AT&T Uverse tried to skim $7/mo. off me

Here's something to look out for when you move. This happened with my ATT Uverse account/contract but I'm sure seemingly little things like this occur in all aspects of B2C interactions that people overlook or discard as not that big of deal. Not this consumer!

I recently moved. These days most utilities can be canceled, restarted, and/or relocated from one location to another via an online portal. ATT Uverse is one of them and I used their portal to set up my start date and installation time at my new place.

All was fine and dandy until I received my first bill for the new address. I see this $7/mo charge listed for a receiver. I don't know why as I signed on to a contract for a free wireless receiver with my home base DVR. So, I call Customer Care.

Longer story shorter. I signed on for a one-year commitment contract with a guaranteed price for two years. When I moved, about six months after the start of my contract, the promotion for a free receiver had ended so the new pricing took effect at my new address. They said that because the free-receiver promotion had ended that now I'd be charged a $7 monthly fee for it.

I don't think so! This isn't my first rodeo.

After raising my voice and getting my $7 back for the already billed charge, they gave me a lump sum for the remainder of my two-year pricing to cover the $7/mo. It came to $112 plus some estimated taxes. They had to do this because their system will not allow them to remove the $7 fee since the promotion is no longer going. I never ended my service, I just transferred it to a new location. So, I will be billed $7/mo for the next 16 months because some programmer does not know how to program to keep the original contract valid after a promotion ends.

The Customer Care rep kept telling me I forgot to check a box that said keep my receiver or some idiotic thing she knew nothing about. I had to tell her that when I used the online portal to move my service. I had to input my new address and then it stated something like the following: Congratulations! You are able to move your service "AS IS" to your new location. Press 'Next'. To me, that means service at my new address will be exactly like my service is at my current address. When I pressed 'Next', it took me to a page to pick my appointment date for a technician to come out and set up my service. Nothing else.

Anyway, that's my rant. I've not had any issues with ATT Uverse service since my original DVR was bad after initial installation. However, this kind of action just pisses me off as they are already charging so much for something and now they are trying to milk an extra $7/mo out of me because their stupid system can't keep up with all their promotions.

So, lesson to learn from Absent-Minded Jay?

Always go over your bills with a fine-tooth comb. At the very least, it could save you the cost of a Chipotle burrito/tacos.

Some people are just too pompous

So, I was subscribed to a YouTube users channel that I initially found sort of interesting. He really only appealed to me in his occasional sharing of technology "reviews." I subscribed some six months or so ago when his channel originally piqued my interest. I really haven't found anything else interesting than the first time I was piqued but I do get notifications via email of all my YouTube subscriptions. Now unfortunately, I think he's bought into gaining (and probably receiving) more advertising dollars and with that his arrogance and pompousness seems to have grown and is starting to show through in his videos.

He seems to post at least a video a day. Half of them or more are useless, very useless. Who really gives a shit about an UNBOXING!? Save the freaking unboxing for a REVIEW! But it seems that if he doesn't post a video at least once a day, he doesn't get his advertising dollars.

He occasionally posts videos of "a techie's room" which I find ridiculous. No techie has that clean of a room/desk. He's very opinionated and that's all fine and dandy except for when he comes across all 'holier-than-thou.' I've seen a few of his posts and comments on his posts that suggest he's got that "I'm better than my commentors" complex.

The below screen capture of his most recent video post shows his response/comments in regards to a pretty innocent questions. A commentor asks, "...Do you torrent?" A simple question yet DickFranco took immediate offense to it, assumes the commentor refers to piracy and puts himself above him by stating, "I do not condone piracy." What a fucking idiot! To be so crass and assuming of one of his subscribers...what a fucking douche bag! Does anyone comment about what a pussy HE is that he is a college graduate and still lives at home!? Anyway, see the screen capture and do not fall into this boys channel as a subscriber.

As you can read, another commentor explains to DipFranco that piracy and torrent do not go hand in hand. But DoucheFranco says that "when people ask if I torrent I'm sure they are referring to piracy." Again, a douchebaggery way to automatically think...IDIOT!! Anyway, as stated previously, I don't find his videos of worth. He had an opinion that on something months ago that interested me but since then he's truly disappointed. That's what ALL his videos are...his opinion on something. Granted, some people like that and like him for it for some reason but eventually they'll wake up and realize they can better waste their time on Temple Run and be more fulfilled. Arrogant-for-no-reason people like him irritate me when they are disrespectful to the people that made them who they are...essentially his "customer." Anyway...

Justin Bieber is a douche

Saw an E online article today about Justin Bieber "lunging" at the paparazzi. I didn't read much of the article but the photographs are humorous enough. The first one he looks like a 10-yr-old boy crying about wanting his binky. The second one shows what even more of a douche he is because his bodyguard lifts him like a big baby. I'm thinking the bodyguard should have done a 'shaken Bieber' move on him!

Bieber looks like a baby with a dirty diaper that's full of shit and is about to fall off of him. Does he really think that this style is cool, especially for a WHITE boy from Canada??! Someone needs to bitch slap these white boys that think they're 'gangsta.' Hell, the black boys that think they're cool with the pants' waist at half-ass-crack need to be smacked the fuck around too!

Black, White, Asian, Mexican or whatever the fuck you are...you look unbelievably STUPID with your pants looking like you bought them from the little people store. Do you realized how idiotic you look walking down the street in such a hilarious manner trying to keep your pants from falling completely down? Or how walking around with your hand down the front of your pants to hold them up makes you look like a complete and utter douche bag as well?

There is absolutely nothing cool or intelligent about this 'style.' You look like a douche, you look like you're shitting in your pants, you look like you need to be run over by a 'dumb ass' truck! If the law would allow me, I'd like to be the one to smack you upside your head and say, "W-h-a-t t-h-e f-u-c-k!" Not once do I hear anyone of ANY age say, "Man, I like that style" when they see it on the street. They typically say, "What a fucking ass hat!"

And in case you fucking ignorant parents who allow their kids and young adults to wear their pants in such a manner, do you know where this originated? PRISON! That's right. Your fucking kids and family members are emulating ignorant people in prison...they're not ignorant from the pants thing...they're ignorant because they are in prison. They are ignorant because they chose to do a crime and they are ignorant because they got caught! Anyway, they're prison "uniforms" were stripped of all strings that could be used as a weapon OR to hang themselves with so most of the time their pants were droopy and at half ass. So, you go on promoting and allowing your family members to look like idiots and emulate even bigger idiots!

IDIOTS!

Is an undergraduate college degree worth it?

I haven't consistently written about my pain and suffering of obtaining my undergraduate degree while working full-time and being a wonderful husband and great parent of two. I have a short attention span most of the time and I get misdirected to other things in the middle of ongoing things and then it's just a cluster fuck of things. Before I know it, I've lost track of anything and everything I wanted to say, write, or do and I move on until I can remember them later on. If I could stay on track and compile my thoughts in one cohesive linear direction, this blog would be much longer and each day's postings would be enormously long or many or both.

With that being expressed, I have come to the conclusion that I should (will) complete my long, tenuous journey of obtaining my undegraduate degree from a well-known school. If all goes well, May 2012 will be my graduation month/year. {fingers crossed}

I'd like to start with a little pre-journey background. I didn't grow up with parents that made enough money for us to live comfortably. At times, my parents struggled to make ends meet. I shared a roughly 20' x 20' room with my brother up until I was in 10^th or 11^the grade which is when he moved out. There were three boys in my parents 3-bedroom house since I was in elementary school because my older four siblings were already on their own by the time I was in 3^rd.

Most of my clothes, excluding underwear, came from hand-me-downs or the second-hand store (if it's still there we visited the D.A.V.- Disabled American Veteran's store in Irving, TX). The bicycle I learned to ride a bike on was my oldest sister's—yes, a girl's bike—who is fifteen years older than me. I learned to ride it at the age of five but I was unable to sit on the seat. Therefore, I had to "stand" the entire time while pedaling and the handle bars were at a height above my head where I looked like I was stretching more than I was riding a bike. Damn good thing it WAS a girl's bike!

Anyway, point is that I didn't expect to go to college. Times were tough most of my childhood and money was tight. I was (am) a smart kid but I knew my parents couldn't afford it and so I didn't ever prepare to attend or think about college. I didn't ask for brochures or any information from colleges. I conceded/expected the fact that I would work after high school and see what the future brought. Neither of my parents went to college. One or two of my siblings took a class here and there from Tarrant County Junior College (now TCC). I was not groomed for continued education.

So anyhow, I started this journey in the fall of 1989 at the ripe old age of 18. I didn't start this journey willingly. My mom told me I had to enroll in college (TCJC) in the fall after my high school graduation because they needed to keep health insurance on me and to claim me on their taxes. I didn't really have a job lined up but was actively looking while also trying to enjoy my summer of fun and freedom from no longer having to returned to "required" schooling.

I enrolled in twelve hours at TCJC for full-time status for a few semesters/years and before or on the drop date, I'd drop at least half of the classes because I was skipping them. I look bad now and regret not being more respectful of my mom's hard-earned money to pay for my classes but I was younger and dumber at the time. I looked at it as I didn't like the damn classes anyway and my mom was forcing me to take them. I particularly disliked taking the GEC classes because if it wasn't specific to what I wanted to do, like technology or whatever, I felt that classes like Human Relations and Rhetoric were total bullshit and a waste of money. I look back now and I wasted the money by not just getting a passing grade in all the classes instead of dropping them. I spent a lot of time in the game room playing fuseball, ping pong and pool. I also slept a lot in the lounge area when I should have been in class. College was not a motivator for me. It never has been and still really isn't.

I got me a full-time job making decent money (at the time it was decent). I worked 7am to 4pm and had my afternoons and evenings to just hang out, relax, and have fun. A few years of full-time work, I started taking an evening class each fall and spring semester because my company would reimburse me if I passed with a C+. I took classes I wanted to take like Pascal and C programming as well as some other techie classes. It wasn't the funnest but my wife (girlfriend at the time) was very persistent in what she thought I should do with my life. It really came down to she was slightly embarrassed around her friends and family to be dating me because I had no real college aspirations and she was going to a very expensive private college and she had goals and plans.

Longer story short, I got a job at a college and they have tuition benefits. They pay up front though unlike my previous job but they don't cover books and fees. That's okay when the tuition is like $8k-$10k for two classes, I think I'm better off paying $300 for books and fees. It still sucks but it's better than the alternative. Between work and family time, I have taken six hours a semester (FL/SP/SU) for quite a while. My work covers 18 hours and I'm not paying for more nor am I taking more than two classes a term because it's a lot for me to take on with family, work, school and personal sanity time. Focus is still hard for me because when it comes to family, fun or a 5-page paper, family first then fun rules out and then I'm pulling an all-nighter to finish the paper or study for an exam. It's not fun.

So, I've got 13 hours left. I'm taken three for the first summer term and then six in Fall 2011 and six in Spring 2012. Then finally (hopefully) graduation in May 2012 with a BBA and a minor in photography. Look at me the previous underachiever achieving a major and a minor.

Now the point of my title. I work in an MBA office and I see and process applications for our program every day. These applicants fill out their current employer and salary. All these people have already received their undergraduate degree from some institution. Many are at least 28 years of age but can range from 26 to 36 years old. If we go with those that are 30-36 and U.S. citizens, many of them have salaries that are equal to mine give or take a couple of thousand dollars.

Granted, I didn't start at what I make now but they spent minimum four years in undergraduate college and something like $60k-$80k in tuition to work at a job making the same money as I am without a completed college education. Of course, they have the education and potential to make more...blah, blah, blah...but they don't right now. Not to mention that I work for a university and I knew going in that it wasn't about the money I could make. It was about the sanity and peace of mind of not working in the crazy-ass high-pressure corporate world anymore and to get my tuition benefits for me, my wife and my kids.

My point comes down to this. Is it worth wasting four years of life (excluding the frat parties, panty raids and other extracurricular activities) and being in debt for paying the college tuition (unless your parents are rich) to obtain a job that starts out at, say, $32,000/year? Years ago I started at $26,000/yr at a previous employer working in the mail room. I progressed to a promotion in a few years making $30,000/yr which was equal to those the company was hiring straight out of college at the time. The college graduate didn't do the job any better than I did and in fact many did worse. So, who was better or worse off?

Again, society says a college education is important and for some reason people still believe that a college grad will do a better job than a high school grad. To that I say, "Bullshit." It all comes down to the capabilities of the applicant/employee...but again, the decision makers say differently. I just see that an accounting major learns theory in college and learns real life on the job. A competent non-college worker learns on the job and didn't waste time in class theory. Is one the college grad better, worth more? I think not but the higher-ups think differently. Would you trust a non-college educated real estate agent that learned on the job from a mentor and works in the actual business or a college graduate that just graduated with a major in real estate?

I guess there's an argument for both sides. I tell my kids that I will support them in whatever they want. I don't think a college degree is necessary overall but I think it is necessary for them just because of the biases that people have against non-college grads versus college grads. It isn't the end all be all but it doesn't hurt either, I guess.

Anyway, that's my random opinion of the day. You can find different opinions on whether or not a degree is worth the time and money by a Google search, as I did. In fact, I will share a couple here and here.

Oh yeah, I saw an article somewhere that said the MBA is now considered more like an undergraduate degree because everyone's got one. I think that's a remark stating that the undergraduate degree has lost its clout and the MBA is following suit. What's next, everyone needs a Ph.D.?

UPDATE 6/2/11: It's funny sometimes how when you write or talk about something that there is someone somewhere that had a similar idea but on a bigger platform. I saw an article here that has a few theories on the worth of college. It was an interesting read although I think it misses some con-college points. Still worth a read though.

Why are America's families failing?

There is an article in the Star-Telegram that talks about the city of Hurst. This city is part of the H-E-B (Hurst-Euless-Bedford) ISD that I grew up and went to school in.

Anyway, there is a part of this article that makes me wonder, WTF? I'm not an economist, accountant or whatever kind of person calculates what wages people should make. I'm just thinking that the national average should be more. From the article:

The city's per capita income, for instance, is $27,020 -- $21 off the national mark of $27,041.

Click here for article while it lasts.

I can understand the national average being $27K/yr if we mostly lived in rural areas or farmed or something. I guess it just goes to show you the huge separation in how much people are considered worth in various positions of corporate America.

The grunt like myself who does all the important work such as the shit that if I don't do it the people above me or beside me can't do their job doesn't get paid shit. But the person above me that does a few SIMPLE tasks triples my salary, gets all the accolades and is the last to be let go.

I'm not saying I'm worthless. I will be the last guy to be let go unless the company is shutting down because I can do 3+ people's jobs and probably the person's above me if they needed me to.

I'm just thinking about the work force in general. You know what and who I mean.

Anyway, to me $27K/yr is below the sustainable living line especially in cities such Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and even other cities within the nation (adjusting the average for the cost of living). This is why the housing bubble burst. No one making $27K/yer can pay for a $60K home no matter how the web is woven.

Oh well...

Why would I subscribe to my local paper...online or paper?

I get the Dallas News through my Google Reader. I don't always click on the headlines to read them but occasionally a story does catch my interest.

I guess it's been a while since I have clicked on a story because today I saw this page after clicking on the "Read the rest of the story" link on the article page.

I'm already a registered member online from years ago but now they want to charge me for content. I didn't read everything but I figure they want me to subscribe to the physical paper and they'll include the online content. Again, I'm not sure but at just a glance that's what I prefer to assume.

I would not pay for information that I can get for free somewhere else.

This is what's wrong with the world!

Part of a quote from a story about a grand piano I read at Yahoo!News:

...not responsible for...

Yep! Simple as that.

This coming from the spokesperson of a state agency in Florida called Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He goes on to say,

...unless it becomes a navigational hazard, the U.S. Coast Guard won't get involved.

My first thought is, this is a funny prank. It's obviously a prank unless someone is planning a "stunt" or something later and didn't inform the powers that be.

Second, I'd say this spokesperson for the Commission is a complete and utter dip shit! Saying we don't know how it got there and we don't know when it'll be removed because we don't do this kind of shit is ridiculous. Granted it wasn't the Commission's fault but wouldn't you think they would want to remove it for the potential of it becoming an issue? How hard would it be to break it down and put it on a skiff or something and dispose of it properly? Or light the damn thing on fire while it's on the sand barge and remove what's left because it will be significantly less. I don't understand this mentality of "I didn't do it so why should I clean it up?" It's not like it's an oil spill or something grand...okay it is a grand piano but you know what I mean.

Finally, if the Commission doesn't step up, why wouldn't the Coast Guard? Is the spokesperson speaking on behalf of the Coast Guard or just assuming what the Guard's response would be? My hope would be the Coast Guard would be smart and say, "Commission...dudes! You need to step up!" And if they didn't, the Coast Guard should and bill those lazy fuckers at the Commission.

Lack of pride, ownership, sensibility, responsibility and just general smarts is why America, and the world, is going to shit. It's not Bush, Obama, Bin Laden, God, Allah, Buddha or the high school principal. It's the people that allow other people to be stupid and not pointing out to them that they should take a step back and THINK!

It's like if I saw that a neighbor of mine's house was getting robbed. It's not my job to watch the neighborhood so I won't get involved and call the police. It also only affects my neighbor right now and not the entire neighborhood just yet so until it happens to someone else why should anyone care?

Overnight this piano was placed on the sand barge. Overnight it could disappear. Would the Commission, Coast Guard and anyone know what happened to it if they didn't remove it themselves? It could have sunk into the water without knowledge and then a boat hits it and causes deaths or whatever.

You get the point, right?

End rant!

I hate it when...

People remove the blogger header from their blogs. Occasionally I like to blog surf, and the "next blog" button is quite handy. I hate it when I come across some fancy-ass, non-functional, non-intuitive, visually-cluttered blog that does not have one of the best buttons in the blogging world..."NEXT BLOG"! So, then I have to click my browser's back button and click the "next blog" button on the previous blog to get to the next blog.

I also hate blogs with background music. If I wanted to listen to music while reading your gosh darn blog, I'd turn on WinAmp on my computer and listen to music I prefer, not the crap you picked!

I must be bitter from having hockey withdrawals. The NHL was on hiatus during the Olympics and then the Dallas Stars had a game Thursday night (that they got their balls handed to them in a Kroger plastic grocery bag) but I missed it due to having homework. So, I've been without watching hockey for close to three weeks. Pity me!

Luckily they play tonight...and hopefully they'll pull their heads out of their asses and win.