Time Flies When You're Having... Fun?

This week FLEW by. I got a few things done that were long-overdue, but for some reason I don't feel like I had a very good week. I've been getting a lot of headaches so that is probably a contributing factor. But to stay focused on the good things that happened: I'm getting really good at dealing with crooked business men! ;) Seriously - Adam and I went to court earlier this week to contest a hospital bill that we did not know was in existence. The first notice we received of this invoice was a court letter asking us to send a written reply to the court concerning this bill that we had no idea was owed. After scrambling for any and all information regarding this invoice, we found that I apparently was in the hospital when I was 7 months pregnant with Alvin (my 3rd son) getting a vaginal exam and all sorts of medical procedures done on me. THAT NEVER HAPPENED. I'm pretty darn sure that I would remember that kind of thing!!! The truth is that I had PERFECT, healthy pregnancies, and aside from some irregular prenatal care for my first 3 pregnancies (which is included in the delivery expenses billed at the end of the pregnancy), and aside from the one time that I went into false labor and visited a completely different hospital, I never once went to Sacred Heart for anything other than the actual delivery of my first 3 children.

And on top of that, I am currently dealing with my cell phone provider, T-Mobile, regarding their breech of my contract. After many attempts to work out a compromise with T-Mobile directly, I finally resorted to filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau regarding T-Mobile's blatant disregard for my rights as a consumer. Here is the situation: A couple months ago I was on the phone with a T-Mobile representative trying to get a better deal on a replacement phone for the one my dog chewed up. In the process of talking to this woman, I found out that my contract had been extended for an additional 2 years in November 2009, which means my contract with them would not expire until November 2012. However, this account change was NEVER authorized by me. When I insisted to the lady that I did NOT authorize the extension of my contract, she quickly changed my account status back to the original expiration date or September 2011. So I looked up this problem online and apparently T-Mobile has a tract record of making the unauthorized contract extensions with a lot of their customers. So that's when I decided that I no longer trusted this company and I wanted to be released from the contract. I thoroughly read the Terms and Conditions and discovered that there are multiple areas in which T-Mobile has dealt illegally with me. One dealing in particular is that countless representatives have claimed that it will be a $200.00 termination fee for each phone line if I end my contract with them prior to September. However, it clearly states in the Terms and Conditions that if I only have 31 - 91 days left on my contract (which I do) then the termination fee will be only $50.00. WHAT A JOKE! I couldn't believe that T-Mobile would so blatantly lie to me about the termination fee! So after explaining all this to the BBB, Gabriel Melloy (an "executive" from TM) called me once on a Thursday, and then once again the next day on Friday, and I called him back on Monday... he of course would not release me from the contract without charging me the $200.00 termination fee, and he stated that the unauthorized contract extension was "an account error" rather than a "breech of contract". So I replied to the BBB that Gabriel and I did not reach an agreement, and that I was dissatisfied with their response to my complaint. Then guess what happened?!?! This is the really good part.... Gabriel Melloy called me back a few days later saying "This is the 3rd and final attempt to contact you, please call me back by the end of the day to discuss your complaint otherwise we will have no choice but to close this complaint with the Better Business Bureau". I then received an email from the BBB saying that I did not respond to T-Mobile's phone calls, so the case was closed. WHAT THE HECK!!!! I called Gabriel back on the next business day and he KNOWS that I called him back and he LIED to the BBB and said that I had not contacted him! I am seriously pissed and stressed out about this whole thing. But take a deep breath........ I'm simply going to call T-Mobile back on Monday and demand that I only be charged the $50.00 termination fee that is required. I just hope for the sake of my sanity that they cooperate with their own Terms and Conditions. So just a little piece of advice for you: NEVER NEVER NEVER sign any kind of contract with T-Mobile!!! Oh, and ALWAYS check your hospital bills to make sure that you actually received the services that you were billed for!

Ok. Done with my rant. Now I'm going to take a pill for this pounding headache that is ringing in my ears. And I almost forgot to mention.... I took a lovely 1 hour walk/jog today! Adam watched the kids, and I took off. I hope I can do it again tomorrow. I need the exercise and the time alone. Ok, over and out. ;)