CyberCJH's Blog

Wow. If you’re thinking of signing up for AT&T U-Verse, don’t expect them to make it easy for you.

Here is a running time line of the great fun I’m having with my AT&T U-Verse service.

• 3/6 : I ordered U-Verse service over the internet. Installation was scheduled for 4/3. Was told I would receive $500 in rewards, 6 months of free additional receiver lease ($14/mo) and 6 months of paperless billing credit ($10/mo) and 1 free month of the Filipino package ($25).

$500 AT&T Triple Pack Reward Card Offer: Offer ends 3/17/10. U-verse service must be ordered between 3/4/10 and 3/17/10. Available to residential customers ordering new U-verse U200 or higher, U-verse Internet Pro or higher, and U-verse Voice Unlimited online at att.com. Offer may not be combined with other AT&T promotional offers on the same services. Offer will be provided in the form of AT&T Reward Visa® Prepaid Cards. Redemption details provided to customer within 4 weeks of activation of qualifying service. Card sent to customers 4-6 weeks after redemption. Redemption requires customer to retain qualifying service a minimum of 30 days and at time processing of reward is completed. The AT&T Reward Visa® Prepaid Card is not redeemable for cash and may not be used at automated gasoline pumps or for cash withdrawal at any cash dispensing locations. Card may not be used to purchase AT&T products and/or services in certain states. Card expires 90 days after issuance. See cardholder agreement and card carrier for other terms and conditions. For more details go to http://rewardcenter.att.com/myrewardcard/agreement.pdf. Visa prepaid cards are issued by U.S. Bank National Association and/or MetaBank™ pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

• 4/3 : Service is installed. Installer confirmed my BellSouth services would be automatically canceled as of 4/3.
• 4/7 : Redeemed $200 of the $500 in rewards I was supposed to receive on the AT&T rewards website. I called and was told it’s not unusual for AT&T to split large rewards into smaller chunks and instructions on how to redeem the remaining $300 would be forthcoming.
• 4/12 : On a whim, I called BellSouth (owned by AT&T) to ensure my prior service (local, long distance and DSL) was canceled. Guess what? It wasn’t. The representative I spoke to confirmed the cancellation would be backdated and I would receive a refund of services billed in advance I already paid for within 7 to 10 days.
• 4/21 : $200 reward I redeemed on 4/7 is mailed and I receive it soon after.
• 4/22 : I receive my first U-Verse bill. Surprise, surprise. Neither the $14 receiver lease credit or the $10 paperless billing credit is there. I chat with an AT&T billing representative who corrected these problems and said my next bill will reflect the correct credits. Then, she tried to get me to upgrade from U200 to U300. Then, she tried to sell me a sports package. Then, she tried to sell me HBO/Cinemax. Then, she tried to sell me HD service.
• 4/28 : BellSouth bill generated. Another surprise. My BellSouth services were not disconnected. Now, I owe about $50 to BellSouth when I should be getting a refund. I called them and spoke to someone else who said they’ll correct it and I’ll receive a final correct bill and a refund in 7 to 10 days. They said my phone number was stuck in a porting process and that is why this happened.
• 5/7 : I call the AT&T Reward Center because I’ve had service for over 30 days now, but have not received information on how to redeem the remaining $300 in rewards. The representative I spoke to said he’ll correct the problem and add the $300 reward to my profile.
• 5/11 : The $300 the representative added to my profile shows as disqualified. I don’t know why. So, I call the AT&T Reward Center again. This time, a representative told me that the $300 the representative added last time wasn’t done correctly. But, all she could add was $100. When I insisted AT&T still owed me $300 in rewards, she offered to research the issue and call me back in 72 hours. I politely declined and hung up with her.
• Later on 5/11 : I call U-Verse customer service to cancel my service because it’s apparent to me now that AT&T has no intentions of sending me the rewards they promised when I signed up for the service and the apparently intend to continue to bill me for my Bell South services as well. The representative in the cancellation department called the Reward Center while I was on the line and promises that the issue is resolved and my $300 in remaining rewards will be forthcoming in 4 to 6 weeks. She also gave me 3 free months of HBO, but I have to remember to call on August 10 to cancel it otherwise I will be billed for it.
• Later on 5/11 : I called BellSouth asking where my refund was. The representative I spoke to there said that my final bill won’t generate until 5/28, which is my billing date and neither him, nor his supervisor, nor the CEO of AT&T, nor Christ Himself could change this billing date. He said I’ll just have to wait for my final bill and my refund will come 7 to 10 days after that.
• 5/12 : I checked the AT&T Reward Center website this morning and the $300 in remaining rewards is showing up only as $100. I want to throw up.

written by cybercjh

Were you fed up with trying to find the lamp switch in a dark room?

Were you tired of getting up every night just to turn off the light?

Hi! The late Billy Mays here for the Handy Switch. You remember, right? That wireless light switch that let you control any lamp from anywhere!

You just picked the lamp you wanted to control and plugged it into the remote receiver.

And, because it’s wireless, there was no tools or wires to worry about it.

Just fire. Yes, you only have to worry about the fire.

The Consumer Products Commission has reported that our remote receivers might catch on fire. Damned shoddy Chinese craftsmanship. Now, not only are the Chinese bent hell on killing our pets with their poison pet food and killing us with their poison drywall, they want to burn our houses to the ground as well.

So, UNPLUG YOUR HANDY SWITCHES, AMERICA! And, visit the Handy Switch Recall website today.

written by cybercjh

Rosalinda Miran-Ramirez, a resident of California and customer of insurance company Blue Shield of California HMO, woke up one morning to find blood coming out of her left breast and her night shirt saturated in blood.

She did what any reasonable person would have done. She went to the Emergency Room. Turns out that she had benign tumor and presumably, she will be okay.

But, here’s the kicker. Her insurance company, Blue Shield of California HMO, denied her claim. Their reason? Blood coming out of your nipple isn’t considered an emergency and Rosalinda should have reasonably known that no emergency existed.

She appealed.

They denied her again for the same reason.

Of course, after getting an attorney and going to the media, the insurance company finally agreed to pay.

Unbelievable.

Source: http://www.kcbs.com/Bay-Area-Woman-Fights-Blue-Shield/5302871

written by cybercjh

The Pizza Hut located at 10401 S Federal Highway in Port St. Lucie is ridiculous.

Whenever I go there with my department from work for the lunch buffet, there is only ever one server working the entire dining room. One. One server during lunch, presumably a busy time for any restaurant. One server. One.

I fired off this e-mail to pizzahut.com a few moments ago …

I really don’t know how this Pizza Hut location stays in business. My department goes to the lunch buffet about once a month, each time hoping our experience is better than the last one. It never is. Usually, it’s worse. The bottom line is there is NOT ENOUGH EMPLOYEES to service the volume of customers at lunch time. I don’t blame this on the few employees there, Lord knows their job is hard enough. I don’t blame this on the manager of the Pizza Hut location. I blame Pizza Hut’s corporate management for their abject failure to give the manager of this location the tools (staffing levels) he/she needs to effective service customers. It’s unacceptable for there to always be empty pizza pans on the buffet along side of the empty basket of bread sticks and empty pan of pasta. Why is it empty? There aren’t enough employees to keep the buffet stocked and fulfill other orders. It’s that simple. I’ve decided today though, enough is enough. I won’t be back.

These corporations have cut staff to obscene levels. Now, there’s not enough employees to serve all the customers. Yeah, you might have saved a few annual salaries, but you’re losing a quadzillion sales!

written by cybercjh

Just how much does Wal-Mart suck?

Well, consider this.

According to Fortune Magazine, “Target opened its first store here in March [2009], deep in the heart of Wal-Mart country. Former Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and his successor Mike Duke are both frequent visitors, according to Target store manager Chuck Simmons.”

Lee Scott and Mike Duke. Both. Shop. At. Target.

I guess even he gets sick of the rude and more recently, sparse employees, long lines and cluttered, messy aisles at Wal-Mart. Mike has the power to fix all that, but I guess he’s not up to the challenge.

Word of warning, guys.  If I were you, I wouldn’t say the words buck, cluck, duck, luck, muck, puck, stuck, truck or any other words that end in uck. Eloise is reading your lips.

written by cybercjh