JUST A RANT

[sailaway78]

Just need to vent. This deal is so screwed up. Have not received any mail for at least the past three weeks. Three weeks ago, the new debit card I had coming from the bank, was returned. Showing I had moved, and left no forwardng address. So the bank "hot carded" me. Cancelling the new debit card I had asked for and the one I had on my person. I found this out when I went to Home Depot and my card would't work. So ordered another debit card, no problem, right. Second one went back same as the first. About this same time, the Vessel Documentation Center called, the documentation paperwork on the new boat went back, marked that I had moved, no forwarding address. It is now Friday, I have no cash in my pocket, no debit card and the bank is closed for Good Friday. No one around here will take a check for gas. YAHOOOOOO I have been to the post office three times, and the only answer I have received is " the computer is down right now" and someone will call you back. I have not received a phone call. I have made repeated calls to one of the supervisors, and have never talked to her. Either been out doing something else, or didn't answer the phone. But have received a promise each time that she would call me back. No phone call. I have called the 800 number for the postal service. I have two confirmation numbers concerning my problem. I have been told each time I call that someone will call me back within 24 hours. No phone call. This morning I called, and I guess I got a little bit pissy. Got hung up on. I called back again, and this time I got transferred to a supervisor. The superivsor gave me the number of comsumer affairs in New Orleans and told me to call them. So I call comsumer affairs in New Orleans and guess what. No Answer. And I called the local TV station that has the six on your side investigation thingy. Got a recording that said to leave my name and number, and expect my call to be returned within two weeks. At least they don't make any promises. Now I am just hoping that I don't have to depend on any government beaucracy to save my life, cause I would be a dead sucker. So now I am off to Wally World, to buy something I probably don't need, just so I can write a check and get some cash back. No wonder there is now a phrase in our language "going postal".

 

[john meyer]

I'm sorry for your troubles

I think it might be time to go sailing.

 

[Ross]

In the mean time rent a new mail box and establish

a new address. Or fill out a change of address card with your current address as the new address. If they think that you moved and didn't leave a forwarding address then you need to give them the paper they need to find you again.

 

[abe]

What does any of this have to do with sailing?

...this is a sailing forum. abe

 

[bob G.]

No more

Must mean that you don't exist anymore!

 

[Ross]

Abe of the channel islands, He can't go sailing

without any money to buy provisions!! Golly!! some people!! Can't make any connections at all. No wonder the world is in the mess that it is.For the want of a nail A battle was lost.

 

[letterman]

welcome to the club

Last year I was interviewed to run a high rise condo. Did't get the job. The company that did was an expert in the field. They had experience. They also absconded with $300,000 of the condo's money! So the company fired them and again posted the job. I applied. Now I had experience working in the building as a maintanence person. I didn't get the job because, they needed someone with more experience. Today, after the new manager had been there a week, she called me into a meeting to.....ask...what she should do! She wants me to teach her to be a manager as she lied on her application and doen't know a thing! She makes 40k, I make 24k.And, my coworker, who also lied about being able to do things, like carpentry, plumbing, heating, plastering, etc., which he can't do, is making 30k per year!So if you are frustrated..get in line.

 

[CalebD]

NiceNEasy, I feel your pain

Beuracracies (any beuracracy)can be really maddening and frustrating to deal with when you need them to take action on something. My suggestion is to find a liquor store that will accept checks and buy some rum (or your beverage of choice) and take a deep breath or two and try to enjoy the weekend. There is nothing you will be able to do about this all weekend long so, as they say: 'The best revenge is living well.' or something like that. And while 'they' certainly deserve your ire it is always best to be in control of yourself as dis-respecting (dissing) some cleark on the phone belittles you - not them. You should be happy that the bank has not closed your accounts!Recently, the state of Alaska, which gives every registered citizen a nearly $1K 'oil bonus' check totally deleted their database of recipients. No backup was ever found and they had to work overtime to re-create the entire database (granted there are not as many people in Alaska as there are bears and salmon but you get the picture).The local cable company here kept sending me bills for almost 2 years with a credit balance of $.65 after I had paid the final bill asking for the service to be shut off (it was). This was a nuisance but I laughed as I knew it cost them more to prepare my monthly statements than the $.65 credit they owed me. We moved out of that apartment eventually and my roommate shut off his cable too. The trouble was that he took his cable modem with him (which belongs to the cable company) and they could not find him. So they charged me $100 for the missing modem. Well now I was pissed and got hung up on once as well (my bad). I ended up writing their complaints department a letter threatening to alert to Attorney General about their business practices. Finally I got a check for the $.65 and satisfaction.Another favorite snafu I loved was after my father died the tele-marketers kept calling the house asking for him. I remember telling quite a few of them that: 'No, you cant speak to him.''When would be a good time?''Never. He is dead.'long silenceThey have stopped calling as often.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hey, John, fancy meeting you here!

Hope all is well with you.Nice, sorry to hear about your travails. Those dumb bast**rds. It should only happen to them! While we all have reason to moan about bureaucracy, it's really disappointing to think that those same people who are ignoring and / or cutting you off would be the first to complain if it happened to them.

 

[abe]

Nice spinn Ross, have you thought about...

running for office...I'll vote for you.abe

 

[Maine Sail]

Unfortunately...

The US post office, being a government run agency, has NO INCENTIVE to make right, return phone calls or to do a good job. The scary thing is the post office is one of the best of all the governmental organizations. The "best and brightest" however does not come to mind when I think "postal worker". I personally switched all my package shipping to Fed-Ex for similar reasons. If you were dealing with a for profit company like UPS, Fed-Ex or DHL my guess is you would perhaps not have had to even type your post.Imagine what it will be like when we get socialized health care! Unfortunately, for me, I'm admittedly jaded as my job involves lots of dealings with inept government organizations. I deal with situations like you described above every day. Good luck and I do feel your pain..

 

[Ross]

Abe I do what I can!

Can't run for political office I still have an honest job. ;D

 

[T Clark]

Don't I know it

I'm here in New Orleans too. My mail has been royally screwed (actually just MIA) since Katrina - i.e. almost 20 months ago. Filled out a change of address form during while evacuated from the storm which of course didn't take effect until I got back. I have yet to get it straight with the Post Office. Plus my credit report now shows three addresses (my actual one, a rental property I bought post-K and the evacuation address). Try explaining that one the next time you go for a boat loan (just tying it back to sailing). Thank God this didn't happen in the pre-internet age when we wouldn't have been able to pay bills on line or bitch about the PO on this site.

 

[BobW]

Here's some advice.....

1. Take it 'nice n easy'2. Consider that you live in Lousisiana (I used to, so I understand)3. Keep in mind that NO MATTER how BAD you think you've got it, you're doing better than at LEAST 90% of the world's population.4. Of those 90%, which is about 5.4 BILLION people, about 2/3 - which is nearly 3.6 BILLION people - would cheerfully commit murder or some other heinous crime just to have a life HALF as good as yours.5. As soon as you get your (admittedly frustrating) little snafu with the Post Office taken care of, the 90% I mentioned above goes up to somewhere around 99%, and the number of people who would commit murder or some other heinous crime just to have a life HALF as good as yours reaches FIVE BILLION.6. The chances that any ONE of those FIVE BILLION people even knowing about your plight, and, more importantly, your rant about it, is vanishingly small..... so small that even Ladbrokes wouldn't take odds on it.So, vent away, rant impotently, and please be assured.....'I feel your pain' ;DAnd the Post Office doesn't.Cheers,Bobs/v X SAIL R 8

 

[NautiDuck]

Hold on there

I work for government and the people I work with are motivated, ethical and care about the community they serve. Whitewashing all government workers as lazy and non-caring is like whitewashing all private sector workers as greedy just because a few are. I got a package today via UPS that was beat up so bad that it broke the trailer jack that was in it! Does that make all UPS workers bad people? Of course not. I'm sorry about your situation but please, all of you, be careful about over-generalizations.Oh, Maine Sail, if UPS or FedEx had to deliver regular old mail they would not seem as great as they do and a stamp would be more that .39. That is the problem government has, it can't skim the business, it has to serve everyone.

 

[Benny]

Welcome to my rant. Nothing works these days.

Don't try to get the Postal service to fix anything, it takes years. I would suggest you fill out a change of address card and give it to the mailman. When they make their minds that you have moved, you have moved; so just give them the new (old) address in a form they can understand. You have a Bank that closes for Good Friday? Change that too. It sounds like one of your buddies may have played a mean spirited prank on you by returning a piece of mail marked "moved". Take care buddy.

 

[Benny]

If my memory serves me correctly

the USPS was sponsoring the US Postal bicycle racing team which propelled Lance Amstrong to a few wins at the Tour De France. I'm sure that costed a pretty penny to fund the dream team of cycling. Why would a government operated monopoly find the need to advertise and then do it in Europe. During that time there were a few increases in the cost of a stamp. Now that they passed the team to Discovery Channel do you think there is a chance they would sponsor an entry into the America's Cup?

 

[Ross]

RandyK , Postage stamps won't be $ .39

much longer. everybody can screw things up once in a while. I think in this case nobody knows how to fix it. So perhaps the idea of a simple change of address back to his current place is the easiest approach.

 

[Maine Sail]

Nauti..

Sorry buddy was not trying to paint with a broad brush. I have had some very good dealings with gov't workers and the private sector and bad with both too. I was merely trying to convey an "I feel your pain" to nice-n-easy......

 

[Scott]

Great points, Nauti!

You were right on the mark.BTW, UPS has broken more items than I care to remember. The glass they broke in one package destroyed art that I wasn't able to replace. Just this past week in a meeting we all had a good laugh when one of our managers was complaining about DHL because they had twice lost packages that caused him some embarrassment and trouble on the job. He said the worst part was being on hold and having to listen to their repeated message about how great their service is ... over and over while nobody is picking up the phone! *o