Bluelens

So a phone call came in last week.  C was calling because she was upset over a call she just received.  It seems someone called needing to verify our address and some other information.  Curious as to why, C asked what this was for.  We were going to have papers served to us for failure to pay a bill.  Lovely.  So once she got off the phone she called me.

The bill in question was from our former apartment complex.  IT is the standard thing, we moved out, they came in and inspected and then wrote up a list of charges and the remainder after taking into account the security deposit is what we owed.  Everything was fine.  We were being charged for carpet damage (which I kind of expected).  When I first saw that I wanted to dispute it because we knew and they knew that the carpet would have to be replaced no matter what.  We were in the apartment for 9.5 years, do you really think the carpet wasn’t going to be replaced?  I think not.  But instead of fighting it - it would take far too much effort and time and I just wanted to be done with it and move on with life - we agreed to pay the bill.  We would pay it and be 100% finished with the complex and all ties would be severed.  Sweet.  So when we got the bill ( a couple weeks after leaving) I went into bill pay for our ‘house’ account and paid it.  Over, done, fin.  Or so I thought.

Fast-forward to the phone call.

After I got off the phone with C I went into the bank account and pulled up the information on the bill pay page and called this other lady.  Mrs. _______ got on the phone and started to tel me what was going on.  I continued to profess my confusion on this matter because I kenw I put the right address in the bill pay system, made the payment and even had the information on when the check was sent out.  I did nothing wrong.

Mrs._____, “Well, I can’t put a hold saying you have sent the check out because of the time that has elapsed on this account.  We need to take care of this today or else they will serve papers.”

Me, “But I paid this thing, besides there was no due date on the bill that I received.”

Mrs. _____, ” Yes, but according tot he lease agreement you are not to leave the property owing a balance.”

Me, “How am I not to leave with a balance if the inspection isn’t done until after we leave and then the bill doesn’t show up for a week or two after we move out?”

Mrs._____, “Well, you can ask for a pre-move inspection.”

Me, “We did and it was not accepted.”

Mrs._____, “Ah, but did you put that in writing?”

Me, “Yes.”

Mrs. _____,”Oh.”

Me, “what are the chances that the check has arrived and has not been processed yet?”

Mrs._____, “There is no chance of that happening.  If it is here it would have been processed.  Are you sure you sent it to us and not the apartment office where you lived?”

Me, “I sent it to the address on the bill, here let me pull it up on the bill pay system.  XXXX dipshit road blah blah, FU 06660*”

Mrs._____, “Yes that is the right address.  Look, we can credit your account $10 to help pay for the cancel check fee and we can take care of it over the phone now.”

Me, “I don’t have the check book in front of me.  The check was sent on XX day.”

Mrs._____, “Well, we can also take visa/MC.  It sounds like you did everything right but …”

Me, “Are you sure it is not there?”

Mrs. _____,” Yes.”

Me, “Well, let me talk to my bank and figure out what is going on.  I will call you in a little bit.”

Mrs._____, “Ok, I’ll make a note of it and will talk to you soon.”

So there I was pissed that I didn’t do anything wrong and yet I was being threatened with legal action.  Ugh.  A quick fire flared at work and when I got back to the desk the phone rang.  It was Mrs._____.

Mrs._____, “Just to make sure I double checked with our admin person and we do have your check here, it just hasn’t been processed.”

Me, “Uh-huh.”

Mrs._____,”I’m very sorry about the confusion and I will make a note that this account has been settled.”

Me, “Didn’t I already ask about this and you told me there was no way that would happen?”

Mrs._____,”Yes, but we have it and no further action will be taken.”

Me, “I told you I paid it.”

Mrs._____,” And I believed you.  this matter is settled, Have a nice day.”

Me, “Uh-huh”  CLICK.

There was so mucht that I wanted to say to her but lucky for her there was an event getting ready to start so I had an auditorium half-full of people and I had to switch me focus.  Missed opportunities I suppose.

The kicker to the whole thing is a letter we received a day later from the apartment complex.  It stated that they wanted to get this bill taken care of and that they were willing to giving us an opportunity to pay a discounted portion of the bill if we acted now before other actions would need to be taken. !?!?

Needless to say we are thrilled to be done with that place.  This level of incompetence makes me shutter.  I feel for all those people who weren’t being as eagle-eyed and possibly get double-dipped from these asshats.

Oh and the other kicker.  As of right now I still don’t see that the check has been cashed on their end.  Again … asshats.

* I did actually read out the proper address to which she confirmed.