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The cranky thread


Hermit

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I just cleaned out the spam trap on one of my emails. My favorites:

 

1. An extortion email that claims that they've been watching me do naughty things through my non-existent webcam, and to prove it, they've provided a password which was compromised over a decade ago, and doesn't match any of my other passwords*. I didn't see this one for a while, and it told me that I only had 48 hours from Friday to pay $950 in bitcoin or they'd release non-existent videos. They also helpfully had an explainer on what cryptocurrency is and how to find a way to transfer the money. I've lost track of how many of these I've received over the years, but they usually come in a cluster of 2 or three over about a month or two, and then disappear for several years. 

 

2. There's something wrong with my non-existent bank account at a major bank, and that I wouldn't be able to use my debit or credit cards unless I updated my information.

 

3. An email claiming to be from my email provider, saying that I needed to log into the account to verify due to inactivity. You know, on the email account I had to log into to see the message.

 

4. An email claiming that a payment was rejected by my bank, from last month, sent from a random email address, and asking to click the link to fix.

 

 

*I'm not even sure that the company that had the breach is still in business at this point. I don't re-use passwords, so it's essentially a dead one anyway.

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Been a while since I got one of your #1's.  The first time it had the old password from my daughter's 20-years-ago Neopets account, which I had changed after the news that site had been thoroughly compromised.  I used it for while (after she lost interest) for the old word games, but dropped that after the utter security fail of Flash became apparent.

 

I get multiple issues of both #2 and #3 three or four days a week.  The seem to come in clusters.

 

Been a while since I had one of your #4s, but again in the clusters three or four days a week, I get lots of click here to receive your reimbursements, prizes, gift certificates, and so on.

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3 hours ago, death tribble said:

I paid off one of my bills but they sent me for a new bill for 29 pence. What a waste

 

Credit cards are known for such tricks. I have heard where someone paid off their last payment, but it was after the cutoff date so the company was able to make another change based on the accumulated interest. That company made an additional month beyond what they should have because of the difference in the stated closing date and the unstated cutoff date, which is usually weeks earlier. 

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It is just so petty.

 

On 12/23/2023 at 2:47 PM, death tribble said:

Just got the gas and electric bill for next door. $5,000 for 3 months with only two people staying there. Mistake ? I surely think so.

I was on the phone for a couple of hours to the energy company. Partly due to the fact that they have migrated the account onto a new system. So we still have to pay but I managed to get a reduction.

We now have to pay a total of about $240.

That is a big relief going into the New Year

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5 hours ago, death tribble said:

I paid off one of my bills but they sent me for a new bill for 29 pence. What a waste

 

 

I vividly remember thirty years ago closing a light bill account (I had moved), and three months later getting a bill for an "unpaid balance" that totalled eleven cents.

 

The stamp on the envelope cost more than that, plus there was a pre-paid return envelope!

 

I looked over the bill, pulled the cancelled check from my files, and realized I had written the check correctly; someone had transposed the two digits in the 'cents' entry, and it was never caught.

 

I called them, told them what had happened, and that I would send them a check for eleven cents (I had confirmed from my bank records that the bank had honored rhe check for the incorrect amount; this is probably where the error occurred).

 

The young lady got my account info, told she would do a charge-off, and it would be done; no need to send a check.

 

The next month I recieved another bill for the eleven cents (again, with a stamp that cost, if memory serves, thirteen cents for bulk mail; eighteen cents to buy a regular stamp to send a letter), amd again with a pre-paid return envelope.

 

I called to see what was going on, as I thought the previous lady told me she could do a charge off.

 

I was told she had not (no reason given), but the person I was speaking to now would be more rhan happy to take care of it.  I explaines there was no reason; I would be happy to mail a check.  Nope; doesn't make sense for such a small amount-- I remember him specifically saying that the stamp would cost more than the amount due!

 

Okay; charge it off, please.

 

The _next_ month, I got _another_ bill for eleven cents!  And yes; there was another pre-paid envelope in there!

 

At this point, they are into this for somewhere between (3 mailings X 2 envelopes each) X 13 cents (78 cents) and x 18 (one dollar, eight cents) to collect _eleven cents_!

 

Of course, there was the addition of the "90 days on arrears" warning- you threatening to shut off the electricity that I clearly wasn't using, legal action, credit issues, etc.

 

So I did what any reasonable person would do:

 

I tapes the pre-paid return envelope securely to a small box, into which I placed I placed a granite coffee mug I really didn't use (it cooled coffee almost  instantly!  It was also crazy heavy and very loud if you weren't usinf a very thick coaster.  It was very pretty though), along with an apology card and a check for eleven cents.

 

I carried it to the post office, where the attendant laughed (evidently I was not the first person to mail a brick using one of those metered-mail envelopes, though she did say this was usually done to collection companies or as a final mortgage payment ).

 

Anyway, I was _done_.

 

The next month I recieved a thank you card from someone at the power office in Brunswick, telling me how nice the mug was.

 

The nexr month I recieved an official envelope from the power company.  Inside was my check and a note explaining that I did not need to pay it, as it had been charged off three months previously.

 

There was also a return envelope in there.

 

 

If you have _ever_ wondered why your electric bills are high, look to friction.  There are too many moving parts working against each other; the friction loss _massive_.  They just burn money.

 

 

Edited by Duke Bushido
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On 12/14/2023 at 10:38 PM, tkdguy said:

My poor sister has had a really tough year. She's had so many problems, including a crazy neighbor who's terrorizing the whole neighborhood (and the cops aren't doing much about it). Now she just found out her cat has cancer. This is about one year after my mom had to put down her cat, also because of cancer.

 

God, I hate the holiday season enough already. Stop giving me more reasons to hate it even more.

 

Sister just had to put her cat down. She had been planning to do it on the weekend, but he was in too much pain. Mom and other sister are with her right now.

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2 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

I (not the first time I drowned a remote).

 

 

 

 

The perfect trajectory into a liquid container was impressive, but that parenthetical comment right there-

 

That is _easily_ the most impressive part of this story!  

 

Wow!

 

 

:lol:

 

(I am not laughing _at_ you.  I am,laughing _near_ you.  Significant difference.  ;)  ) 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Pariah said:

We had an old CRT TV die from milk poisoning some years ago. 

 

Back in my Circuit City days, it was fairly common to get TV/VCR combos which had been "fed" things by small children. Service would send the objects back in an accessory bag attached to the device. One object sent back was a desiccated peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

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19 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

 

Back in my Circuit City days, it was fairly common to get TV/VCR combos which had been "fed" things by small children. Service would send the objects back in an accessory bag attached to the device. One object sent back was a desiccated peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

 

Had that in my Radio Shack days also. More commonly we gave the customers back their items in a plastic bag with all the wildlife that had moved in enclosed.

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One of my students came in and apologized to me in advance for what a wreck they're going to be for the next few weeks because their uncle took his own life the day after Christmas.

 

My heart aches for that kid. I wish I could do something to make the pain go away. And I can't, not a damned thing. 

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13 hours ago, Pariah said:

To the guy who thought it was a good idea to tailgate me during a snow squall, I say this:

 

Go to Hell.

Go directly to Hell.

Do not pass Go.

Do not collect $200.

 

For that person  - he deserves to go straight at that sharp bend, even though you went around the bend. 

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I've been having stress dreams every night this week. It's almost enough to make me wish insomnia would strike again.

 

YouTube is a PITA to watch because of its ban on ad blockers. I think I'll use a different browser to watch the videos, although I'm seriously considering cancelling all my subscriptions and stop visiting YouTube altogether.

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