a Great Holiday to you and Gary. Best os wishes for a wonderful 2011 filled with love, happiness, health and lots of more clay! I will continue and look forward to hear more from you and your life and clay creations. Take care,

    Yolanda

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  6. What a frustrating day, but you PREVAILED! Bravo Linda!

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  7. E-gads! We recently went though a marathon BS phone incident with GMAC on one of our mortgages where THEY goofed up... tests ones patience and good manners! Good you stuck it out -I think most companies expect us to roll over and want the customer to get so ticked off we let it go -AND if it weren't for all of the FRAUD that is going on claims may be a lot easier. But probably not.

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  8. Hi Peter, thanks, yeah we never appreciate what we have till we don't have it.

    Hi Meredith, thanks, that's for sure, I had made up my mind to perservere.

    Hi Patti, thanks, I do think they are trained to do that, wear you down so to speak, thankfully the well company was on our side.

    Hi Tracey, thanks, I believe, it I had to call them each time; if I hadn't off I doubt they would have called me.

    Hi Yolanda, thanks, I have good luck with HP, knock on wood, but best buy geek squad can keep their repair program.

    Yolanda, thanks ever so much for your heart felt good wishes to Gary and I, your thoughts and words mean a lot to both of us.

    Hi Patricia, thanks, yes I kept on keeping on.

    Hi Cindy, thanks, yes it's too bad we have to keep on eye on everything and everyone around us especially the big companies.

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