Washington (CNN) — Should members of Congress cut their salaries or raise the age at which they can draw a congressional pension when many Americans are making personal sacrifices during the country’s prolonged economic crisis?
via ‘Shared sacrifice’: Should Congress cut its pay, benefits? – CNN.com.
I would have to give Verizon Wireless online support a below average rating. This includes online (web) and phone support.
I have decided it is time to get rid of the old basic phone I have been using for 3 years now. Time to upgrade to a smartphone. Yeah, well maybe… I went online and the site states the primary number (Jennifer’s phone) is eligible for an additonal $100 loyalty credit. My phone, just eligible for a discount upgrade. Jennifer doesn’t want a new phone right now (though her’s is approaching 5 years old!), so we want to use her extra loyalty credit for my phone. And we want the advertised $100 gift card for switching from a basic phone to a smartphone. Oh, and since Verizon mysteriously turned on the $29 unlimited data plan on my basic phone two months ago, we want that data plan to transfer to the new smartphone (Verizon doesn’t offer unlimited plans anymore, so if you didn’t have it already, your limited to 2GB for same price!)
I am one that prefers doing business via the Internet. So I click on the support button to get the online chat with a representative to see what we can do. Nothing happens. I thought maybe it is because I am using Firefox and Linux OS. So I reboot to Windows 7 and try again. Still, nothing happens. So I try IE, finally a box below the chat states “offline” Hmmm, there support page stated online chat support is available from 7am – 2am eastern time. It was only 7pm and the middle of the week, so I think maybe it is just temporary. I continue to surf the net and come back a few times, still offline! Ok, time to call the phone support.
I call the phone support and get a male sales rep. Should have written his name and extension down!!! I explain what I wanted to do, and he reviews the account. No problem using the loyalty credit (leaving Jennifer with my old credit of just a discount) and no problem with the gift card. (after he checked it out first to make sure). When he states I have to add the 2 gig data plan, I inform him Verizon already has me paying for an unlimited plan that I don’t know who or why the added that, but I want to continue the unlimited. He asks me “Do you know why somebody would have turned that on?” Like, how would I know that?? After all, I have a basic phone, not a smartphone. He looks at the account and sees the data plan. He states he has to put me on hold while he talks to the customer support center to make sure they transfer the data plan properly.
After a few minutes on hold, a woman answers “Thank you for calling Verizon, how may I help you this evening.” What, wait, why are you picking up may call…. I tell her another agent was working with me and was almost done, he just needed to check one thing and put me on hold. She said, oh well give your phone number and let me look. I give her my number and then she states, well what did you want to do this evening. I ask, “can’t you see who was working with me and transfer me back.” “No sir, but I can help you with whatever you need” I start all over explaining what I want. She then tells me I can’t have the loyalty credit and the gift card both. I can only do one or the other! We went back and forth and my blood pressure started rising. I was almost done with the first agent, with everything I wanted to do and now I get some less friendly rep that says, I can’t do that and the other rep must have been mistaken! Finally I get mad enough to tell her forget it. I’ll just call back tomorrow and demand credits for the erroneous charges and forget renewing another 2 year contract.
When Jennifer came upstairs and checked her email, she saw there an email from a Ruth at Verizon apologizing for our call being dropped. She stated she understood I wanted the loyalty credit and the gift card and that was no problem, Did we want to go ahead with the order. I sent an email back stating, Yes go ahead and don’t forget to transfer the unlimited data plan as well.
That was Wednesday night, it is now Friday and I have heard nothing from Verizon. No email stating if she is proceeding or not. No email showing the order was placed. And when I go online, nothing indicating any changes at all. Still shows the two basic phones on our account.
Further exploring, I see the phone I want is $299 with a two year contract. I order it with my discount, it is $249. However if I try to order is as Jennifer’s replacement, it is still $299 with a $100 credit. So why do the show an extra $100? In reality it is only an extra $50.
So as of now, I am debating. Wait, or just go to the store and try to get an upgrade. I hate Verizon stores as past experience shows me they don’t know their stuff very well either, especially if you start asking technical questions. Stay tuned to see…will I get a new phone….or will I just demand a credit for something they are charging me for that I never asked for.
Wohhh, new templetes….Does this mean updates finally? Yes, I think after two years, it is time to update! Keep watching, I promise not to keep you long! 
We just listed our house in Emmaus, PA (Lehigh Valley) on the market. Great deal for anybody that wants to be in the East Penn school district and is looking to buy while the market is low, interest rates are low, and there are some government incentives. Similar homes in this neighborhood were selling for 325,000 just two years ago and the market is starting to move upwards again, so now is the time to buy! Our list price is $299,900 for aprox. 2300 sqft, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, living room, family room, dining room, large kitchen and more. Design leads people to feel the home is larger than listed sqfootage. We have made many upgrades to the home in the last ten years, such as refinished kitchen cabinets, new tile floor in the kitchen with new counter tops (corian), Replacement windows, Remodeled master bathroom, new roof, exterior completely painted a year ago, remodeled family room, less than ten year old heating and cooling systems (dual zone). During the upgrades we also had natural gas installed for the heating system and the stove. The neighborhood is great, in fact we will miss living here as the neighbors are great. For those with kids in elementary school, the bus stops right in front of our house. Middle school bus stop is just down the street a short distance. Corner lot makes for a larger yard feeling, with privacy in the backyard made up with live bushes.
Want to see and read more, our realtor Jane Schiff has it listed in the MLS as listing #349447. Visit the listing to see pictures and get all the details. Then schedule an appointment to see the home. Don’t wait until the prices go up and government incentives are gone. (new home incentives are not the only government tax credits available, they now have a “move up” incentive for current home owners.)
Yes, I know fall has barely begun and winter has yet to arrive, but I am looking for warmer weather already. I plan to find it next week as we sail on the new Carnival Dream from NYC to the Bahamas!! Yes warmer weather is literally on the horizon! I have a group of people sailing with me to help me celebrate my graduation from DeSales University last May. We plan to have some serious fun and relaxation! Make sure you watch my web site upon our return as I will post how the new ship was, brag about the warm weather some, and well….maybe some other surprises will be told!
Congratulations go out to Erica and Chris as they just purchased their first home! I helped them reconfigure their kitchen last week and will be helping them with changing out some electrical outlets. It will take them a while to get everything organized, but they are on their way. What is more, they are walking distance from the Leesport Farmers market. That will be nice to get fresh food each Wednesday as well as other activities that may be there on weekends. I am sure it will spoil Isabella and Raymond growing up and having a market that close. They won’t know how to act when they get older and have to buy everything from a grocery store. 
Well, not much else to talk about at the moment. I am too excited about our vacation. I am one that normally packs the night before for a trip….However I am already packed and ready for this trip and I have two days to wait yet!! Remember to check back here in a couple weeks, I promise some updates then!! Oh, by the way, if you have Word 2007 and a blog….Word has a nice blog feature that allows you to create, edit and publish the blog. Nice!
