"But he's in JAIL!"

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

So, I'm sure most of you now know I work in what is basically a high end complaints department at <Red Checkmark>. As such, I get a lot of the really special ones.

You'd be surprised (okay, you probably wouldn't be) that the vast majority of our complaints boil down to three main things:

1. Customers who misunderstand a promotion or policy
2. Customers who refuse to accept "No" for an answer
3. Customers who refuse to take responsibility for ANYTHING

The latter category is my favorite because I can almost always tactfully pin the blame for the customers issue on THEM and state that <Red Checkmark> won't be doing much for them.

Like the dude I got last week who ignored his bills for a YEAR, then when he checked them, discovered he was being charged for a feature he didn't want and filed a complaint against us demanding ALL 12 MONTHS of fees back.

Sorry bro, policy says 90 days so that's what you get. Not my fault that YOU haven't been checking your bills before you pay them.

But this week I got two that were even better than that. Each one basically boils down to the same thing:

Family Member A either opened an account in their name or added a line to an account they already had for Family Member B with the expectation that FMB would pay FMA monthly for their share of the bill. FMB then gets arrested and incarcerated and is thus no longer able to pay their share of the bill, prompting FMA to complain to <Red Checkmark> and demand we waive ALL the charges on the line for the now jailed FMB.



Yes, they took it upon themselves to set up services in THEIR name for a sketchy family member, it blew up in their faces and now they are begging <Red Checkmark> to bail them out. Ummmm......NO.

I sympathize with your situation, but is YOUR name on the account and that means YOU are responsible for every line on it, regardless of if the user is in jail or not. We can probably talk about a small account credit, but <Red Checkmark> is not just going to eat an $800 balance on a phone payment plan because FMB can't pay you for it anymore.

Both customers were very unhappy with me but unfortunately for them, I'm the end of the line. And if they do file a second complaint, guess whose desk it comes to?

<Red Checkmark> is a for profit business, not a charity. You want someone to take pity on you for your relatives poor life decisions? Look somewhere else.

[earl colby pottinger]

What get me

The FMB will always demand the most expensive and latest phone too, with an expensive phone plan with all the features that they never ever used.

I never had a family/friend person ask for a phone, but the most they will ever get from me is a $14.95 Trac phone. And if they want extra minutes they will have to buy them themselves.

[UAZ469]

Of course, why would you take the easy and smoother way of opening a separate account for each other when you can also choose the more complicated and riskier method, which will bite you in the ainis instantly when something goes wrong?

Makes me wonder if FMA knew FMB was sketchy beforehand and thought that the latter opening an account for him/herself would only lead to a disaster.

[Slave to the Phone]

When it comes to loaning people money (which includes paying their bills or buying something for them), its always best to assume that the "loan" is actually a gift so you don't over-extend your finances based on someone else's sense of honor and responsibility.

We have a friend who is horrible with money. He borrows money from us almost every month, but, despite being batsh*t crazy, he does remember to pay us back the same day he gets his monthly disability check. Then, 2 weeks later, he borrows that money back so he can make it through the month.

He's lost his mind, but his sense of honor remains. Most people wouldn't think he was a good credit risk, but he has always paid us back every single penny he owed. He will probably die owing us money, but that is the only thing that will stop him from paying us.

Not a lot of people are that honest.

[earl colby pottinger]

I bet

Makes me wonder if FMA knew FMB was sketchy beforehand and thought that the latter opening an account for him/herself would only lead to a disaster.

That the FMB credit was so bad they could not get an account themselves.

[notalwaysright]

FMB then gets arrested and incarcerated and is thus no longer able to pay their share of the bill, prompting FMA to complain to <Red Checkmark> and demand we waive ALL the charges on the line for the now jailed FMB.

So, let's say for example, that FMB had no prior history of trouble with the law... I'm being charitable here. Anyway, so now uh-oh, FMB is in jail. My reaction would be "well crap, now I have to call Red Checkmark because I have no idea how to deal with this." And basically I'd explain the situation and ask what my options are. If they said too bad so sad you have to keep paying or pay some sort of cancellation penalty, then you know, that's life. I wouldn't somehow blame Red Checkmark for FMBs bad choices... But then I'm a regular person.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

So, let's say for example, that FMB had no prior history of trouble with the law... I'm being charitable here. Anyway, so now uh-oh, FMB is in jail. My reaction would be "well crap, now I have to call Red Checkmark because I have no idea how to deal with this." And basically I'd explain the situation and ask what my options are. If they said too bad so sad you have to keep paying or pay some sort of cancellation penalty, then you know, that's life. I wouldn't somehow blame Red Checkmark for FMBs bad choices... But then I'm a regular person.

My Mom and I learned that lesson back in 2010 when she wanted to set up a 3rd line on our account (had 2 lines with feature phones that we were getting free after 2 yr contract - the days before the subsidized phones went away) for a guy who was remodeling my office (he was staying with us temporarily, as he had a falling out w/his roommate and was kicked out of the house they shared.)


Even though I told Mom I thought it not a smart idea, she went ahead and done it anyways and a few weeks later, he moved out and took the phone with him. Mom called and left a message on the phone asking him to please return it within X amount of time or it would be reported as stolen.



She also called Death Star Wireless and talked with a customer service rep, who was helpful but with our situation and the phone was subsidized, we could suspend service but we'd still have to pay the extra $10/month for that line for 2 years (we had it for about 3 months at that time.) While we expected that might be the case, she thanked the rep for the info and agreed to turn off the phone temporarily until we could get the phone back.


The phone came back a couple of days later and we just kept it as a backup phone until the 2 years was up, then we turned off that line. Since then, Mom runs anything and everything by me when it comes to the wireless account.

[workerbee222]

I was young and stupid, (before mobile phones) and let a man I'd met stay with me a few days.

I got my phone bill at the end of the month, and there were hundreds of dollars of long distance calls on my bill. I called the phone company thinking I was out of luck. I even said, "I'm probably out of luck." The very kind person on the other end of the line said they try not to tell people that. He looked at the numbers dialed, of course they weren't ones I'd ever called, or times I called. (As in, the only long distance calls I made were to my Mom Saturday mornings) I had to go to work, so he asked for my work number and said he'd look into what they could do. By the time I got to work, the receptionist gave me the message that this person called and wanted me to call back asap. I don't know what authority he had or what story he gave to his superiors, but the company was purging the charges from my bill. I didn't deserve that, but I was very, very grateful.

[Racket_Man]

I got my phone bill at the end of the month, and there were hundreds of dollars of long distance calls on my bill.

Something similar happened to me back in the early 2000's but my case was somehow I got a piece of malware on my PC that dialed 2 or 3 international numbers and stayed on the line for like 30 minutes each leading to a LD bill of like $300. I had my long distance thru Death Star and had to jump multiple hoops thru multiple persons to get it taken care of.

After that I managed to get them to restrict my long distance to the US only and somehow putting restrictions or a passcode for calls further than 60 miles away so I could still call my Mom who was 500 miles away.

[Catwoman2965]

When my mom moved back to my state several years ago, she needed a new upgraded cell phone, and I did as well. we actually went back to the big red checkmark company, and the account is in my name, with two lines, hers and mine. BUT she pays me monthly for her share, and when we first switched, her phone. But she's the only one I would trust to do that for. If she'd let me, i'd pay the whole bill, but she won't, so we settled on a slightly less than half amount since im the only one using data on the account.

[Argabarga]

"I didn't kill my wife!"

"I don't care, she was on your data plan!"

[Mental_Mouse]

We have a friend who is horrible with money. He borrows money from us almost every month, but, despite being batsh*t crazy, he does remember to pay us back the same day he gets his monthly disability check. Then, 2 weeks later, he borrows that money back so he can make it through the month.

That sounds like he's just running a little too close to the ground. If you gave him an extra gift of the same amount, would he be capable of hanging onto it so that his balance didn't bottom out?

Or is he dealing with a hole-in-the-bucket "poor tax" that erases anything he gets in a given month?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I have two very close friends on my phone plan. They are usually pretty prompt with paying, but they understand that if an extended period of time goes by with no money, I WILL suspend the lines until they either pay me or return the phones.

They can't take their numbers to another provider without my account passcode anyway so I've got pretty good leverage.

[Naaman]

The FMB will always demand the most expensive and latest phone too, with an expensive phone plan with all the features that they never ever used.

I never had a family/friend person ask for a phone, but the most they will ever get from me is a $14.95 Trac phone. And if they want extra minutes they will have to buy them themselves.

My problem is with my Mother, she keeps moaning that she doesn't have enough money then gets persuaded by the phone companay that she needs to upgrade every time the contract's up I'd happily buy the handset and get her on a £10 contract
I've been buying the handset outright then shopping for SIM only deals the past few upgrades and it's so much cheaper, especially as I barely use it, and it's gotten a lot easier over here than it was at first (the big Co's always tried to upsell minutes & data to me when I was already using substantially less than the minimum package they offered)

[Slave to the Phone]

That sounds like he's just running a little too close to the ground. If you gave him an extra gift of the same amount, would he be capable of hanging onto it so that his balance didn't bottom out?

Or is he dealing with a hole-in-the-bucket "poor tax" that erases anything he gets in a given month?

You are very kind, but you forgot the bats*it crazy part. The man gets more on a monthly basis than my sweetie and I do. Money just slips through his fingers, or falls out his pocket because he doesn't trust banks. (Happens on a regular basis, he doesn't carry a wallet because he worries about pick-pockets taking it, so he just stuffs his entire VA disability payment in his front pocket to keep it safe.)

He does pay the poor tax because he refuses to pay good money for something he can get cheaper. Problem with that is that cheap things are cheap and he's always replacing them.

The man honestly has to buy new boots twice a year because they wear out so fast. He has the money to buy good boots, but thinks that they will wear out just as fast, so why waste the money.

When I point out that my expensive boots are 5 years old and looking good, he scoffs and says its because I'm not as hard on them as he is.