Bank of America Fires It's One Employee With A Conscience

Thank You, Jackie Ramos

Evidence that "Moral Banking" is an Oxymoron: Why I Got Fired

Transcript from the Video:

"My name is Jackie Ramos, and I would like to tell everyone a story. I am a former employee at Bank of America in Georgia. I worked in the customer assistance department from May 1st to November 23rd, 2009. And by the way, "customer assistance" is a euphemism for "the collections department."

Every day I came to work and did just as I was supposed to: I collected. In fact, I was one of the top performers of my department, even outdoing those who were more tenured than I was. But something was wrong. There was something inherently evil about my job.

I'm not sure if Bank of America knows this, but we are in a recession, and most of us, we are hurting.

Day in and day out, I was told to charge people who had already fallen behind in their credit card bills an additional $15 just to make a payment with me. As I was told by my manager, it was a convenience fee. I was told to deny refunding as many late and over the limit fees as I could. There was even one month I was given a verbal warning about the amount of fees that I refunded, because as I was told so many times, Bank of America is a corporation, and they are for profit.

There is something we have in my department called a Fix Pay. Essentially it is a program that turns your balance into an installment loan. It stops all fees on the account, and it also closes your account. In order to get a Fix Pay, though, you have to qualify by answering a rather irrelevant set of questions, like how much you spend on groceries and how much your cellphone bill is. Day in day out I had to deny countless people who needed the program but didn't qualify. Too often I would have to give them the spiel about, "I can't accept you [into the program] because your disposable income is too negative," and then they would just sit there on the phone and say, "Well, if I could afford to pay my bill, why would I need a program?"

I will never forget one card holder. A 24-year-old woman with a child, just found out she had cancer, she lost her mom and her husband all in the same week. Of course she had a very limited income. She had to quit her job. But she still respected Bank of America enough to try to pay off her $6,000 debt. But she just needed help. She sobbed on the phone telling me she couldn't afford the 30 percent interest that we had her--sorry, 29.99 percent interest--that we had her account on. She couldn't afford the $39 late fee, the $39 over the limit fee. She told me that we were her first credit card when she turned 18, we were her only credit card, and that she was a loyal customer, and given the time to be on this earth a little while longer she would have always remained a loyal customer. I couldn't put her on the program, she didn't have enough income.

According to BOA she doesn't have enough income to be put on the program, but she can however keep paying the high interest rate on the account, and fees, because at the end of the day it is her account, she did rack up the debt, and she was late, so she did deserve that 29.99 percent interest rate that she had, and it wasn't up to Bank of America to help her figure out how to get this debt paid off. It was up to her.

There's a joke in my department: upstairs they sell you the credit, downstairs we collect on it. Too often I heard stories about how senior citizens and college students were specifically targeted, so Bank of America could continue to make money off of them. I had one elderly lady who was legally blind. Every month she sent them the incorrect amount because she couldn't see. Her 3 percent APR after 3 times being late went to 29.99 percent. She actually told me that one of the associates told her she needs to look at her statements more clearly.

After all, who better to target than the young and the old. Don't deny for a second that there are systematic practices put in place to keep America in debt.

I'm not doing this video because I'm bitter. I'm not doing this video because I hate [my old boss]. I still have a lot of respect for him. Out of all the interviews I had in my life, I will never forget the one I had with him. He told me the most interesting interview question he's ever been asked is, "What keeps you up at night?"

Before I got that job, that question didn't really make sense to me. Who asks that in an interview, I thought? But now that I've been in that department for a while, it makes sense, it does seem normal. All the people that I've had to deny [repayment] programs to--they kept me up at night. All the people that I've pissed off with a $15 "convenience fee"--they kept me up at night. All the people who were dying, lost a child, husband, mom, dad, all the people who lost their jobs and sat on the phone sobbing to me that if we just gave them a little bit of help, they could make ends meet--they kept me up at night. All the angry cardholders who told me the reason why Bank of America is the corporation that it is, is off the hard work of them and their tax dollars--they kept me up at night.

So... I stopped denying people. I helped people get on programs that they didn't necessarily qualify for, but who definitely needed the help. Every day I was told three things:

• do the right thing for the customer;
• think of yourself as a customer;
• and do the right thing for the company.

I figured if I placed more cardholders on programs at affordable rates, then maybe they could afford their light bill, or even enjoy a trip with their child to the movies. If the account was affordable for the card holder, it wouldn't charge off. I mean, that seems as simple as 1 and 1 being 2. But my company didn't think so.

At the end of the day I would love to have a company that thought of me as more than just a dollar bill. I would love to have a company just be more humanitarian, and think of me as a person instead of a profit.

But the three things I was told to think about every day in my interactions with cardholders didn't matter. In fact, only one of them did. "Do what is right for the company." Again, Bank of America is for profit. They would rather charge 30 percent interest anyway, than give hard working Americans like me and you a lower interest rate and work with us instead of against us.

So, [my boss] fired me. He told me I can't put people on programs who don't deserve it. During our meeting, he asked me if what I did was right. I looked him dead in the eye and I said, "Absolutely." I know he was expecting me to maybe say no or to apologize, but there's no apology. There's no way I could look myself in the mirror every day and justify not helping someone when I had the power to do it.

Given the opportunity to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing. He actually looked at me, he told me that he understood why I did what I did, he said I had a really big heart. But at the end of the day, it was policy, and he had to let me go. He told me my manager would escort me to the security desk and that all my stuff would be there.

And he was right. All my stuff was there in two boxes, all my awards, all the pictures of my son, even a plate of food that I had on my desk. [My manager] packed all my belongings, including the plate of food, and threw it in the box. The food got all over my shoes and awards, even the picture of my son. After all, Bank of America? They're just a corporation. They're not concerned with their employees' well-being or clearly even their cardholders.

There's a saying in my department that you are as good as your last payment. No truer words could have been spoken.

I'm not necessarily sad about losing my job. I felt like I took a stand and I did what was morally correct. I have a wonderful support system, I have a college degree, and I consider myself personable, so I'm sure I'll land back on my feet. In fact, as my manager was escorting me outside she told me that if I needed a reference, she would highly recommend me to everyone. I received nothing but accolades while I was at Bank of America. Even while I was getting fired my boss told me that out of anyone she's ever met I've had the highest morals and biggest heart she's ever seen, and that means more to me than my job.

At the end of the day, I don't have anything keeping me up at night. I did the right thing in God's eyes and I'm sure that He'll bless me. But [boss], can you say the same?”

More on the Awesome Jackie Ramos:

One Million Percent Interest? Yup.

from The Huffington Post

December 2, 2009 11:22 AM

Overdraft This!

by Erik Sean Nelson

"Overdraft Fee" is such a harmless sounding name. Focus groups must have reacted negatively to the bank's second choice, "Kick You While Your Down Fee." I really hate overdraft fees. The Fed has made banks allow you to opt out of them, but my family has received calls from banks telling me it's foolish to opt out. Really? Congress is trying to further regulate the banks' ability to charge them. An overdraft fee is essentially a short-term loan. If you bounce a $1 Slurpee the bank can charge you $35 (which is essentially an interest charge). Because your bank account is now negative and you can't do any banking until you pay it back, the length of that loan is usually one day. At first glance that looks like an interest rate of 3,500% (unconscionable but still incorrect). Because we are used to seeing loans in terms of Annual Percentage Rate, we have to multiply 3,500 by 365 days. Now you can clearly see that your bank is kind enough to loan you the $1 to buy that Slurpee at 1,277,500% interest. Don't you love unregulated capitalism?

Remember, dear readers, that you can be sent to jail if you loan money to your friend at a rate higher than 18%. That's right. An individual can't charge more than their state's usury limit, however if you are a business then you can charge much more (from my credit card's 27% to the Slurpee's 1 million percent). If you bought a $100,000 house at a million percent, it would take you 2 billion years to pay it off. But don't worry you'll have the last laugh, because the Sun is going to foreclose on you before the bank gets the last penny... which makes you laugh at those stupid banks.

Why are things a crime for the normal citizen, but daily routine for the Big Guys? In life it seems that doing something that is "small scale immoral" gets you in trouble, while doing something that is unfathomably immoral is legal. Kill one person and you get life in prison. Kill 1 million people and it's called War. War, we're told, is a legal and "necessary evil." Yeah well, killing my rich mother-in-law is what I call a "necessary evil" too but I don't see the "I Need A Ferrari Defense" going over too well with the judge.

Here's another example of business vs. individual: Say you loan a friend a book but he keeps forgetting to give it back. You then break into his house and take it home. Don't plan any vacations because you are going to jail. However if you are late in paying the bank for your car then they'll come to your house and repossess it. Why do the banks always win? It's almost as if there is someone who is always there to change the rules and bail them out.

Lastly, what can happen to you if you make an illegal copy of a CD? The FBI can charge you criminally. But when Walmart makes a copy of Mountain Dew and calls it "Mountain Lightning," that's called "corporate business smarts." Let's see if Wachovia will sue me if I try opening a bank called "Wackjovia." Oh, they'll bankrupt me into eternity. But it would be fun to have Citibank sue me because I chose to open a Schittibank. In fact, all the banks would end up suing me because they each take singular pride in being the sch*ttiest.

Update

Well, haven't had a lot of time nor energy to address these issues but here are some developments:

JCP&L: Called my 'Customer Service Advocate' Lisa and asked her to come out and read the meter. A couple of days later, got a voicemail from her stating that she felt the reading was relatively accurate. Based on??? Left her another message asking her to call me again. No further calls. I paid the bill, since I had the money and the next bill I received WAS based on an actual reading. The amount? $18.21. Wait, what was that last estimated bill again? $210.75. That's what I thought.

Chase: Sent them an email informing them of the pending Consumer Rights legislation. They refunded a couple of the overdraft fees. Gee, thanks.

T-Mobile. Still haven't been able to get ahold of them. They suck.

Stay tuned for latest screwing over by CIGNA regarding my wheelchair claim-a NEW wheelchair claim. This is epic and so inane as the amount involved is minuscule, in comparison to say...the $5000.00 bone stimulator I was recently required to purchase. Man, those dudes apparently have something against wheelchairs.

OCCUPATION IN CALIFORNIA!!

State University Students in California are occupying University Buildings in Protest of Massive Cuts and Privatization Attempts. From the blog OccupyCa (http://occupyca.wordpress.com/):
Occupy California!
We are occupying this building at the University of California, Santa Cruz, because the current situation has become untenable. Across the state, people are losing their jobs and getting evicted, while social services are slashed. California’s leaders from state officials to university presidents have demonstrated how they will deal with this crisis: everything and everyone is subordinated to the budget. They insulate themselves from the consequences of their own fiscal mismanagement, while those who can least afford it are left shouldering the burden. Every solution on offer only accelerates the decay of the State of California. It remains for the people to seize what is theirs.

The current attack on public education – under the guise of a fiscal emergency – is merely the culmination of a long-term trend. California’s regressive tax structure has undermined the 1960 Master Plan for free education. In this climate, the quality of K-12 education and the performance of its students have declined by every metric. Due to cuts to classes in Community Colleges, over 50,000 California youth have been turned away from the doors of higher education. California State University will reduce its enrollment by 40,000 students system wide for 2010-2011. We stand in solidarity with students across the state because the same things are happening to us. At the University of California, the administration will raise student fees to an unprecedented $10,300, a 32 percent increase in one year. Graduate students and lecturers return from summer vacation to find that their jobs have been cut; faculty and staff are forced to take furloughs. Entire departments are being gutted. Classes for undergraduates and graduates are harder to get into while students pay more. The university is being run like a corporation.

Let’s be frank: the promise of a financially secure life at the end of a university education is fast becoming an illusion. The jobs we are working toward will be no better than the jobs we already have to pay our way through school. Close to three-quarters of students work, many full-time. Even with these jobs, student loan volume rose 800 percent from 1977 to 2003. There is a direct connection between these deteriorating conditions and those impacting workers and families throughout California. Two million people are now unemployed across the state. 1.5 million more are underemployed out of a workforce of twenty million. As formerly secure, middle-class workers lose their homes to foreclosure, Depression-era shantytowns are cropping up across the state. The crisis is severe and widespread, yet the proposed solutions – the governor and state assembly organizing a bake sale to close the budget gap – are completely absurd.

We must face the fact that the time for pointless negotiations is over. Appeals to the UC administration and Sacramento are futile; instead, we appeal to each other, to the people with whom we are struggling, and not to those whom we struggle against. A single day of action at the university is not enough because we cannot afford to return to business as usual. We seek to form a unified movement with the people of California. Time and again, factional demands are turned against us by our leaders and used to divide social workers against teachers, nurses against students, librarians against park rangers, in a competition for resources they tell us are increasingly scarce. This crisis is general, and the revolt must be generalized. Escalation is absolutely necessary. We have no other option.

Occupation is a tactic for escalating struggles, a tactic recently used at the Chicago Windows and Doors factory and at the New School in New York City. It can happen throughout California too. As undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff, we call on everyone at the UC to support this occupation by continuing the walkouts and strikes into tomorrow, the next day, and for the indefinite future. We call on the people of California to occupy and escalate.

More Insurance Fiascos….

Do people realize how messed up our healthcare system actually is? I seriously doubt it. Two quick stories:

Again, I have really good benefits. Even so, if you are sick or have a chronic illness, you really have to work at being on top of these things and you have to do so at a time when you feel the least inclined to do so. I can do it because 1. I don't have a choice, as paying for a covered service is not an option for me no matter how convenient, and 2. I understand the process, because I work for an insurance company, so I don't get taken by surprise. That gives me a huge advantage. Also, if you don't think an insurance plan is going to try denying something hoping that you don't contest it, then you've been pretty damn healthy. I promise they will do that.

My first example of the skewed healthcare system can be found looking over my recent claim just for a triple metatarsal bone fusion with bone graft. These charges are for the surgery alone; the surgeon, anesthesiologist and facilities and excluding charges for peripheral expenses such as diagnostics, medicine, durable medical equipment, consultation, follow up exams and the like. For the day of surgery alone, the providers' write-off was over $15,000.00. If I didn't have insurance, I would have been responsible for something like $22,000.00. The insurance company, however, is only billed around $7000.00. It is nothing but a travesty that the uninsured has to pay 78% MORE than insurance companies.

There’s more …

Recently I had to file a claim for the rental of a wheelchair for the brief, non-ambulatory period immediately after the surgery. As always, I spoke to the insurance company beforehand to make sure there was nothing I had to get pre-approved. Unfortunately between the time of that phone call and when I actually rented the chair, my insurance company was taken over by CIGNA. Sigh. My first explanation of benefits stated that the service was denied because the code sent in was for a cushion, not a chair. I did a bit of research and offered to fax them a copy of the page of the medical coding book that shows the code is indeed for a wheelchair. They responded that this was a service that required pre-certification (see above comment) and so I then informed them of my previous conversation including date and the name of the person I spoke with, in which I was assured that the service DIDN’T require pre-certification. Their response was that it then had to be reviewed for medical necessity (apparently to stem the frivolous rental of wheelchairs, no doubt a source of great health insurance waste). So, I helpfully mentioned that they have records showing they paid for a surgery to remove part of my collar bone and shoulder bone, thus excluding the option of using crutches, as well as the recent foot surgery causing the need.

Recently, I received two letters stating that the service had been approved. Yet, no payment was forthcoming. In a phone call yesterday, I was informed that the claim was in medical review. I offered to fax them one of the approvals I had received but they declined.

And so it goes


One last thing. The wheelchair rental cost a little over one hundred dollars. This thing, (post-surgical boot):

Cost $399.00...!?!?!? I feel like I could have made that with duck tape and some two-by fours.

Why I’m for Tort Reform or, Can We Get to the Point Already?

It’s no secret that I have a chronic health condition, Psoriatic Arthritis, which is a form of rheumatoid arthritis, a sometimes debilitating disease. The twenty-seven years of my life (which equals the entirety of my adult life) that I’ve been dealing with this has given me a pretty wide reference of the healthcare industry from the patient’s perspective. My conclusion? We got a issue in America! I will share just one (of many) unnecessary health odysseys I’ve been forced to endure to illustrate how tort reform can save money.

A few facts to keep in mind: 1. I have very good health insurance. This fact is crucial. No way would this have gone on if I were uninsured. 2. There are two symptoms of our healthcare industry’s malaise at work here: the fear of lawsuits and the lack of focus of doctors which I feel is a result of the over scheduling of patients in an effort to deal with the costs of out of control malpractice expenses. I’m actually being generous here because I refuse to believe that so many doctors that, incidentally, enjoy very good reputations, can be so incompetent.

Here’s the deal: About a year and a half ago, I started to experience the strange sensation of what felt like electric shocks coursing through my feet and legs. Please note that, while I may seem like a physical wreck, every single health issue I have can be traced back to the arthritis and its treatment-by all other standards, I am actually glowingly healthy. I was pretty sure this wasn’t an issue with circulation.

So, trying to get this over with quickly, I made an appointment with a neurologist with my chief, actually my only, complaint being that of these, while not painful, unbelievably annoying sensations in my legs. After examining me, he sends me for a full blood work-up and a cervical MRI. This is an MRI of the neck. I did not mention any problems with my neck but apparently the physical exam showed some kind of issue- I have learned it is not to one’s advantage to question a doctor without hard evidence in hand …sometimes not even then. I have to perform this fragile dance around doctor’s egos all the time in my epic quest to avoid permanent disability. So, the MRI comes back, and the doctor tells me that while there is damage in my cervical vertebrae it’s not of an unusual amount considering the underlying arthritis and oh….my blood tests were totally normal. So I ask say, “Ok…so then, what about my legs?” He answers, “What? What about your legs? “

So I go to my orthopedic office, which is probably where I should have started, and the spine surgeon there sends me for a lumbar MRI (MRI of the lower back). The lumbar MRI shows compression of the L5 nerve root (and curiously, a healed fracture somewhere else in the spine). The orthopedic surgeon goes on to spell out the steps of treatment, the first of which is to undergo injections into the spine, (these injections being the sort that require general anesthesia, one of my biggest and perhaps irrational fears). These are to address the pain, he tells me but if they cannot alleviate the pain or if I begin to have neurological symptoms then the only solution is surgery. The man is looking right into my eyes as I tell him, “I am not in pain. There is no pain. My only symptoms are neurological.” He then responds by saying, “Ok then, let’s get you scheduled for those injections.” This, by the way, is one of the official orthopedic doctors of the New York Jets (which, actually, may explain a lot). So, my response was, “Yeah. OK, I’ll get right on that.”

My rheumatologist (I have far, far too many doctor/patient relationships) has told me before, “Unless you’re completely incapacitated, or have a one hundred percent guarantee of success, do not ever let a surgeon touch your back or neck.” This seems like good advice.

So, a little while after this, I am going over all the results with my primary care physician. She is reading the blood test results when she declares, “Well, here we are!” and shows me on the print-out where it says that the level of Vitamin B-12 is such that …’the patient may be experiencing neurological symptoms such as a ‘pins and needles’ or ‘electric shock’ sensations in their extremities”, caused by malabsorption. Whadya know. This is then followed by yet another series of tests (more blood tests, B-12 injections, abdominal sonogram and upper endoscopy) to determine the cause of the malabsorption. Finally…turns out taking 800 mg of ibuprofen for 25 years can be a little hard on the stomach (a part of my medical history, by the way, that all of my doctors were aware of…assuming they were listening or actually read the my chart), and this has caused an otherwise symptomless stomach issue that resulted in my stomach’s inability to absorb B12 (and, ironically, calcium). Problem solved.

Grand total in healthcare costs? $6525.70. Amount in healthcare costs that were actually necessary? $3922.80. Overkill amount? $2602.90 This, of course, is not taking into account the paid and unpaid time off work that all this testing required and not even beginning to put a price on the level of my stress and frustration.

Keep in mind this is just ONE of my less than stellar experiences with the healthcare industry. Thank God that arthritis is not (immediately) fatal or, apparently, I would have died a long time ago.

Best healthcare in the world. Indeed.

My point is that obviously unnecessary tests are routinely prescribed and they cost us all a bundle of money. Furthermore, it has been my experience over and over again that after having ordered outrageously expensive diagnostic testing, very rarely does the doctor seem to actually read the results. What’s the damn point? This is why I am so adamant about the need for healthcare reform. I have so many more examples like this; it’s hard to avoid becoming depressed (which would, of course, engender even more healthcare costs). And ironically, I am one of the lucky ones. What if my chronic condition had a more directly fatal consequence? What if I had NO insurance? I do think that Tort reform would go a long way in eliminating the practice of this kind of medicine. Also, doctors obviously need more time to spend with individual patients when one is finding that test results are not even carefully analyzed, if at all.

SCORE ONE FOR JCP&L

Hey, now, I’m not a totally unreasonable person. As my faithful readers (reader?) already know, I’ve had an ongoing issue with JCP&L and their billing practices. But it is not my intent just to throw shit their way for the sake of it. I’m just being diligent. Hey, I’ve been frugal since before it was cool and I strongly believe that people need to be on top of these things, not just JCP&L but ALL your bills…I’ve discovered discrepancies in my T-Mobile bills, hospital bills, bank statements etc. I think it is just sound financial policy to analyze any bill before paying because it’s a hell of a lot easier to verify the correct amount than to try to get a refund on an overpayment. That being said, I am not a blowhard for the mere joy of blowhardiness and so I present the conclusion of this particular episode:

I was contacted by Lisa, who as it turns out, has the position of “Consumer Advocate” for JCP&L. I wasn’t aware the position existed, and although it may be a mandated position and she obviously has a vested interest, I am nonetheless cautiously impressed. So, Lisa offered to come out and read the meter and then discuss it with me. In the meantime, my son Remy and I did a bit of brainstorming regarding the possibility that our electricity consumption had risen by 77% … the main possible culprit being the humongous computer he brought back from MIT for the summer and the mitigating factors of my being off work (thus consuming electricity during a period of time I would usually be at work) and the round the clock consumption of the crazy waking/sleep cycle of your typical teenager in the summertime (ie. Up all night). He did a few calculations as he often does and concluded it was unlikely, yet possible. Turns out it’s not as unlikely as we thought.

Unfortunately, I was tied up in jury duty at the time of our appointment and wasn’t able to meet with Lisa. However, after several attempts we finally connected on the phone and Lisa explained to me that she personally read the meter and it as it turned out, it was correct. She also identified an issue with the utility’s access to the meters which is apparently the source of why there are so many estimates, and she stated that she would work with the Housing Authority to obtain the access…the lack of which is most likely an oversight as they generally do have access to various Housing Authority property utility rooms.

So, the conclusion is, as follows: The original estimate WAS off but not as crazily as I originally concluded. The second estimate was an actual reading although that was not presented clearly in the re-billing. The reason the estimate was made was not due to bad staffing policy but miscommunication between the Housing Authority and JCP&L regarding access to the meters. Mystery solved, nefariousness disproven….THIS time.

That’s a relief because I don’t ‘fight the man’ for the pure joy of fighting…although the joy does sometimes exist. It’s refreshing to NOT have one’s sense of paranoia reinforced at every turn, especially after the zeitgeist of the W years, and to add a little bit more trust to these public relationships. And I come away from this particular exchange with JCP&L impressed with their handling, or more precisely, Lisa’s handling of the situation. She really did go out of her way to get to the bottom of it AND she persisted in contacting me until she was successful and I find that rare. So…score one for the Man in their employment of Lisa, who apparently takes the term ‘advocate’ in her job title to heart. Until next time!

JCP&L...AT IT AGAIN

ORIGINAL BILLING

REBILL

UPDATE:

received a call yesterday from JCP&L rep who seemed to think the latest billing was an actual read. However...the bill reads "estimate...re-bill". Looking through all the bills from the past year (except the last re-billing in April which is no longer available ??) the ones that were estimates say estimate and the ones that were actual readings say reading. So....I was confused. Out of what I assume to be frustration, the rep offered to come out personally and read my meter. I asked if she could then stop in and discuss it with me. So....we are on for Wed. Stay tuned!!!....Some of you may recall a few months back when Jersey Central Power and Light overestimated my bill by 82%. Well...here they go again. I received a bill about two weeks ago for $146.53. The average fees for my last three months of usage amount to $62.94. That's a whopping 132% above my average actual use of electricity. Now, believe it or not I do not enjoy continually making complaints to the governing boards of various public service providers. I find it boring and dull and I HATE numbers. Figuring out percentages and fractions is what I get PAID to do-not what I do for fun. So...I first called the utility hoping this could solve the problem. I requested that an actual person be sent and actually (actually in this sense being the direct opposite of virtually) read my meter. The customer service representative assured me it would be done, and, when as an aside I asked WHY, this time, an estimate was made to begin with, she told me that it was probably because so many meter readers are on vacation. Apparently JCP&L has never heard of staffing software...any of you poor slobs out there that have ever asked for a day off and been told 'there is no time available', well, you know what I'm talking about.

So, I'm thinking, "Great. Case closed." No need to bother the Board of Public Utilities this time.
Hmmph. Not so fast, Ria. I get an email this morning with a 'new' bill, a re-bill to be precise which, like the first bill is AN ESTIMATE!! In the amount of $111.35. Ok, so they are going in the right direction but that is STILL 77% MORE than the average of my last three months of usage combined. Nice try. So...even though I COULD have been reading my Sunday Times, I filed yet another complaint with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities...(see below-short and sweet).

REMEMBER FOLKS! READ YOUR BILLS CAREFULLY! You may be getting overbilled. And if so and you live in NJ, here is a handy link to the on-line complaint form at NJ BPU.

And here is a sample (mine), complaint letter:

I continue to have a problem with JCP&L overbilling me based on their estimates of my service usage, Most recently I was billed fee of $146.35 for the billing period of June 4th through July 6th based on their estimate. In the previous month to this billing, my usage amounted to a total fee of $69.27. The month previous to that, $65.52. Those bills were based on actual usage. I called the utility and requested that they do an actual reading. Today I received an email billing me $111.35 which was AGAIN, based on an estimate of usage. This is listed as a 'rebill', indicating that in response to my request for an actual reading, they simply re-estimated my usage. I don't understand this and I don't find it acceptable. It creates suspicions about the ethics of their billing practice and makes me question why it is so often that the company relies on estimates for billing. I live in public housing and the meter reader always has clear access to the meters. Thank you for your assistance.

RACISM REDUX: ANGLO (steve) KING, NO WHITES ALLOWED and TEXAS CURRICULUM

Aaaah.....yes.
I have been described as an angry person once or twice, this is true. But I make a concerted and conscious effort daily to redirect my anger, and generally I do this by calling to mind the Monty Python lyrics; "Always look on the bright side of life." Indeed, it is a personal rule of mine that for every negative thought or sentence I must, MUST find some positive spin. This is really nothing more than a survival technique. Anger builds upon anger and negativity indeed feeds upon itself like the out-of-control snowball barreling down the mountainside gathering momentum and mass along the way. This shit cannot be good for a person. So I choose instead a Sisyphean course of action, eternally attempting to shove the boulder of positive thoughts to the top of the mountain despite the fact the anger and negativity will always push it back down to the valley. Luckily, life is so vast and intricately complicated that it does indeed provide plenty of positive fodder: my kids, my relative health, my family, a comfortable couch, etc. etc. Okay, that being said, if a person has even a scrap of sensibility for their fellow man and pays even a modicum of attention to what is happening in the world around them, how the hell can they avoid being Pissed the eff off??? In the last week or so, we have been handed several incidents that could set our blood to boil. Therefore, I present to you after a blissful hiatus of smiley faced unicorns and rainbows, the revival of Damn the Man. Dammit!

Right-o, then: Exhibit A:

Steve King, Congressman from Iowa.

Okay, I already knew this guy was an asshole. My mother lives in Northeastern Iowa and last spring, after Iowa's Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal, she was plagued with robo-calls from his office begging for assistance in overturning the decision. It mattered little that his district is clear across the state from her, she is not his constituent and she called his office several times to tell them to stop. They kept a-coming, and not just to her, several of my friends in Iowa suffered similar harassment. My mother finally got the calls to stop by calling his office in DC and, because she somehow got a hold of one of his aides cell phone numbers, calling said aide after each robo-call.

And now, he rears his crazy face again in his Quixotic fight to retain the status of the white European christian man,this time by voting against a symbolic measure to honor the slaves that, well, ... slaved... to construct the Capitol. His rationalization? "And of the 645,000 Africans that were brought here to be forcibly put into slavery in the United States, there were over 600,000 people that gave their lives in the Civil War to put an end to slavery. And I don't see the monument to that in the Congressional Visitor Center, and I think it's important that we have a balanced depiction of history." Ok first of all, that sentence doesn't make sense. Is he saying 600,000 of the 645,000 slaves kidnapped from Africa gave their lives in the Civil War? Well, yeah, he is saying that, literally, but what he means, we can safely assume, is that 600,000 (presumably) white Union soldiers 'gave' their lives, yadda yadda. Dude, learn to speak your native language. And, of course, had he done a quick Google search on Civil War soldier memorials in the DC area, it would have taken .024 seconds of his precious time to find 226,000 results of sites with information about such memorials.

He originally claimed his opposition was simply a result of his policy to vote against purely symbolic gestures. Until he was reminded of his resolution from December of 2007, "Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian Faith." Oh. Oooops. Then He backtracks and explains that his no vote was actually; "...a bargaining chip to allow for the actualy(sic) depiction of "In God We Trust" in the CVC". Yeah, whatever. It's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide the fact that he is, simply put, a racist ass and he is up against the wall with the fact that his kind is going down, GOING DOWN. About time. No mas, asshole.

Moving right along, then...Exhibit B: The Valley Swim Club

A private pool in Philadelphia kicks to the curb a group of Black kids. Because the kids are black and the pool's management are racist. This is pretty much unambiguious and indefensible. Really, I just include this to illustrate the fact that the recent popular mantra of 'Racism is Dead' is, unfortunately, laughably premature. What really kills me about this story are the kids and the fucking boulder created in their stomachs when they fully realized what was actually going on. Goddammit.

Our final exhibit, Exhibit C:
Texas' Desire to Bleach its State Curriculum Standards

Sigh. A committee to provide curriculum recommendations to the Texas State Board of Education wants to blacklist historical figures such as of Thurgood Marshall and Cesar Chavez with the rationalization that they can't hold a candle to Ben Franklin. Nice try, assholes. You know, I'm not even going to detail their rationalizations, suffice to say they stand behind Congressman King with their backs to the wall of their declining status. Aaaah, but here's the positive spin: Steve King, Texas committee assholes? Their backs ARE against the wall. Business as usual for Whitey is slowly yet undeniably fading. What we're witnessing is kind of a cultural 'Fight or Flight' reflex-the primordial response to the threat of extinction; all emotion and devoid of reason. Makes me wonder, in the words of Bob Dylan; "How does it feel? To be on your own? With no direction home? A complete known..."

Aaah, Karma. It's a beautiful thing.

JCP&L: Baaaad Estimators

See below: my latest complaint filed with the Jersey Board of Public Utitlies after JCP&L overestimated my electricity usage by 81.29%...and then sent me a shut-off noticed when I paid only $37.00 less than what my actual usage amounted to:

Dear BPU:
My electricity bill for the period of January 01, 2009 through March 04 of 2009 was estimated by JCP&L at $329.29. When I protested and they sent someone to read my meter, the actual usage proved to be $181.80. This means that they overestimated a total of $147.49; in other words. a 81.29% overestimation. I understand why they have to sometimes estimate but am questioning their method of estimation. My problem with them has been resolved but I would like this gross overestimation to go on record on the chance that others similarly overestimated may also complain and perhaps JCP&L can be persuaded to reanalyze their estimation methods. Because I knew I had not used that much electricity I paid by my estimation, which was under by $37.00, a 21% underestimate-quite a bit more accurate than theirs. Yet, my $37.00 underestimate still earned me a shut-off notice. Thank you for listening,
MFD

If you are receiving 'estimated' bills that seem a little high-call JCP&L (1-800-662-3115) and request an actual reading!

This just in:
Received today:
(click on the image to read)

JCP&L: Showing their true colors

JCP&L denies full pension to former employee's widow

by Karin Price Mueller/The Star-Ledger

Monday April 06, 2009, 9:00 PM

How much is 17 hours of your life worth? It's a question widow Brenda Slutter has been wrestling with for years.

Her husband, Ron Slutter, worked for Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) for nearly 36 years. He died of cancer at age 58. Knowing his death was imminent, Ron made arrangements to retire, a move that would allow his wife to receive the largest possible company pension benefit after his death. He was told by JCP&L, his widow said, that his official retirement date had to be on the first of the month -- but died 17 hours and 40 minutes before the paperwork was finalized.

Bruce Winter/Express TimesBrenda Slutter, widow of Ron Slutter, who is being denied full pension benefits by Jersey Central Power and Light because her husband died shortly before the paperwork was finalized.

Thanks to a tangle of bureaucratic rigidity, legal fine print and the timing of her husband's death, Brenda, 59, receives only half the pension benefit her husband meant for her to receive.

"If January only had 30 days, he would have made it," Brenda said.

BUREAUCRATS AND TECHNICALITIES
Ron Slutter was a popular guy at JCP&L, working up the ladder until he was in charge of teams that buried underground cables. His personnel file is decorated with letters thanking him for exceptional service. He had 165 unused sick days on the books when he died.

"He was a good employee," Brenda said. "The day I took him to the hospital, he didn't want to go unless he could get in touch with his foreman to let him know he'd be out."

In 1998, Ron was diagnosed with asbestosis, an incurable lung condition caused by long-term exposure to asbestos. (In medical reports, his doctors said they believe it was contracted after asbestos exposure on the job, and the Slutters filed a worker's compensation claim in 2000. That case has not yet been resolved; JCP&L declined comment, citing employee confidentiality concerns.)

Ron worked through his illness until late 2005, when he was diagnosed with colon, stomach, spleen and pancreatic cancer, which his medical reports indicate commonly follow asbestosis.

By January 2006, knowing he was dying, Ron took steps to maximize the pension he accrued during his 35-plus year career with JCP&L, his wife said.

He knew if he died as an active employee, Brenda would receive only a 50 percent payment option on his pension -- a loss of more than $7,200 a year. So on Jan. 24, 2006, he informed his benefits department he wanted to retire immediately.

A portrait of Ron and Brenda Slutter.

The Slutters were told Ron's official retirement date would have to wait until Feb. 1 because the company processes retirement dates only on the first of the month.

Ron completed all the necessary paperwork from his hospital bed, electing a pension payout option -- known as the 100 percent spousal option -- that would continue to pay 100 percent of his pension to his wife for her lifetime.

Ron died at 6:20 a.m. on Jan. 31, 17 hours and 40 minutes before his official retirement date and 54 days after his cancer diagnosis.

As Brenda grappled with the death of her husband of 36 years, she thought her financial future was secure. But then JCP&L gave her unexpected news: because Ron died as an active employee, his retirement was never official. Therefore, his wife was due only a 50 percent benefit rather than the 100 percent pension payout she would have received had Ron held out a few more hours.

Three years later, Brenda Slutter is still fighting. She's talked to the benefits department, sent letters to JCP&L executives, tried going through her husband's union and submitted appeals to the company's Retirement Board -- to no avail. She's now retained an attorney.

"I'm not trying to sue them for anything. I just want what my husband wanted for me," Brenda Slutter said.

Brenda was already retired when Ron died, but to make ends meet she takes occasional cleaning jobs. She hasn't been able to tap into her retirement savings without facing penalties because she's not yet 59 1/2.

"They said to me, 'Well, we gave you his full life insurance,' because if my husband had retired, the company would have only given me $30,000 of his $98,000 life insurance," Brenda Slutter said. "Mind you I paid the policy premiums. They did me no favor."

Bamboozled contacted JCP&L to talk about the case, but the company wouldn't discuss any particulars.

"We respect the privacy of all of our employees and do not publicly discuss or disclose any personal information," said Ronald Morano, spokesman for First Energy, the parent company of JCP&L. "We work diligently to ensure that our employees and their families understand their benefits and the options available to them."

THE LEGAL SIDE OF THINGS
JCP&L isn't legally bound to pay Brenda Slutter the full benefit, but it could choose to work around the letter of the law because Ron's intent was clear.

"Look aside the technicalities of the law," said Edward Cohen, the attorney for JCP&L's labor unions, including Local 327 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, to which Ron Slutter belonged. "The company knew in reality that he wanted her to have the 100 percent benefit."

Ron Slutter filed all the right forms. He just didn't live long enough.

If JCP&L didn't want to let the pension law slide, it could have assigned Ron an earlier retirement date. Even today, nothing but company policy is stopping JCP&L from making that date change retroactively.

"The reality is there's no one who would complain if they gave her the pension," Cohen said. "Can they say they're not supposed to do that? Yes. But who's going to complain? Nobody."

After investigating Brenda Slutter's story, Ron Slutter's work and benefit history with JCP&L and the 17 hours, Bamboozled asked the company to once again reconsider Brenda Slutter's pension payout.

"That's a discussion between the company and the family," said Morano, the JCP&L spokesman.

Brenda Slutter isn't surprised by the company's response, and she's not giving up her fight.

"This is not how you reward someone for doing an excellent service for your company," she said. "I guess First Energy needs half of my husband's pension more than I do"

Yeah, just like they needed my electricity payments in advance.

Three More DAYS!!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Barack Obama: Path to the Presidency

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

A Little Bit of the Best and Worst

Damn The Man's Take on a Few Things that Come to Mind at the end of the Catalysmic Year of 2008:

Biggest Assholes

1. King of all Assholes For Life: Dick Cheney

Aptly named, Cheney is the epitome of the white, European Male’s peculiar version of Machismo, does what he wants when he wants and is never, ever wrong-My Way or the Highway, The Buck Stops Here, I’m the Decider, etc etc. Most assholes who embrace this personal dichotomy are merely annoying but Cheney, oh man! Somehow, when the majority of the country was neck deep in the national consume-fest orgy, their corneas replaced by dollar signs, this slimy motherfucker slipped in the back door. Utilizing his sock-monkey puppet Bush, (Moron of the Century), Cheney then hi-jacked the reins of the most powerful country of the United States. He then proceeded to reshape it in his odiferous image which, of course, resulted in his COMPLETELY. FUCKING. US. UP. Oh, it’s epic, it’s historical, it’s completely insane! As if single-handedly orchestrating the dismantling of the power, wealth and respect of our great country wasn’t enough of an achievement, he goes out as he came in: The very definition of Arrogance; rationalizing that he did nothing wrong because, by virtue of being the Vice President, everything he does is right and he leaves the country nearly choking to death on the toxic fumes of his flatulence. I often joke around about one person or other being the anti-Christ but honestly, if I actually believed in such a thing? Cheney quite likely is the real deal. Good Riddance ASSHOLE.

2. Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Iowa

The man behind perhaps Iowa’s biggest travesty of justice, the Postville Immigration Raid.

3. Sarah Palin

If I went to high school with Sarah Palin, undoubtedly, I would have kicked her ass.

4. Rush Limbaugh

I really wish this cretin would just shut the fuck up already.

Coolest Dudes Around

1. OBAMA

Thankgodthankgodthankgodthankgod!

2. Paul Krugman

Nobel-Peace-Prize winning Economist telling it like it is! Congratulations MR. K-you the bomb!

3. Erik Camayd-Freixas

Certified Spanish Interpreter for the Federal Courts employed during the Postville raids and who wrote the true, sad and repulsive story of what really happened at the Cattle Congress grounds.

4. Dude who Threw His Shoes at Bush

Thank you for doing what any other person in the world with any semblance of cajones would jump at the chance to do.

Best Editorial Comic

although I guess, technically in 2009. By Drew Sheneman of the Star Ledger

Favorite Conservative Columnists

1. Paul Mulshine of the Newark Star Ledger

Dude hates SUV’s, Neo-Conservatism, Bush, Corzine, pretty much all government and loves surfing and beer. Recently, he had the balls to out Caroline Kennedy as equal to Sarah Palin in her abysmal grasp of English Grammar which, sadly, I have to agree with. Although he sometimes pisses me off, ya gotta love a guy who hates SUV’s. Come on!

2. Kathleen Parker, syndicated columnist

Kathleen Parker pisses me off a lot more often than Mulshine but she stands by her word. When she called for Palin to gracefully bow-out of the presidential race, she received an avalanche of hate-mail, some of it threatening from the Conservative Right with whom she has always aligned herself. She had the honesty to write that in all her conservative column writing she had never experienced such vitriol from the left side of the spectrum. I may not agree with nearly anything she says but I enjoy her columns nonetheless.

Favorite Liberal Columnists

1. Fran Wood of the Star Ledger

Clear and concise and right on target, alas Fran has recently announced her (probably forced) retirement. Fran! Don’t Go!

2. Matt Taibbi, Political Contributor the Rolling Stone

Quite possibly THE most cynical and sarcastic voice of my generation and folks, that is saying a LOT. He unsparingly exposed life on the campaign trail, undercover as a minion of Hagel’s mega church, and amidst the 9-11 conspiracists. Not for the faint at heart.