who's in the kitchen: judy joszef

Fighting online providers, finding recipes online

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Ever have a phone conversation with your cable company, SiriusXM provider, your wireless carrier? The other night I had two out of three.

I don’t mind paying fees if I miss a payment date, but I’ll put up fight when it’s their fault, or I haven’t been told the contract fee had changed.

While looking at my bank statement, I noticed that I was still being charged for SiriusXM for the radio in a car I returned a month ago, and which I cancelled.

I called up, only to be on hold. Then I heard a recording, offering to call me back instead of me staying on the line. Fair enough. I left my name and number and receiving a call half hour later. “Hello, hello, anyone there?” I asked. “Sorry we missed you, we’ll try again later,” the recording replied. “No, I’m here, hello, hello.” I pleaded. Kind of like those movies, or TV shows, where the person is right there and no one sees or hears them. Click.

Ten minutes later the phone rings again. I quickly answer and say, “Hello, can you hear me?” “Yes, the gentleman replied, you don’t have to shout, I hear you fine.” I explain that I cancelled my SiriusXM when I returned my lease, I then also asked why I was paying more than I should have. He explained that they never received the cancellation but that he would refund the last month from my bill. As far as the amount, he explained it was three times the original contract amount because after a year it goes up. I replied that I was never notified and that in that case I was going to cancel the contract I had on the remaining car — all while secretly hoping he would offer me a better deal.

Without missing a beat he said he would slash the fee in half. I thanked him and hung up with a smile that basically thought, “Not bad Judy!”

An hour later I get a call from my “CABLE” carrier. The representative warned that the conversation would be taped, then said that services would be turned off if the bill was not paid. I explained that it was paid and I was on time. Turns out she was talking about my stepson’s account, which I also pay.

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