advice please re:MCI

[ccpup]

my partner, Mark, decided to send a $65 check to cover a meager $62 owed on a home phone MCI account (he wasn't sure what the final amount would be when he made the payment so he rounded up and called it good). Because the payment received (and recorded) doesn't match the amount "owed", we've been getting harassed DAILY (sometimes hourly) from the nice folks at MCI who can't be bothered to look in their own system and see a payment has been recorded.

problem is, I'm his domestic partner and, because MCI doesn't recognize domestic partnerships (one woman from MCI told me she's Christian and wouldn't be comfortable accessing Mark's account from someone who wasn't a "real spouse") , they refuse to work with me and insist on working with Mark, who just got a Senior Vice President job at a huge bank and is traveling in Europe for the next two weeks.

any thoughts on how to handle this? if I get one more important conference call interrupted by MCI wanting $62 they already have, I'll go crazy!

not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it's getting out of hand ... for sixty-two lousy bucks!

[MADem]

1. Tell them you are Mark's representative (not spouse, not pal, not significant other)

Do it in a PISSED OFF voice. "I represent MISTER MARK and there's a harassment lawsuit in your future if you don't check your billing toute suite." If they ask for proof, you tell them you have his authorization (sufficiently vague, that) and if they refuse to deal with you there WILL be hell to pay.

Don't be a victim. Don't roll over, don't put up with this shit.

ATTACK.

Be mean, nasty, SURLY, aggressive, and RUDE. If the person cannot help you, take their name, demand they spell it, make sure you force them to tell you their job title, and then DEMAND to speak to their boss. If they try the "On the other line/in a meeting" you tell them that you will either wait until they're done, or you want the name AND phone number of the boss's boss.

If you have a hard time being a complete asshole to a complete asshole, just pretend you are play-acting and you have been cast in the role of a Republican. That should help you get the spirit.


And in future, you'd best get a limited (at least) power of attorney to act on his behalf if he is gonna be flitting about and this kind of crap crops up. Just a bit of useful advice...

[KurtNYC]

2. pay them again

they'll give you credit once it all catches up

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Record your conversations with them, first of all.

Make that known up front.

Before this, have Mark call them and explicitly state that you have access rights to the account records and the ability to call and ask any questions or make any changes to the account. They have to honor this as well, maybe through a password system or something. It doesn't matter who you are, and I'm mad enough at their account rep for what she said to you for the both of us.

If they know that you are recording them and they try giving you any crap once you have permission from the primary account holder to contact them on his behalf, they're screwn.

Oh, and if your CREDIT balance with them ends up in collections, that's probably grounds for some kind of libel suit for damaging Mark's credit. Not that I'm litigious at the drop of a dime but the situation you're describing is worth it for the sheer stupidity on MCI's part.

[ccpup]

4. thank you

I'll be speaking with Mark from London tomorrow and see what he wants to do. He used to be a bad-ass attorney here in NYC, so I'm sure he'll know what to do. But it just felt so damn good to VENT! Thanks for allowing me to do so and commiserating with me. :-)

And our estates our all set-up, rock solid. No worries about Family coming in and questioning THAT!

[Vincardog]

7. Get a copy of the canceled check and take it to an attorney.

There are harassment laws.

[Rosemary2205]

5. Call your secretary of state

Nearly every state has an office that enforces laws regarding collections. Find out what the laws are and ask if they have a consumer advocate. Most states do. You may also have a public utilities commission that oversees approved phone companies in your state.

[Vincardog]

8. You should get Hillary on it.

[ccpup]

11. actually,

I know Hillary -- having worked and lunched with her several times and having befriended Bill (how can you not? the man's incredibly fun to have around!) --, so that's not out of the realm of possibility. But for something this small, I won't be bothering her or her office. She's kinda busy right now, you know. ;-)

[Vincardog]

19. Think of the good PR for her. LEt her office do it.

[NYC]

6. They pulled that Christian shit on me years ago.

I told them I wouldn't use MCI again if it was the last telephone service on earth. I also told everyone I knew at the time.

They had a couple extremely polite and pleasant women call me after that. I explained that I would take to writing letters if MCI was the last telephone service on earth. I told them it was too late for customer service. They shouldn't allow people like the holier than thou J. Edgar Hoover wannabe have contact with customers in the first place.

They said they understood.

[ccpup]

9. Mark is a fellow DUer

and I'll have him check out this thread when he wakes up tomorrow. It's all good advice, but I think -- once HE gets ahold of them -- they'll immediately go "oh, I see you paid this. Thank you" and that'll be the end of it.

We are looking at alternatives for phone service. And we'll be double-timing that once he hears the "I'm a Christian" shit. There's nothing that gets his back up quicker than that! LOL

[Maddy McCall]

10. Tell them you're Mark.

Seriously. Tell them you're Mark and handle it as he would.

My mother was having problems with BellSouth, so, with her permission, I called BellSouth, and when the customer service rep asked me "Is this Mrs. X?" I replied, "Yes, this is Mrs. X."

Just be sure that you have the necessary account info, in case they ask for it (stuff like mother's maiden name, SS#, and so forth). You'll have no problem doing what you need to do.

THEN, I'd change carriers if I were you. I would be damned before I'd give one more penny to a corporation that allows its reps to insult people based on their religious beliefs.

[ccpup]

12. that occured to me

but I'd rather be honest than get caught in a lie. And I ALWAYS get caught when I lie. Just don't have a talent for it, although I already have all of Mark's necessary info memorized (I often work with other companies as his Partner with absolutely no problem).

My inability/unwillingness to lie would make me a real shitty politician, that's for sure.

[kineneb]

13. tell them he is unavailable and to -mail- all correspondence

after all, they do have his mailing address.

We will never use MCI- Hubby worked for them until their massive layoff in 2002. Bitter? Just slightly.

[ccpup]

14. I also understand

that, in most cases, the person on the other end of the phone is just doing their job based on what information they have in front of them, so I do my best to be patient, kind and understanding. But when they throw this "I'm Christian so I refuse to recognize you", I can't help thinking "I could buy and sell ya, bitch, so watch your friggin' step". LOL :mad:

Again, most of them are doing a shitty job for little money, so I try to be nice. But ...

[noamnety]

20. "I could buy and sell you, bitch" ???

Wow.

That was offensive.

[ccpup]

21. you're easily offended

[noamnety]

25. I'm easily offended by racism and sexism

If a person has a grudge against a woman, and they mentally go to "I could buy and sell you, (insert gender slur), I'm offended.
If a person has a grudge against a black person, and they mentally go to "I could buy and sell you, (insert racial slur), I'm offended.

[SoCalDem]

15. make a photo copy of the bill and the cancelled check

staple them both to a piece of paper that says.

SEND ME THE CHANGE IN THE FORM OF A CHECK..IMMEDIATELY

IF ANOTHER PERSON FROM YOUR ORGANIZATION CALLS MY HOUSE, I WILL SUE YOU FOR HARRASSMENT

SIGN HIS/HER NAME AND THAT SHOULD DO IT

[oldpolicy]

16. Call you state public utilities commission and complian. This has

worked like magic for me in 3 states. Telephone companies hate being complained against. And you get really quick action - like 24 hours.

[jazzjunkysue]

17. Switch phone companies. I hate MCI.

[unhappycamper]

23. MCI = Verizon

'Nuff. said.

http://phone.ioerror.us/2006/01/verizon-mci-merger-complete

[ezgoingrl]

18. Have Mark call them

and put you on the account as his representative. It may require something in writing from him. As for the woman who stated she is a "Christian" blah blah...if you have a name for this person, call her supervisor AND write a letter of complaint.

[REP]

22. Here's Hows To Really Handle It:

1. Tell the droid that you are authorized on the account. You don't need to tell the droid the nature of your relationship - that's none of their n=fucking business - they just need to know that Mark won't sue them for discussing the account with you.

2. Tell the droid how the payment was made - by mail, with a check or however - and when. Tell them your account number - that's your phone number plus the numbers after it. It's possible that the payment was applied to the same telephone number but another account (555-1212 xxx instead of 555-1212 yyy, for example); telephone numbers are recycled but account numbers are not. If you seem to be speaking with a particularly stupid droid, either ask to speak to a supervisor or call back to reach a less brain-damaged droid.

3. Avoid telling the droid that you could "buy and sell her, bitch." True or not, it does not make the droid willing to help you. Yes, the Xtian droid was a major fuckstain - in that case, you either a) ask to speak to her supervisor NOW or b) call back, hoping to reach a less retarded droid.

[ccpup]

24. Oh my god!

I would never say "I could buy or sell you, bitch" to anybody. It was uttered here in a moment of frustration and was a bad choice of words. But I could never actually SAY that to someone. The thought alone makes me blush!

Secondly, Mark had already discovered the nature of their mistake with them a few days ago and was assured that all was well. So, the fact that they're STILL calling about it is particularly vexing.

I certainly appreciate your input and everyone's thoughts. :-)