Another FINANCIAL WHOA...our home phone number is all F#$%ed up.
After Hubby and I got over our shock at how much we spent per month on lattes, we took a closer look at our monthly expenses. It occurred to me that we must talk an awful lot, seeing as we pay one company for our home phone, another company for our cell phone, and a third company for our internet. That's paying a lot of companies just to blab about our kids. However, even though I can try to cut down on my Starbucks consumption, there is NO way I can cut down on my communications. Not going to happen.
A few months ago, Hubby had mentioned bundling our phone, internet, and cable with the same company. I am pretty sure he mentioned it while I was knee deep in little girls' laundry, so I admit I most likely only gave it half of my attention. I balked at the idea, because a) I am not a fan of our cable company or their customer service, and b) that means a technician would have to come out to our house, which is not one of my favorite ways to spend a day.
Back to the budget talk at the kitchen table: we figured out that we could save $50 per month for the first year of the bundling, and $30 per month after that first year. Hhhhmmm. Although $50 doesn't seem like a make-or-break number, it still is an extra $50 a month without giving anything up. Fifty bucks = 10 venti caramel macchiatos. Let's do it, I declared.
Our local cable company gave us a 3-hour window for the installation. (Can't they just push a button on their computer, for crying out loud?) Wonderful. Who doesn't hate those damn windows? And why do they call them windows, which would indicate a short period of time? They should call them doors.
In a computer-generated voice:
Our technician will be at your home during the door of 8AM to 8PM. A responsible person over the age of 18 must give up their entire day and be available this entire time. Thank you.
In those 3 hours, I needed to get my 2nd grader to her school and then my preschooler off to hers. Annoyed, I remembered one of the hundred reasons I hate having technicians come to our house.
But I digress. Upon arriving, the technician asked if we had an alarm system.
Uh, why yes we do, I replied.
Oh, that could be a problem, he sighed.
I joined him in his sigh. Hubby is famous for setting these appointments up and then declaring, Everything is all set, all you have to do is let the guy in.
Uh huh. Right.
After a quick, uninformative call to our alarm company (during which their reply to my question of whether or not our alarm system is compatible with digital phone service was...uhhhhh, it should be...), the technician got under way. He was only here for an hour or so when he informed me that everything was all set.
Great, I replied out loud. See, I told myself, that wasn't so bad. Don't know why you get your panties into a bunch over this kind of stuff.
With a have a great day and try to stay warm, I closed the door on him and breathed a sigh of relief.
Later that night...
Using our home phone, Poonch called Hubby who happened to be out of town. He didn't answer, so she left him a voice mail. He called back immediately, cursing. (Luckily it was me who answered the phone and not Poonch.) He hadn't answered our call because it came up as a number he didn't recognize. It didn't even have our same area code. Turns out, we have a new phone number! Who knew?! We have had our home number for 7 years. Everyone we know has it. Schools, the park district, everyone. When we ordered the bundling service, we made sure to ask whether or not we would have to change our phone number, which would have been a deal breaker. We were assured that we would not need a new number.
We got back on the phone to the company. Turns out in order to keep the same number, we needed to fill out some paperwork that NO ONE told us about. Remember what I said about this company's customer service? Not stellar, to say the least.
To make a long story short, we will have this geeky number for more than a week, until the paperwork goes through. I don't even know what the new number is. If anyone wants to reach us, they can only do it through my cell phone.
Which, when I think about it, isn't such a bad idea after all...
All for $50 a month.
(If it sounds like I am whining, remember, I am off my lattes. Cut me some slack.)
