White Rabbit Late with this post.
Study in contrasts. I'm working out a bunch of piddly property stuff with Mr. BG. Hadda go to the registry of motor vehicles because, silly us, his car is in my name and my car in his.
I fully expected to greet Jimmy Hoffa and Amelia Earhart in the line, but shock... there were no lines, no waiting, four people waiting to serve us. Not only were we in and outta there in minutes, while we were there, a guy who just opened a donut shop down the street brought in a huge box of his wares for everyone to sample. (I'm too lactose intolerant for that but wow anyway.)
Contrast our experience at our next stop, Verizon, (and yeah I'm blogging the name because they deserve it). Five years ago or so MBG bought me as a gift a "pay as you go" phone so I would have an emergency calling device, since I was about to have our second baby. Because he wanted to surprise me with the present, he registered the number in his name.
Life changes, I use my phone a lot more now, and I wanted a minutes account with free nights and weekends, but I wanted to keep my old number. They required me to bring in Mr. BG in order to transfer the phone number to my name.
Then they asked Mr. BG for his Social Security number. He does not give that out to anyone. They told him they already had the last four digits and he agreed happily that he would confirm those.
All of this made no sense to me because he was NOT buying service from them. He was actually separating from them. I agreed to give them my information and let them run a credit check on me but why Mr. BG, who was taking his name OFF my phone number?
The salesman said point blank to our faces, and I am not making this up:
"We run a credit check on everybody."
Why the fuck? To SELL that information? We walked out the door. Screw 'em.
By the way. If I ever agree with John Bolton on anything, ever, I have a request:
Please shoot me through the back of my head. That way they can still make my face pretty for the open casket. Where I will be wearing my John Bolton Lies! t-shirt:
I really, really hate the way most businesses treat SSNs, namely, that they're entitled to it. Unless they're paying you money, they're not. Legally, I believe they can refuse you service, but it's this sorta crap that the Privacy Act of 1974 was supposed to eliminate. Many businesses do sell the info, just as some banks sell their customers' financial info... Ugh.
ReplyDeleteBut the T-shirt rocks!
AGHHHHHHH!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI Bloody hate Verizon!!!!!!!
(yes, i use them)
I may be a liar but you love it, baby
ReplyDelete;>)
Oh, BG, I could never shoot you in the back of the head. It would open a huge hole in your face! Ever see the Zapruder film--that's why Kennedy's head jerks backwards... almost no energy is transferred when a bullet slides in, but when it exits, the deformed bullet transfers a lot of energy and the head is propelled in the opposite direction, INTO the shot. (No guy on the grassy knoll, I'm afraid!) Nah, out of consideration for your wishes, I'd have to put it behind your ear. Possibly poison you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want a shirt that says "Michael Bolton Lies!"
HJ
i thought the same thing, but better to live and be a thorn in the side to fools! ; )
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I received a bill from Verizon Wireless for over a grand. They claimed it was due to a high volume of incoming calls. I asked for a listing and they presented me with a list of georgraphical locations but no names or numbers, claiming the privacy of the callers as their excuse. I told them that since I was paying for the calls, I was entitled to the names, in the same way holders of 800 numbers get the names of the callers. They told me that they were not concerned about any legal entitlement to the information I might have. Their megalith position in the world apparently gave them the right to supercede legality with their corporate policy. Ain' t facism wonderful?
ReplyDeleteThe original Ma Bell may have been a monopoly, but at least it was a benevolent one. You actually got phones that worked, they actually connected to the number you dialed, and you knew what things cost. Now, it's all a crapshoot.
ReplyDeleteBG, you have my sympathies.