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Unbelievable!


JoniRobertWilson

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I'm posting on the general site and hopefully will reach more people.

My husband passed on 7/14/04. He had "contracted" with a cell phone company. Both our phone numbers were on one contract. I contacted them about a month or so after Robert died to get the contract put into my name. They sent me a bunch of paperwork - seriously more than what I had to fill out for life insurance - and I sent it in. I guess I didn't complete it all - who really knows. Anyway, I've talked to this company so many times - they knew he died I sent them a death certificate - conventiently they didn't get it.

Now, they've sent me a bill for $175.00 disconnect charge because I cancelled Robert's serivce before the contract was up. I called and got a smug young man on the phone. He was awful. After I argued with him about this he said I'd need to send in the death certificate again. I said, well, after dealing with you, what will happen if I just cancel everything since you don't really recognize me as a customer? He said, "well, we won't go after you per se, we'll go after your husband's estate. He was such a as-. I repeated my request to speak to a supervisor. By that time I'm sure I sounded like a hysterical woman - crying and not being able to talk.

I will be visitng the local store and hand carrying the death certificate and a copy of the paperwork I already sent in. I'm horrified by the way this company treated me.

Our life insurance agent even came to our house to have me sign paperwork and then again to deliver a check. This phone company won't even cut me one break.

The manager I talked to said she had taken care of the $175.00 charge . I said as I hung up the phone - I certainly hope he never has a loss like this and gets treated as horribly as he just treated me.

I guess what I'd like to do if form a boycott on this company but that is probably unrealistic. What is logical is just to let you all know that if you have an opportunity to get paperwork in order BEFORE a tragedy do whatever you can. After you are devastated by a loss like I was brain cells are non existent!

I can't believe that a cell phone company has been the biggest road block into getting paperwork done.

Thanks to all of you for listening. Sorry for the big ramble but.....

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What poor customer service and relations! I would be tempted to find another service. They have shown their true colors. It's like insurance -- any company is great until you make a claim. That's when you find out just how good they are. I think you found out. Sorry you had to go through such assinine treatment. Don

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Some companies will go out of their way to be nice when something like this happens and others will be just the opposite, they act like your tragedy is too much of an inconvenience for them.

I remember my mother going through this when my father passed away.

I'm sorry you have to go through this, those people are so miserable in their own lives they have the need to take it out on grieving strangers .

Kathy

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For me the bad ones have been Bank One - just being insensitive - Cingular Wireless - treating me basically exactly as Joni has reported - the realtor - what do we pay these people for anyway? - and Progressive Auto Insurance. That was the real kicker. When I called to take Becky off the policy, my rates went UP!!!! Evidently, the penalty for now being single was greater than the benefit of one fewer driver.

Needless to say perhaps, I no longer do business with any of the above. I don't have the energy to rant and roar like a true British sailor, but I do take my business elsewhere. (And now that I have life insurance money and a real estate, it hits them a little harder.) And I have sent letters to the realtor's boss and to the CEO's of the other companies explaining just why I wish their company into bankruptcy.

Curtis

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I guess I should also talk about the other side of the coin. My realtor in Nacogdoches is a saint. And Citibank was tremendously easy to deal with; Becky was the primary on everything with them, and they transferred everything easily and didn't force me to have new account numbers and passwords the way our other card did. And TIAA-CREF was beautiful with Becky's retirement. When the life insurance dragged on for me and it was touch and go whether I would have the cash for the down payment on the house, they processed everything in double time to make sure it was here with a week to spare. It took life insurance almost five months to settle - they investigated because we were within the two year window from having purchased the policy - but it took TIAA-CREF four days to get me Becky's retirement, from the time I faxed in the death certificate until the time I had verified receipt of the funds in our checking account. It hurt me a little on taxes this year, but that was not their fault at all.

So kudos to them. And their bosses or CEO's also got letters.

Curtis

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I didn't have a problem with our cell phone co. WE had 5 phones because of our business. I just called and they switched the bill over to my name. Of course if I cancel a phone before the contract is up, I will have to pay the $175.00 early cancelation fee! Oh well, what can we do? They were actually good about the change over. Its Verizon if anyone wants to know. :roll:

Its too bad big corporations don't teach their cust. svc reps to treat people with a little dignity when a spouse dies!

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There are too many of everything to choose from these days.Everything is very competitive.I would get another provider and let management know why you switched.(Let everyone know why you switched.)Back when I was able to work (sales) if a customer was happy they would tell 2 to 5 others.If they were ticked off they would tell a hundred people.That is a good policy I think.

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Okay, here is my story.

First, today is the two month anniversary of Earl's death and yes, I am sad, sad, sad.

But, I think I have spent the entire two months filling out paperwork to either get things in my name only or change them to my name. It has been an education - like Medallion Guarantee or whatever.

I have BIG problem right now and I was going to PM Curtis but thought I would ask openly because the answer may help many of us.

Earl and I both have an IRA annuity with Transamerica. I called them to change Earl's to my name and roll it over into my annuity. They told me (more than one person told me) they have lost our file and have no documentation that names me as the beneficiary. Therefore, they can not change it to my name, they must pay it out to Earl's estate, of which I am the sole beneficiary.

Q. Do I have to pay the taxes like this is an IRA cash in or can I roll it over from his estate into one of my IRA's???

I do know that at least in the state of PA there is no inheritance tax for a spouse, so that is some good news.

Thank you in advance Curtis if you can help with this.

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Dear Joni, and Others,

Having use to work for Lutheran Brotherhood, I learned one very important issue in the loss of a loved one. Always get extra death certificates right away. One reason is, to order them while making funeral aggranements you pay one price. To order them later, you pay much more per copy.

With phone companies and gas bills, etc... you don't need the death certificate to be an original. That I am aware of a copy will work! (Please check this out in your state before doing so).

Also, with IRA's or Life Insurance, or Pension policies, ALWAYS, get a copy of your policy for your records!! That includes a benificiary form filled out as well. With IRA's, Life Ins. and Pensions, these DO require a Certified Copy of a Death Certificate, and if you have a copy of your policy make an extra one and send it along when you submit them to the companies. Again, check with your state.

I am sorry anyone would have to go through such pain when one is trying to deal with grief.

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In Florida, the spouse is automatically the beneficiary of anything like that unless he/she signs a waiver of rights. So it seems like you should be fine to roll it over without any consequences. I am going to run this question past my AG Edwards guy who handles the ins and outs of these type of things all the time, and get back to you later in the day.

I am sorry you are feeling blue. Every month on the 28th I make a post about it being another month, and every month I go back and read those posts. I would encourage you to do the same. It has helped me realize I am healing. I feel like I still hurt more than ever, but when I go read those first couple of months, I see the progress I have made.

One other thing to consider from a tax standpoint: You do get to file as Married Filing Joint for 2004 as opposed to single or head of household next year. So all of the exemptions and so forth are higher this year for you than they will be next year. So you might well be paying less tax on things this year than you would in the future, so it might be worth taking some cash and paying the taxes on it this year. I cashed out Becky's retirement for the simple reason that as a grad student, I am making almost nothing now, but hopefully will be making a lot more as an accounting professor soon. So by cashing out rather than rolling over, I can take advantage of the lower rate especially this year.

I will get back to you later in the day regarding the roll over rules.

Curtis

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Joni -

How awful. PM me the name of the company, although it sounds more like one ignorant young man and not an entire company. He obviously has had absolutely no life experiences at all.

Another thing to think about - we got a will drawn up when we adopted Faith. The lawyer told us to make sure all our vehicles were in BOTH names, therefore, if one of us died, there would be nothing to do with the title. We have yet to do that, I keep asking Dave, but it's not something he feels like focusing on. But it's a simple thing to do. Unfortunately most of our vehicles, even the car I drive, is just in his name.

My young boss lost her husband three years ago suddenly - I mean very suddenly - and she's told me the paperwork aftermath is unbelievable. He had just gotten a rather large life insurance policy (he was a partner in a law firm) and the life insurance company conducted an investigation of his death, on top of it all, but she handled that very well - she expected that. She did get the proceeds without much trouble.

God Bless,

Karen C.

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When I worked with large corporate life & retirement plans, the federal law was such that in order to have anyone other than a spouse be beneficiary, it required the spouse's approval. IOW, the spouse was the automatic, assumed beneficiary, and if the person wanted to name someone other than the spouse, the spouse had to approve.

Being a spouse, I bet you don't need anything special other than proof of marriage to be the beneficiary for any such benefits. Maybe a lawyer can help you sort through this all.

Di

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I think you should post the name of the company here. I would never get service from that company and if I am a customer I would seriously think about switching.

BTW I had problems with AT&T wireless before as far as customer service and network problems (phone kept dropping calls) and bad reception

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I have had two very bad experiences with cell phones. Neither had anything to do with Johnny's death but both came at a time when I was dealing with too many emotional problems. I find these companies to be some of the hardest to deal with. They seem cold and very unreasonable.

I had gotten Sprint while still in Louisiana and really liked their service. Once in California I found no change. I had about 6 months left on my contract when I went to Washington to be with Johnny. Because he was ill and I would be on the road and need to keep in contact I had my contract changed so I would have more peak minutes. As it turned out the new minutes didn't start until after I was in Washington. It cost me an additional $10 a month and I ended up with a bill of $87 for the extra calls that I made. Changing my plan also started my contract over so I was sitll bound to it for another year.

Those things would not have caused me a problem had it not been for the fact that once in Washington the phone didn't work most of the time. To make a call I had to go outside and stand in one spot. If I moved the call was dropped. I tried to get in touch with Sprint but could never reach anyone. The customer service line was always busy. They would put me on hold and before I got through the call would drop. Finally I outsmarted them. Instead of calling customer service I called their sales line. It seems if they think they will make a sale there are plenty of lines available. It was through the sales department that I finally got to speak to someone. I was told that my phone wasn't working because they didn't have enough towers in Washington. I made sure to tell them that was their fault not mine but they persisted in charging me the cancelation fee. I made sure to tell them that everyone I know will know how they do business. I paid their fee but I would never recomend them to anyone else again.

I found a local company and had wonderfull service from them. When I moved to Southern California and called to let them know that I was moving I had no problem at all. They do not provide service in that area and all I had to do to avoid the cancelation fee was send them a copy of the contract with the new cell phone company.

My first service in California was Cingular. I really liked their service and especially the roll over mintues. The problem came when I moved up here to French Gulch. The only cell phones that work in this remote area are Virizon. Once more I had to cancel and change service providers. Once again I got the screws put to me. They can not provide service here but still I had to pay the cancelation fee. I was not happy about that and reminded them that if a person bought a car you expected it to work no matter where you went with it. Seems to me that if they can not provide service they should not charge you to cancel. My arguments were all for nothing. I ended up once again paying $175 to cancel but there was something else even worse. When I first called them I was told that I was paid up through the next month. Because of that I didn't cancel until I got another phone and made sure it worked. I felt the need of a cell phone on that long drive into town. What really burned me up was when they added another months charge telling me that they didn't understand why anyone would tell me that sense they always bill for the previous month. Once again I assured them that they would get more than $200 worth of bad publicity. I always keep my promises and that is one that I take pleasure in keeping. I really believe that cell phone companies need to have their business more closely monitored. They are making a lot of money on cancelations simply because they are unable to provice service. That seems very wrong to me.

All of our utilities were in Johnny's name even tho I was the one who paid the deposits. I had set it up that way because Johnny needed the deductions to meet his financial requirements for Medicaid. I stayed in Washington for 4 months after he died. When I decided to move I went to the power company and told them about his death. That man was very nice and helpful. He assured me that all he needed was the time and place of Johnny's death and I would get my money back. Once the amount of the final bill was deducted my check was in the mail. They could have required me to provide a death certificate but they didn't. Not only were they very helpfull but very compassionate. It is too bad that more people are not like that.

We have so much to deal with already when someone we love is ill and when we lose them. Having these people take advantage of us in cruel and uncalled for. Joni tell us who you have your cell phone with. I can't believe that if you cancel and go to another company they will be allowed to charge you another cancelation fee. Were not both phones on the same contract? If so I would drop them like a hot potato and find a better service provider.

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Now, they've sent me a bill for $175.00 disconnect charge because I cancelled Robert's serivce before the contract was up. I called and got a smug young man on the phone. He was awful. After I argued with him about this he said I'd need to send in the death certificate again. I said, well, after dealing with you, what will happen if I just cancel everything since you don't really recognize me as a customer? He said, "well, we won't go after you per se, we'll go after your husband's estate. He was such a as-. I repeated my request to speak to a supervisor. By that time I'm sure I sounded like a hysterical woman - crying and not being able to talk.

(((JONI)))

How awful--I really don't understand. What that man said is just unacceptable. I am extremely sorry you were subjected to such treatment by such a lout. :cry:

I hope you never have to go through anything remotely like that again.

Melinda

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