Dec 8 - the idiot on hold

How long does one have to be associated with call centers before one realizes that being on hold might mean that the person at the other end can actually hear what you're saying, i.e. that they are on mute but you aren't ?  Well, I was the idiot on hold !

I had gone into the bank the other day to open a new account for the Sunshine 1200k ride, wanting to keep this separate from my own account.  I had to do that in front of someone because I've frozen my credit bureau reports as a protection against identity theft.  While there, she convinced me that I might want their travel rewards visa card, which a) has a chip (great for Europe) and b) doesn't get charged the standard 2.5% currency conversion add-on (my Amex works this way too).

So, ok, she completed the form and sent it in.  I then got a call from the card processor that they couldn't issue the new card without access to my credit report, didn't matter that I'd been a client forever and didn't matter that I already had two of their Visa cards (2nd one due to an acquisition).

Well, I told the lady that a) I wasn't looking for MORE credit and b) I wasn't going to thaw my credit reports so thank you very much, goodbye. 

I called back the lady at the bank (this was days ago) and told her what had happened and she said that of course they would want access to my credit report but perhaps if I called the number on the back of my Visa card, they might be able to help me.  I didn't say "why didn't you tell me that while I was in front of you?", but should have.  Thanks and goodbye.

Yesterday I received a letter from the bank saying that I should call them once I'd thawed my credit reports.  Duh.  They obviously have a process and can't stop it in the middle.  So ... I decided to call the number on the back of the never-used card that had come over from the old bank to the new.  I got a fellow on the phone and it seems that he has requested the replacement card.  We'll see if it actually arrives and doesn't run into the same credit report issue. 

While I was on hold, having answered "yes" to many standard blurbs, including an admonition to let any pre-authorized standard charges know about the change of card number, I told Sandy that this was silly because he should be able to see that the card has never been used.  Well, when he got back on the line, he said that of course he could see that but he still had to go through the disclosures.  Did I feel dumb.  It's lucky that I hadn't called him an idiot or something ... but maybe I did ?  Arghh. 

Moral of the story -- if you're on hold, go on mute (and remember you're on mute when they come back on the line).

So that took quite a bit of time, but not as much time as the hour that I spent on the phone with Social Security.  I was trying to make a change to the charge for Sandy's Medicare Part A as it should now drop in price and this being highly unusual that someone is actually paying for Part A, it was back and forth and back and forth, finally coming back to she needed an appointment, because she's not tied to my number at all !  So she now has an appointment for December 29, a phone call thank goodness.  They will call her at the 705 cottage number.  I guess that we'd better be there !

Oh yes, it rained / drizzled most of the day.  I didn't go anywhere.  Sandy, on the other hand, was in and out rushing around buying gifts.

Patty Himes came for dinner, which was delightful.  She's now had both knees done but is still unsteady due to the residual effects of the stroke two years ago.  That has reached a plateau and she has to concentrate to walk.  The stroke, Norm's passing, one knee and then the other knee, have all taken their toll, but she's looking and sounding good.  She's heading to New York City in a week, lunch with the gals and visit with her daughter and family, then south to Charlotte to spend Christmas with her son and family.

She shipped her car down and is planning on shipping it back.  That seems to have worked well.  It's actually a better solution than maintaining two cars.  It's something to think about for the future.  I think that she said that it was $900 to ship, so figure $1800 both ways -- certainly cheaper than having a second car that sits around half the year.  From a wear and tear standpoint and gas, it's probably a break even but easier than driving if you don't want to drive all that way.  Perhaps we could combine Sandy's and my sedans into one and ship that one while driving the SUV ... hmmm.

As I said, no biking yesterday.  Perhaps today, haven't checked the weather yet.  I really do want to get out again before heading north.  Yesterday was the last warm, albeit wet, day for a few days but it will still be a lot warmer than up north !

Our current schedule MIGHT be, Thursday to somewhere south of Lexington VA; Friday to Lexington (Linda), Chadds Ford (Doris), Reading late (Jeffrey); Sunday to Brantford (Jason), Monday to cottage.  Sandy's now thinking that she'll come with me on Tuesday to Toronto, so we'll visit with Stef on the way; that way we don't have to unpack the car which will be loaded up with some of her stuff too, and can get to the cottage early enough to get it warmed up.  My dentist appointment isn't until 3pm, so that gives us lots of time to get to Stef's, relax for a while and visit, and then down to the dentist.  It will be late back to the cottage that night though.

So far the weather looks ok for the trip.  We'll see.

Onward !