Bad customer service

As any of you have who have read my blog for long know, lousy customer service sends me over the edge. Today it's a fight with RH Donnelley which prints the yellow pages here locally for Embarq. I decided to take out two lines in their pages for my business. The salesperson was nice and very pleasant, until I decided, well before the deadline, to cancel. Then she was a rude piece of crap and said "fine" and hung up on me. I assumed it was taken care of.

A month later after the pages are out I get a bill for over $200 for the second line which I cancelled. Of course, I called her immediately and she said she "doesn't recall" the cancellation. She gave me a number to call, which was the wrong number, and after 15 minutes they tracked down where to call her supervisor, who never returned my call.

Then, I wrote a letter with the bill. This morning they called and said that any cancellation should have been in writing. I told the woman this morning that I would have canceled in writing if the woman who was my rep told me to instead of hanging up on me. This new player said there's nothing she can do.

I told her to write me a letter so I can take it to the Public Service Commission, which regulates this type deal, I believe. She said she can't, there is no form letter for this. I told her to write one up only after I told her to "bite me."

You, too, can have this much serenity when you have 22 years clean.

After hanging up on her, I immediately took out my daily meditation book, and read these words: "Help and Peace and Joy are here. Your courage will be rewarded." I don't feel courageous, I feel pissed and overwhelmed quite frequently these days.

Last night at my home group we were talking about small changes in our lives as we stay clean which end up bringing big changes. I admitted that this is an area, lousy customer service, that routinely sends me over the edge. I don't know what exactly to do about it. Sometimes I'm unfailingly polite with customer service people realizing that some village lost an idiot, but other times I just get in a frothing fit.

I've learned another lesson--put it in writing. No one, in today's business environment, it seems, owes you the courtesy of explaining anything.

I did find this online, though, and if I knew the email address of the woman I told to bite me, I would avail myself of this free service.

I may have to ask my sponsor: Does this count as an amends?

An update: I found the email canceling and confirming my cancellation. Round Two!