It did not take me long to become privvy to the fact that my husband is what many would call "cheap" or "thrifty" or "the great deal-negotiator." This in fact is one of many characteristics that I adore about Jamie. Although frustrating at times, I believe God gave me Jamie to help me understand the world of finance, the value of a dollar and what a "good deal" truly is in our over-priced society. Thankfully, in the passing years, Jamie has rubbed off on me and I no longer spend money so easily. I've realized that SAVING has its perks! There is so many things Jamie and I want to do as a couple and as a family that by saving those pennies, we will be able to enjoy trips and adventures later in life. Not only will the fun stuff be affordable, but our children's educaton will hopefully (fingers crossed) be paid for as they venture to college. This all brings me to a recent story that began all the way back in December 2012.
Rewind:
Jamie and I no longer purchases gifts for birthdays or Christmas. We started this lovely tradition many years ago as we would rather purchase a larger gift that we both can enjoy equally. Case in point---our brand new 42" Samsung HDTV. In case you were wondering, this purchase took us over three months to buy as Jamie (I mean "we") wanted to find the best deal possible. And according to Jamie, we accomplished this great task! However, we didn't have HD service through our provider, DirecTV. So Jamie made over three phone calls to receive a FREE upgrade to HD service---which was initally going to cost us 99 dollars for them to come out to our house, provide us with a new receiver and climb on top of our roof and mess with the dish. Jamie refused to not only pay the 99 dollars, but he also refused to pay the 10 dollars they would charge us each month for having HD service. He demanded this as we have been "valuable" customers for three years. Fair enough?
We got hooked up by our buddy Joe in a matter of ten minutes. We even threw in a hot cup of coffee for him. And just like that we had a crystal clear picture before us!! Wow!
Four days pass.
We go to Menards. (I can't stand this store)
Jamie disappears as I am checking the price of paint.
He comes back and literally says, "We got screwed!!!"
He informs me that we need to immediately cancel our service with DirecTV under my name and then we will sign back up for the new member cost of 39.99 a month and here is the BIG incentive.....JAMIE GETS A 100$ gift card from Menards!!!!!!!
Hell just froze over in my husband's world.
We venture back home. He cancels. He is told by a DirecTV employee that there will be no cancellation fee as Jamie claims the picture quality was terrible and when he changed the channels it took forever for the picture to appear. An outright LIE which the Cable gods will punish him later for. At any rate, the woman on the receiving end tell us we will have a balance of 0 dollars and 0 cents on our next bill.
Two weeks pass. Scrubs and I venture to the mailbox to find a statement from DirecTV. Low and behold there is a bill for 789.90 dollars due to an early cancellation. HOLY SHIT! Excuse me!!! I immediately run back into the house and show Jamie the outrageous statement.
Jamie immediately gets on the phone. Not only is he transferred once. Twice. Three times. But four times he is transferred to four different employees. Suprisingly he remains calm with each employee and refuses to budge. He tells them that he is fully aware that they "Record the conversations for quality assurance" and demands that they pull the recording for which an employee states there will be a balance of 0 dollars and 0 cents.
Finally, after a two hour and 42 minute conversation (yes this is exact)----he is told he needs to write a personal letter to DirecTV in order to "possibly" receive reconcilliation for the massive fee that hovers over my name--Beth Hansen. So he writes it. And we wait. And we wait.
We wait with no cable.
Beth didn't get to watch the Golden Globes.
Beth didn't get to see several of her shows that she relies on to keep her sane while feeding James his bottle.
(I'm over it)
And then we get it-------a piece of paper gold in the mail:
Rewind:
Jamie and I no longer purchases gifts for birthdays or Christmas. We started this lovely tradition many years ago as we would rather purchase a larger gift that we both can enjoy equally. Case in point---our brand new 42" Samsung HDTV. In case you were wondering, this purchase took us over three months to buy as Jamie (I mean "we") wanted to find the best deal possible. And according to Jamie, we accomplished this great task! However, we didn't have HD service through our provider, DirecTV. So Jamie made over three phone calls to receive a FREE upgrade to HD service---which was initally going to cost us 99 dollars for them to come out to our house, provide us with a new receiver and climb on top of our roof and mess with the dish. Jamie refused to not only pay the 99 dollars, but he also refused to pay the 10 dollars they would charge us each month for having HD service. He demanded this as we have been "valuable" customers for three years. Fair enough?
We got hooked up by our buddy Joe in a matter of ten minutes. We even threw in a hot cup of coffee for him. And just like that we had a crystal clear picture before us!! Wow!
Four days pass.
We go to Menards. (I can't stand this store)
Jamie disappears as I am checking the price of paint.
He comes back and literally says, "We got screwed!!!"
He informs me that we need to immediately cancel our service with DirecTV under my name and then we will sign back up for the new member cost of 39.99 a month and here is the BIG incentive.....JAMIE GETS A 100$ gift card from Menards!!!!!!!
Hell just froze over in my husband's world.
We venture back home. He cancels. He is told by a DirecTV employee that there will be no cancellation fee as Jamie claims the picture quality was terrible and when he changed the channels it took forever for the picture to appear. An outright LIE which the Cable gods will punish him later for. At any rate, the woman on the receiving end tell us we will have a balance of 0 dollars and 0 cents on our next bill.
Two weeks pass. Scrubs and I venture to the mailbox to find a statement from DirecTV. Low and behold there is a bill for 789.90 dollars due to an early cancellation. HOLY SHIT! Excuse me!!! I immediately run back into the house and show Jamie the outrageous statement.
Jamie immediately gets on the phone. Not only is he transferred once. Twice. Three times. But four times he is transferred to four different employees. Suprisingly he remains calm with each employee and refuses to budge. He tells them that he is fully aware that they "Record the conversations for quality assurance" and demands that they pull the recording for which an employee states there will be a balance of 0 dollars and 0 cents.
Finally, after a two hour and 42 minute conversation (yes this is exact)----he is told he needs to write a personal letter to DirecTV in order to "possibly" receive reconcilliation for the massive fee that hovers over my name--Beth Hansen. So he writes it. And we wait. And we wait.
We wait with no cable.
Beth didn't get to watch the Golden Globes.
Beth didn't get to see several of her shows that she relies on to keep her sane while feeding James his bottle.
(I'm over it)
And then we get it-------a piece of paper gold in the mail:
If you can't read this it says that our rebuttal letter was approved and we owe ZERO dollars!
So, I know what you want to ask----did Jamie get his 100 dollar gift card to Menards?
And I can be the first to tell you----HHHHHHHEEEEELLLLLLL NOOOOO he doesn't have a gift card and on top of this all......we have 10 dollar bunny ears providing us the local stations. Yes, yes we do.
The settlement has been.......settled??
Love,
The Seidl Sprouts