Out of the Blue

I got a huge surprise automatic bill from DirecTV with an early termination fee, in spite of already establishing I would not be hit with one. I had to call and clear up the error, which they were going to be far more relaxed about remedying than they were about causing, so I crabbed until they got a sense of urgency clearing this up. It makes me feel cynical to suspect they may have been just hoping I wouldn't notice, but it does strike me that companies seem much more prone to making financial errors that favor them than ones that favor us.

R.I.P.: Don Pardo dead, longtime NBC announcer.

Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: WW2 Dogfight - Age of Warplane.
Dog vs Homework.
Link: Guy Walks Into a Bar - The New Yorker. Thanks reddit.
Science: Which came last—The supernova or the red giant?
Alopecia sufferers given new treatment hope with repurposed drug.
Fact or Fiction?: The Tongue Is the Strongest Muscle in the Body. Thanks Boing Boing.
Media:

If Michael Bay Directed Up.
Squirrel thwarted by Vaseline.

The Funnies: Nerds and bros are not that different.
View : : :
18 Replies. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
Newer [  1  ] Older
18.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 20, 2014, 03:15
18.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 20, 2014, 03:15
Aug 20, 2014, 03:15
 
yonder wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 22:35:
PHJF wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 22:19:
You seriously comparing seating people at a restaurant to medical care? It takes five, ten minutes to cook a steak. Want to tell me how long to detect and then tell somebody they have cancer?

Who cares if doctors actually have legitimately important and complex jobs and that they may have been in an emergency at the hospital earlier that day which caused his 2PM appointment to be bumped up an annoying amount of time even though the doctor helped save a life. Dammit... 2 PM!!!!!!

Yeah because all GPs are also part time emergency room supermen or surgical geniuses whose presence is required at all times earlier in the day, which is why my particular doctor is always at least 20-30 minutes late. Or why I have to wait in the waiting room and listen to her chat over coffee with the nurse, through the door. 2 PM!!!!!!
I have a nifty blue line!
Avatar 46994
17.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 23:08
17.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 23:08
Aug 19, 2014, 23:08
 
yonder wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 22:35:
PHJF wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 22:19:
You seriously comparing seating people at a restaurant to medical care? It takes five, ten minutes to cook a steak. Want to tell me how long to detect and then tell somebody they have cancer?

Who cares if doctors actually have legitimately important and complex jobs and that they may have been in an emergency at the hospital earlier that day which caused his 2PM appointment to be bumped up an annoying amount of time even though the doctor helped save a life. Dammit... 2 PM!!!!!!

I understand doctors have to have flexible schedules. My podiatrist often was late because I was his first afternoon appointment and he had surgeries scheduled in the morning. Surgeries aren't like cooking a meal. Often surgeons get in there and find stuff they didn't expect or complications occur and it just takes longer than they could have imagined. My podiatrists office was fantastic at letting me know when my doctor should be there. They updated me every time he updated them, so I wasn't sitting there waiting wondering WTF was taking so long.

However, I have had doctors and dentists whose offices just fucking left you there for an hour or more wondering WTF was going on. My one dentist kept canceling appointments on me, which was fun since I had to skip a class just to make it there. Turns out, he was at the goddamn golf course and hadn't finished his game yet. It took all my self control not to drive there and beat him to death with his clubs.
16.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 22:35
16.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 22:35
Aug 19, 2014, 22:35
 
PHJF wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 22:19:
You seriously comparing seating people at a restaurant to medical care? It takes five, ten minutes to cook a steak. Want to tell me how long to detect and then tell somebody they have cancer?

Who cares if doctors actually have legitimately important and complex jobs and that they may have been in an emergency at the hospital earlier that day which caused his 2PM appointment to be bumped up an annoying amount of time even though the doctor helped save a life. Dammit... 2 PM!!!!!!
15.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 22:19
PHJF
 
15.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 22:19
Aug 19, 2014, 22:19
 PHJF
 
You seriously comparing seating people at a restaurant to medical care? It takes five, ten minutes to cook a steak. Want to tell me how long to detect and then tell somebody they have cancer?
Steam + PSN: PHJF
Avatar 17251
14.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 20:52
14.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 20:52
Aug 19, 2014, 20:52
 
"I've given up, Don Pardo. Please tell me now what I didn't win."

- Weird Al Yankovic, I Lost on Jeopardy.
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." - Aaron Sati
13.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 20:51
13.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 20:51
Aug 19, 2014, 20:51
 
Jamil20 wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 09:41:
Pigeon wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 09:30:
If only we could charge them fees when they make a mistake.

I want to do this at my doctor's office when I have to wait an hour past my appointment time. My time is money too.

That's the sort of shit that makes me go off. 'No, my appointment was for 2 PM. That's why we agreed to 2 PM, and not "2 ish". How fucking hard is it to schedule an appointment? If he's running 5 minutes late I don't like it, but I can understand it. Anything beyond that and no.

When you came to my resto with an 8PM reso and were 15 minutes late and then had to ask why we gave your table away, then really need to learn something about time management, appointments, and how it's just common courtesy to respect other peoples time. Again, your reso wasn't for 8'ish. We told you that we only you table for 10 minutes - 15 max if it's slower, which it usually isn't. We're running a fucking business, not a charity that runs on whenever you feel like showing up.

My brother is one of those assholes that's perpetually late. Anytime he says 'Let's meet at 2 PM.' It really means 2:30 PM, probably more like 3 PM. Drives me up the fucking wall. Same with being late for work. If there was some major accident on the highway and circumstances were beyond your control than that's ok once in a blue moon, otherwise leave fucking earlier!
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." - Aaron Sati
12.
 
Re: Squirrel
Aug 19, 2014, 19:52
12.
Re: Squirrel Aug 19, 2014, 19:52
Aug 19, 2014, 19:52
 
jdreyer wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 15:04:
Agent.X7 wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 14:35:
That was amusing. My grandmother just used to shoot them with a .22 rifle. Of course, she used to shoot birds she didn't want on the feeders as well. I never understood why it was OK to feed one group of wild creatures but not another.

Don't get me wrong, squirrels caused $4k worth of damage to my roof in NY. I used to blow them off the power lines with a pressure hose to keep them away from my house after that. (We lived in town, or I would have been using a .22 as well...) But I never put out food hoping to entice one group of animals over another.

You could use an air rifle with lead pellets.

Also, did you ever wonder what happened to those squirrels she shot? You thought that was chicken flavor in your soup?

Air rifle was against town codes as well.

I have eaten squirrel. It's OK. Same with rabbit, alligator, ostrich egg, snake, and all of the other weird shit I have tried through the years.
11.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 15:27
11.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 15:27
Aug 19, 2014, 15:27
 
garrywong wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 10:47:
Guy walks into a bar - ok... wtf...

Yeah, that was surreal...
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
10.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 15:14
10.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 15:14
Aug 19, 2014, 15:14
 
If Michael Bay Directed Up.

That was really funny.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
9.
 
Re: Squirrel
Aug 19, 2014, 15:04
9.
Re: Squirrel Aug 19, 2014, 15:04
Aug 19, 2014, 15:04
 
Agent.X7 wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 14:35:
That was amusing. My grandmother just used to shoot them with a .22 rifle. Of course, she used to shoot birds she didn't want on the feeders as well. I never understood why it was OK to feed one group of wild creatures but not another.

Don't get me wrong, squirrels caused $4k worth of damage to my roof in NY. I used to blow them off the power lines with a pressure hose to keep them away from my house after that. (We lived in town, or I would have been using a .22 as well...) But I never put out food hoping to entice one group of animals over another.

You could use an air rifle with lead pellets.

Also, did you ever wonder what happened to those squirrels she shot? You thought that was chicken flavor in your soup?
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
8.
 
Re: Squirrel
Aug 19, 2014, 14:35
8.
Re: Squirrel Aug 19, 2014, 14:35
Aug 19, 2014, 14:35
 
That was amusing. My grandmother just used to shoot them with a .22 rifle. Of course, she used to shoot birds she didn't want on the feeders as well. I never understood why it was OK to feed one group of wild creatures but not another.

Don't get me wrong, squirrels caused $4k worth of damage to my roof in NY. I used to blow them off the power lines with a pressure hose to keep them away from my house after that. (We lived in town, or I would have been using a .22 as well...) But I never put out food hoping to entice one group of animals over another.
7.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 10:47
7.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 10:47
Aug 19, 2014, 10:47
 
Guy walks into a bar - ok... wtf...
6.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 10:12
6.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 10:12
Aug 19, 2014, 10:12
 
It makes me feel cynical to suspect they may have been just hoping I wouldn't notice

There's nothing cynical about that, that's just the reality. AT&T and Verizon even go so far as to call it a "revenue source".

And why wouldn't they? It's not as if they get penalized beyond a mild "tsk tsk" if they get caught.
Avatar 15604
5.
 
DirecTV and Comcast
Aug 19, 2014, 09:57
5.
DirecTV and Comcast Aug 19, 2014, 09:57
Aug 19, 2014, 09:57
 
I think the growing trend of recording all calls with companies like DirecTV and Comcast so you can later prove they agreed to specific terms is a good one.
4.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 09:45
4.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 09:45
Aug 19, 2014, 09:45
 
Ive noticed this trend too. This is especially worrying as in todays day and age of automatization where these types of errors shoud be occuring less frequently, not more so....aaaand once again we are returning to the topic of accountabiity in the western and ssupposedly egalitarian societies.
I have a nifty blue line!
Avatar 46994
3.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 09:41
3.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 09:41
Aug 19, 2014, 09:41
 
Pigeon wrote on Aug 19, 2014, 09:30:
If only we could charge them fees when they make a mistake.

I want to do this at my doctor's office when I have to wait an hour past my appointment time. My time is money too.
2.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 09:30
2.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 09:30
Aug 19, 2014, 09:30
 
If only we could charge them fees when they make a mistake.
1.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Aug 19, 2014, 09:25
nin
1.
Re: Out of the Blue Aug 19, 2014, 09:25
Aug 19, 2014, 09:25
nin
18 Replies. 1 pages. Viewing page 1.
Newer [  1  ] Older