there's a private entry here. i'll give you the password if you want, just email me.someone's head is going to roll.
seriously.
someone has cloned my cell number. i don't entirely understand how they did this, but i definitely know that I have not made 200 minutes' worth of calls to a single number in hackensack. most of the calls are one or two minutes long. all in a row. during times that i've been sleeping, times that i've been in class, times that i've been working. which means times that i've been home alone, times when my phone has been in the bag under my desk, and times when it's been in my pocket. i KNOW i didn't make these calls. t-mobile, however, refuses to believe me. they say the calls were made from my phone, because they bear my phone's electronic signature. and i'd just like to say, duh. of course they do, that's how cloning works, you asshats! they won't do anything about it. my mother was on the phone with them for two days (the phone is in my father's name), and they flat out refused to transfer her to the fraud department. they kept insisting that the number hadn't been cloned, and that all calls were coming from my phone. my mother filed a complaint with the FCC on their website last night. t mobile has 30 days to answer the complaint. so far, nothing has been resolved.
meanwhile, i had a bill to pay for the month before. and for once in my entire life, i went over my minutes. so it was a big bill. bigger, in fact, than i was anticipating. by about twice. i had a $128 phone bill. i had to transfer money out of my rent fund to cover it. not that big a deal, i figured i'd put it back when i got paid. so i went to the website for my bank account today. and it said $0. now kids, i had transferred $300 into my checking account. and all i did was pay my bill, buy $20 worth of stuff at the A&P and Rite Aid, and pay for dinner last night, and that was only $42. even rounding those numbers up a little to make up for the change, i still had only used $192. and tehre was a little over $300 when i started. so by rights, i should have had at least $108 in my account. except, somehow, no.
so, i panicked. i tried calling customer service for the bank. i was on hold for 15 of my precious anytime minutes when i gave up. i put on my coat and headed out into the bizarre april snow to the bank. where the bank person told me that i had two identical charges from t mobile, each for $128. so, i did what any sane person would do. i panicked. but then i got printouts of the transaction information that she showed me, and i went home and called t mobile. i figured this mistake, at least, would be easily rectified. except somehow, no. t mobile only showed ONE transaction, apparently. despite the fact that my bank has two. my customer service representative, john, told me that it was probably a bank error. which, you know, great. except the bank says it's t mobile's error. and then somehow, when i asked for his customer service id #, he suddenly remembered that i could fax the statement from my bank to this special t mobile fax number, and my information could be reviewed.
i did this. i spent 45 minutes in the sad little staples across the street from my house, trying to send a fax. it finally went through. i expected that once they saw the two transactions from the same time, they'd see they were wrong and i'd get my $128 back. except, of course, no.
john the customer rep called me back. and told me that it appeared that one of the transactions had bounced, and so they had resubmitted it. that only one of them had gone through. here's the thing, kids--i made the payment from my check card. i have overdraft protection from my bank. it's impossible for me to bounce a payment, because the money will be transferred from my savings account to cover it. the bill didn't come out of my PARENTS account, which i expected to happen. so maybe that's the record they're looking at, i don't know. then he told me the records from the bank weren't specific enough, and that i'd need (direct quote) BETTER PROOF. excuse me? direct printouts from my bank representative aren't good enough proof? should i tie up the rep and drag her down to your call center?
all i really know is, i'm out an extra $128. and the overdraft charges that will be billed to my account. and kids, i can't afford this. i had to dip into the savings account that's ONLY for my rent money (all of it through may i had saved and ready, so i never needed to worry about making rent), just to make things work for the rest of this week. the check i deposited today was supposed to go directly back to my savings account, but now i'm going to have to use it for next week's food and parking fees and what have you. i have a parking ticket due tomorrow that i can't even pay. i owe the health center $60, and i need a refill on my hormone pills. and the internet bill is due next week. and there's a week without work because of spring break. and i have no idea how in the name of all gods and little fishes i'm going to make my rent for may, now, because suddenly i'm $400 down in the savings account. because t mobile drained my checking account. or the bank did. and neither one seems inclined to give it back.
i don't have the time or stamina for this. the end of the semester is starting to loom disturbingly close. i have a group presentation to create, three more books to read, research to do in the library, and thirty pages of writing to hand in before i can graduate. i'm still worried about my grades. i have goddamned polycystic ovary syndrome. i have anxiety issues. i can't be worrying about how i'm going to pay my rent the same week i'm worrying about writing two ten-page papers. i can't be fighting with customer service asshats while i'm supposed to be writing a powerpoint presentation for tomorrow. i can't spend all my days running around and making phone calls, when i'm still trying to figure out what to do about my autobiography grade.
i'm so stressed i broke out in hives twice this week. i just took a generic benadryl, and i'm about to lose most of the evening to loopiness. which, frankly, isn't improving my GPA.
paypal has apparently changed policies since the last time i asked for donations. now they want me to upgrade my account. and guys, if i had the money...well, if i had the money, i wouldn't be asking you to help me out, would i? so here's what i'm going to do. send a note, sign the guestbook, send an email. i'll give you my paypal account address, and you can send me money, if you so desire.
i'll take whatever you want to send me. seriously. i had to cut my work hours back (the program is hurting financially), t mobile is bankrupting me, the parking authority wants $30, the health center wants $60 plus another $150 for a 10-month supply of my medication to keep me stocked until i can find a job and get health insurance, i have to buy a graduation gown, and i'm $400 behind on my rent for may. if there was ever a time for me to ask for help, i guess this is it...
tell you what. i'll make you a mix cd, too. i'm really good at those.
with panic,
beatpoetgrrl
 |
 |