There was a slew of changes with my phone plan in December. I ended up switching phones about 3 times. Some had internet connection, some didn’t.
In the end, when my bill came in late January, I noticed there was an additional $8 charge for internet that shouldn’t have been charged. It never once occurred to me to not call. As soon as I had set aside a good hour, I made that call to Verizon.
I was on the phone for 30 minutes, I kid you not. They answered my call pretty quickly, but when I finally got talking to the guy, he put me back on hold. I think they do that when they need to ask someone else how to fix the issue. I was on hold, with the music playing. I thought of hanging up around the 15 minute mark, but stood strong.
The guy finally gets back on the line and says “oh so yeah, it looks like you were overcharged only $8.”
And I’m like “yeah, I know, that’s why I called.”
And he seemed so surprised that I was calling over a measly $8.
Excuse me? Where does this guy live? Does he not know $8 can buy me a discounted movie ticket at Costco (they have a great return policy btw) or pay for my meal at dim sum? Buy me an eyebrow wax which I so desperately need? And that includes tip!
He credited me the $8 after making me feel like I was a stingy little you-know-what. But I didn’t care.
$8 is $8 and I definitely wasn’t going to give it to Verizon for free.
Tell me—what’s the smallest amount of money you’ve ever thrown a fit over?
21 comments
I’ve been getting increasingly annoyed with my mortgage company for always rounding down instead of doing the correct rounding. That means some months my spreadsheet and how much Wells Fargo thinks we’ve paid are off by a penny. So far I haven’t complained, but they must be making a ton of money off everybody’s mortgage, even though it’s only costing me a few cents a year (currently 2 cents).
LOL! If it’s a few cents I’d just give the person a heads up but it’s the PRINCIPLE of the matter, right?? Just recently I threw a fit over $3. haha.
No amount of money is too small for me to complain about! Last summer I stood in a long line at my Kroger’s customer service desk when a loaf of ciabatta rang up at $4 instead of the $3 marked on the bag. (I didn’t notice until I had already checked out).
Nice work! I’m notorious for speaking up when I’m being overcharged. I’m that person that calls Comcast every 4-6 months when my rates change, I will walk a few extra blocks to avoid paying a few bucks for parking, and my big nights out are usually accompanied by Entertainment Book coupons. And I don’t think I’m cheap…I just think it’s important to be a conscious consumer and keep more of that money you worked hard for!
And like prettylittlereckless, I categorize money saved into what else it would get me. It helps me visualize the value of my money and focus my priorities.
I may have to fight over $1.50. I bought two bras, both of which has a special free bra offer. Since it was only one per household I sent one to my parents’ house using my mother’s name. They cashed both my checks for shipping but my mother hasn’t mentioned the bra and I keep forgetting to ask her about it. If she didn’t get it then I just gave Hanes $1.50 for nothing. I will surely fight for it, but it’s finding the time to fight for it that I’m having problems with.
I didn’t throw a fit, but I called LLBean yesterday about a $5 charge for the slippers I exchanged. I ended up being able to apply a ten dollar gift certificate (sent from LLBean) and got ten dollars back on my card. Score!
I called Directv over $5 last month.
I would have fought that too! They got it wrong so no matter what the amount, they made a mistake!
It’s your $8 and beyond that, it is the principle of being overcharged in the first place. Good for you for sticking up for yourself!!
Ugh… I would have called too! It’s like they count on people not looking at the bill and just paying. We used to be with Sprint and couldn’t do it anymore because they double charged us EVERY MONTH! Luckily my husband looks at the bill every month and called and had it fixed, but it was ridiculous. And we know a lot of other people that have had the same thing happen…
Good for you!!
Fight for that mula!! : )
.50 cents.
Thats right. FIFTY cents. I didnt throw a “fit” about it, but we were at the check out lane at target with a bunch of coupons. We had a coupon for something, cant remember what, and there was also a “save 50c Now” sticker attached to it. The cashier rang up all out stuff and grabbed discounted our coupons.
As we are walking out, i reach in the bag to check out this particular item, and the sticker was still attached. He hadn’t peeled it off. So i say to my husband-Babe! He didnt use the fifty cents off sticker!. He says, that stinks and proceeds to push the cart towards the doors. I said- “No babe, the reason we got this one was because it had the extra 50c off! Im going to guest services so they can adjust that” He was like… really?!? Uhm YEAH! so i walked over with my receipt and then to my husbands emberrasment i had to flag him over from guest services (with a full cart mind you) because she needed the little sticker.
I was refunded .53c…. CASH!!
I always kind of feel silly but once I remind myself that “that $ could buy _____ ” and that there’s no reason I should throw money at them for something unwarranted, I don’t feel so bad. I’d rather be stingy with a few extra bucks in my pocket than too shy to make a fuss!
Yeah, but if you always haggle over $8…think of the money you save over time! I recently filled out a survey for the company I work for because doing so meant you got an extra $5 per pay period for the rest of the year. Yeah, it’s only $10 per month….but, that’s $120! for the year!
I think that’s great…I would do the same thing. I haggle Comcast over crap all the time. They just inch in all these random fees…what ARE those fees?! Paying someone’s salary, that’s what 😉
Good for you! I loathe having to deal with customer service over billing errors! Especially communication services!!
I put up a fight for $5 Cox internet customer service charges!
Wow, how much do those guys at Verizon make that ‘only eight dollars’ isn’t worth calling about?
On that note, I’ve waited in a 30 person line to return an extra dollar to the cashier who accidentally gave me too much change back. So maybe I’m just a stickler and/or cheap.
You go, girl! Honestly, it depends on the situation but my finace will throw a hissy fit over ANY unjust charge. A part of me is okay if it’s only a dollar or two but then I think about it this way – if it’s $2.00 every month, that’s $24.00 a year for something that I shouldn’t have to pay for. $8.00 a month is $96.00!! So I feel it’s worth it to just make that call to get the issued resolved.
That’s horrible that he would make you feel bad about challenging $8!!! Every customer should be reviewing their bills to ensure that they aren’t being over charged for anything. If they over charged you, it could be happening to others and if $8 doesn’t make them raise eyebrows, how much of an overcharge would get their attention???
Good for you for sticking with it.
Good for you! I would’ve called too. Think of all the people that don’t call though. Kind of a scam on their part. “Accidentally” overcharging customers. un huh.
$8 would be two coffees at Starbucks for me! 🙂 yum! or a new bottle of OPI nail polish!