never send a JESSIE to do a SCOTT job

I contemplated titling this post "never send a woman to do a man's job", not because I have some weird misogynistic principals, but because there are some things that my husband clearly does better than me. However, this post was less "him and her" focused and more "scott and jessie" specific. Stick with me for a long moment, there's lessons to be learned...

When we found out we were moving, Scott and I made several trips to Verizon to weigh our options for combining cell phone plans, adding internet, and possibly Fios to our bill. We figured out the cell phone issues, but we were STUCK on the internet and Fios problems. The thing is, our apartment complex is VERY specific about what services they allow you to have. If you want internet, you HAVE to get it through Verizon. If you want TV, you HAVE to use their 22 channel satellite option. And if you WANT to have a choice in the matter, you HAVE to get over it! (hehehe) Scott and I had resolved ourselves to this reality until a set of acquaintances, who lived here previously, put the idea in our heads of possibly "sneaking" Fios TV though the internet line, thus having more channels and still "confiding in" the rules. We should have known better at this point in the story, but we wanted to explore the possibility presented to us.

Since Scott was SUPER busy with work and getting things ready for school, and I clearly WASN'T, I ventured to Verizon to discuss our options with an associate. I presented the lady with our situation and asked if we could "discretely" get Fios and internet so as not to "really" break the rules of the apartment complex. After looking, she informed me that Fios was not available in our area but there was another TV option. She murmured something that sounded like "di (something something something) TV" and informed me that we could bundle this service along with phone and internet for LESS than we'd been paying for Cox. I was hesitant, re-presented our "situation" and asked several times "If I sign up for this today, could we cancel before the move WITHOUT PENALTY because I'm not 100% sure about committing to it without my husband's approval." To which she replied "SURE SURE SURE, no real commitment is made until they do the install." After having her REPEATEDLY reassure this to me, I "signed up" for the bundle package. Here is where I need to inform you that I CANNOT make decisions on the spot (it's pathetic). SO, when she handed me the print out copy of the "possible order" and I saw that the "di (something something) TV" that she had mumbled at me was "Direct TV" and that it would REQUIRE a SATELLITE being installed on our ROOF at the APARTMENT COMPLEX that has VERY STRICT RULES saying you can ONLY get TV though THIER SATELLITE PROVIDER... I literally FROZE. I thanked her for her time and told her she'd here back from us once Scott saw the paperwork. Immediately, I called Scott and explained the uninformed choice I had just made. Scott, who had been hesitant about "sneaking" the Fios in the whole time, called the lady back, dealt with the misunderstanding, and had her cancel everything but the internet. 

Flash forward three weeks later when the Direct TV gentlemen show up knocking at our new apartment door with a very perplexed (and slightly frustrated) maintenance man. I quickly explained that we had CANCELLED the order a while back and (looking at the maintenmance man) reassured that we knew the rules of the apartment complex. All three gentlemen were understanding, but it left Scott and I wondering about the supposed "cancellation".....

Flash forward to last night when Scott informs me our Verizon bill for internet was unusually high. So, he called today and found out our "order" for the bundle was never cancelled and we were paying for all three services while receiving only ONE! Apparently, the "oh yeah, you can cancel at anytime" was all a HUGE bluff because we are having to pay an early termination fee and will only receive a PARTIAL refund on the HUGE bill we payed for two services that WE cancelled and DON'T HAVE!

There are three points to be drawn from this VERY LONG story:

1. Verizon is SNEAKY! Make sure you know exactly which questions to ask and follow up on EVERYTHING they tell you they're going to do (Scott axiom)
2. Attempting to "work the system" is a bad idea. We should never have entertained the idea of "sneaking" Fios in through the internet line. It is just TV... and there are these wonderful inventions called BOOKS when the boob-tube isn't cutting it for entertainment.
3. THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON OF ALL... never send a JESSIE to do a SCOTT job!

from jessie (vengeance on verizon)... with love