Archive for January, 2008
A Transcript of My Conversation with Customer Service
Jan 25th
Customer Service: Hello, thank you for choosing [company name], how may I help you?
Me: I’ve tried paying off one of my loans twice, but every time I do, it says I owe more because the interest keeps building. Now it says I owe $0.14.
CS: Okay, let me check… You owe [amount of all loans, not the one I specified].
Me: I’m only trying to pay off one of those loans. The private one. The one with $0.14.
CS: Okay, you can pay by sending a check to [company name].
Me: But… I already paid! I paid online and in the time it took to process the payment it gained more interest! Now it’s telling me to pay some more even though I paid off the amount already!
CS: You paid online?
Me: Yes!
CS: [pause] Your account is locked.
Me: ….Wait, what?
CS: I’m going to send you a new one-time password so you can access the account again.
Me: But… my account is not locked.
CS: Yes, your account is locked.
Me: Not, it’s not. I just signed in a few minutes ago.
CS: Your account is locked.
Me: What are you talking about?! It can’t be locked! I JUST SIGNED IN!
[this actually continues for a few more minutes]
CS: Oh, so you want to make a payment on your loan.
Me: I ALREADY MADE A PAYMENT! I PAID IT OFF and now it’s telling me I owe $0.14!
CS: You can make a payment online…
Me: I DON’T WANT TO MAKE A PAYMENT! I WANT YOU TO STOP IT FROM BUILDING INTEREST ON A DAILY BASIS SO THAT I CAN ACTUALLY PAY IT OFF!! I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO PAY THE $0.14 AT ALL!
CS: [pause] That amount gets waived after 30 days.
Me: …What?
CS: You don’t have to pay the $0.14. It gets waived after 30 days.
Me: … Thank you. That was exactly what I wanted to know.
CS: Have a nice day.
“Champions for Higher Education”
Jan 24th
I’ve been trying to pay off my private loan with the scholarships I’ve received. I say “try” because the loan gains interest on a daily— as opposed to monthly— basis. On top of that, payments take 2-4 days to process. I’ve already made payments twice, the first time thinking I had paid it all off, then again paying an additional $150. Now I owe $0.14. This is ridiculous. I tried paying over the amount of the loan to get over the daily interest thing, but guess what— they don’t allow payments over the current amount. How, then, are students expected to ever pay off their loans? Oh, that’s right— they aren’t.
I’m going to call tomorrow to complain. Not sure what good it will do me, but I may as well try.
Oh, and naturally, the loan company’s slogan is “Champions for Higher Education!” HA! More like “Champions of Extorting Students So They Remain Forever in Debt and Provide Us With a Constant and Reliable Source of Income!”
More job stuff
Jan 20th
My first week of school got off to a rough start. This is my last semester, and I was really hoping that I could have fun this semester. I don’t particularly feel like going into why all my classes suck (and I’m sure nobody reading this really cares, anyway), but… yeah. I just wish this were all over.
I’m questioning my decision about graduate school again. I’m so sick of school, I’m not sure I really want to go through more of the same. Another company called me a few days ago, and I agreed to an interview. It’s supposed to be a good company, so I suppose it really couldn’t hurt. If I get the job, I may consider passing up the research assistant offer. Besides, after last semester, I discovered that I really do not like research work as much as I thought I would.
I of course still have some time, but I don’t like this period of confusion where I no longer know what I want.
Words Tommy can now say (some more clearly than others): no, banana, apple, ball, mama, daddy, cat, bye, hi, I love you, eye, hey, what’s that. At this point he only needs to know 6 words. He’s ahead of the game! Wooooooo! He’s also now able to play songs on the piano (rather than bang the keys). Very impressive. I’m still convinced I have a prodigy. 
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