Can it Get Any Dumber Today?

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Ha ha, today has been a day of stupid phone calls.

First, I get a call from a grocery store where my youngest daughter had cashed a check. "Mr. Cosmic, we seem to have just realized that we gave your daughter $100 too much when she cashed a check here a week ago."

"How much was the check for?"

"22.50."

"...and you admit that you gave her $100 too much?"

"Yes sir, I was just wondering if..."

Phone off.

I asked my daughter about it, and she said that they took 40 minutes to cash it, no one seemed to know how to cash it, when they handed her an envelope she didn't count it till the next day, and she didn't even realize how much it was supposed to be, so she took us to the movies.

Grocer store's loss IMO.
Next, my mortgage company called to ask me for my address. I just laughed and hung up the phone. They've sold my loan to six different companies in the last two years, idiots.
Then my bank's collection department called and treated me like a thug, interrupting me, jerking me around, making me identify myself over and over, address, last four of my social, my father's name, etc... She even yelled at me when I politely interrupted her to tell her that SHE CALLED me, and I would like to know why. All of that bullying because I had a four dollar positive balance on a line of revolving credit that I had overpaid. They owed ME $4, and I was getting this treatment? Then, I guess not knowing how to handle me because I was laughing at her at this point, she got all riotously indignant with me, and asked me, "how are you going to handle this, Mr. Cosmic?"

I said, "I would suggest you sue me, ha ha!" And I hung up.
Can I get any more stupid phone calls today? Maybe the phone company will call and ask me for my freakin' phone number, ha ha!
Ugg, I need some Cotton Boll Twist in a tall chimney, now. Ha ha!

 

bungee

Can't Leave
Oct 31, 2015
372
5
Well, I live in Argentina. Sounds like a run of the mill day to me...
And you are able to laugh it off. I usually get to the brink of fury before hanging up.
Cheers,
J

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
35
As the USA drifts into third world status, as happens to all fallen empires, expect more of this.

 

prairiedruid

Lifer
Jun 30, 2015
2,050
1,330
I think you're right! Ha ha! I feel like if I won the lottery today, that I'd end up bankrupt.
At least you'll have that $4 the bank owes you to restart your empire!

 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
10,741
37,814
SE WI
I'm already slowly losing faith in humanity as it is. As hilarious as those calls were, I would just laugh and hang up as well...

 

tuold

Lifer
Oct 15, 2013
2,133
172
Beaverton,Oregon
My son kept getting stipend payments from his ROTC status long after it was supposed to be terminated. Despite many letters to several government agencies from my son, his commander, the school and us the payments just kept coming.
Two years later we started getting nasty letters and phone calls from a collection agency demanding immediate payment. The government had turned the debt over to a private company for pennies on the dollar for collection. He had saved it all so payback wasn't a problem but taxpayers could have had the entire amount back if the government had just followed through. We had not moved or changed phone numbers. Some bureaucrat was asleep at his desk. My son's credit rating is still pretty low because of that mess. There's nobody to vent at. Just a giant faceless bureaucracy.

 

sjfine

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 4, 2012
653
5
I am no security expert, but the odds are better than 2:1 that the call from the bank was a phising attempt. Banks will never call you and ask for you to confirm private information.

 

sthbkr77

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 17, 2015
221
0
MD
My wife recently ordered a kitchen aid standing mixer through Amaz*n. It was delivered as it should but a few weeks later my wife received an email asking if she wanted another mixer sent or a refund since she never received her order. She did the right thing and replied with confirmation that mixer came and worked great. Another meail came sayng the new mixer was on the way to which she replied again that she already received her order. Needless to say we have 2 nice mixers now. You can try to do the right thing but stupidity defies logic.

 
Well, they had an account number for a revolving business account, which would be pretty darn hard to get. Since I can only monitor it from a special webpage. No card, no mail, and no other way to access it. Plus, they had my balance of +$4, which I could see on my acct. But yes, it always runs through my mind that a phone call could be a fishing scam. They never asks for anything that would gain them acess. The last four of my social kinda bothers me when asked, but finding out the first five other numbers would be a pretty tough guess, IMO.

But yes, we should all be pretty dilligent about that stuff.

 

foolwiththefez

Can't Leave
Sep 22, 2015
380
5
Sunny FL
When I signed up for the Tobacco of the Month club at P&C weeks went by without the payment coming out of my bank account. My first month's shipment arrived and I still hadn't been charged. I finally called them and it turns out they some just completely forgot to charge me when I placed the order.

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
14
I am no security expert, but the odds are better than 2:1 that the call from the bank was a phising attempt. Banks will never call you and ask for you to confirm private information.
With respect, this is 100% untrue. Banks are prohibited from disclosing personal information without identification and this is baked in all down the line. If there's any doubt, just ask for a direct dial and return the call.
Besides, the long distance tolls from Nigeria are very expensive, even for a prince.

 

fordm60

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 19, 2014
598
5
Cosmic, in my humble experience it can and usually does get dumber. Murphy was an optimist LOL!

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,623
5,246
Slidell, LA
I've gotten calls like that from my bank. When I tell them it's no problem, I'm on the way to my branch and will handle it there, they usually hang up.

 

brass

Lifer
Jun 4, 2014
1,840
11
United States
Check out the 2006 movie, "Idiocracy".
Have you noticed the deterioration of service for fast food chains? In my area, it is common to have staff that can't take and producer an order correctly - whether at KFC orTaco Bell. They'll forget the condiments you requested, give you the wrong side order or in one case, give your order to the wrong customer. I bet most of them couldn't give change correctly if the cash registers didn't have picture icons.

 
Brass, I'm not sure if any of that is new. Back when I worked for the clown in the early 80's, I was all the time getting people pissed at me for all of that. I hated that thankless job, people being dicks, jerks, and self-entitled a-holes. People wanting faster, fresher, cheaper. Uggg! Stage fright, making me get change wrong, and people throwing their food back at me when I make a minor mistake. I wish everyone had to serve two years in fast food to get an idea what we consumers look like from the other side of the counter. It might make us a kinder, friendlier people if we did.

Or else, we may just all pass around STD's from spitting in each other's food, ha ha!

 
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