Post by: Rush on September 12, 2019, 10:21:27 AM
So we moved. My husband has a life insurance policy. We get this letter from them saying the post office gave them our new address but they are not going to change it in their records until it is confirmed. To do so, call this 800 number and go through the automatic address change robot.
So I call the robot and give the policy number and the last 4 of Mark's social and then it asks for the new zip code and the new house number and then says, "State the name of the street." I state it. Then it reads back the whole address but futzes up the street name. It says, "Is this correct?" I say, "No," expecting a chance to repeat it, but instead, the robot transfers me to a human.
So the human asks for the same policy number and last 4 of the insured person's social and who is he speaking with? I'm his wife, we moved and I was changing the address through the robot but the robot couldn't pronounce the street name so it sent me to you. And the guy says, "I see you are an authorized person on the account, but unfortunately I cannot take the address change from you. I have to speak with Mark, can you conference him in?"
So I say let me get this straight, any random stranger can dial the robot and change the address, no problem, but if I talk to a human and ID myself as an authorized person on the account, you won't take the address change? He says that's right. So I tried to get Mark on the line but of course got sent to voicemail like I knew would happen, and the guy says "sorry" and wishes I have a good rest of my day.
So I go stress binge on cookies, then redial the number, talk to the robot again, and this time when the robot repeats the mangled version of our street name and asks if that is correct, I say, "Yes."
Rant off.
Post by: nddons on September 12, 2019, 11:15:46 AM
I had a similar frustration talking to a bot to renew my XM Travel link for my F-150 Nav system. It was set up for auto renewal (which I despise but was unavoidable) but the cc number was invalid because we changed cc numbers because the old one was compromised this year.
So I went through the bot confirming all kinds of stuff, but when I had to change the number, I had to speak with a human, who clearly was in India, so I had to repeat this info again, and give a new cc number across the airwaves to India. What could go wrong?
Post by: Rush on September 12, 2019, 01:32:06 PM
That’s maddening!
I had a similar frustration talking to a bot to renew my XM Travel link for my F-150 Nav system. It was set up for auto renewal (which I despise but was unavoidable) but the cc number was invalid because we changed cc numbers because the old one was compromised this year.
So I went through the bot confirming all kinds of stuff, but when I had to change the number, I had to speak with a human, who clearly was in India, so I had to repeat this info again, and give a new cc number across the airwaves to India. What could go wrong?
Ugh. I hate the compromised cc, it happens to us every year or two. The most recent one somebody in Mexico opened a Netflix account with my cc number. It was a legitimate Netflix account, I called Netflix and they said the name on it was gobbledygook but it was using my cc. They closed the Netflix account and reversed the charge. Then I contacted my cc company who closed the card account, issued me a new card, and also reversed the charge (i.e. gave me money) and then reversed the reversal. I guess they worked it out between themselves who took the loss and I got to download several transactions that amounted to a wash. I hope somebody went after the lowlife that got my card number but that’s wishful thinking, I doubt they ever catch these scum.
Post by: Username on September 13, 2019, 07:02:48 AM
Post by: Rush on September 13, 2019, 08:00:54 AM
Checked the credit card charges like I do every couple of days to be safe. Saw a charge from "Forever 21". Asked my wife if she bought something there. She said that she couldn't wear that stuff even when she was 21. A couple of other charges like an international prepaid phone card. Our last charge was to a pizza place. Yep, an employee there copied the card number and made a few purchases on her own. Got reimbursed and she no longer works there. Don't know if it went further than that. Be careful out there.
Every few days I download all our transactions and go through them one by one, and assign categories to them (groceries, home maintenance, auto fuel, hobbies, date night, etc.) and that’s how I caught the Netflix after only one charge and even then I might have missed it because we also have a Netflix account. My eye would not have seen it as abnormal unless it were close in time to our normal charge. However it was on the wrong card. That was the big flag.
I never figure out where the card got compromised but I suspect the duplicate readers at gas pumps or the grocery store, and waiters and waitresses, and even doctor office staff, but also online purchases. I try to limit my online purchases to Amazon but if they don’t have something then my card gets in some other database. They’re being hacked all the time.
Back when I played World of Warcraft my card got compromised, and three months after I got a new card, that one was compromised and I suspected WoW and called them up, they denied it, said their system was secure but I think they were lying. If companies have a breach they don’t always tell you. JC Penney had a breach and didn’t tell customers until 3 years later. I had a card with them back then and was part of that incident.
My mom’s pest control guy got the ransomware. They hacked his machine and got all his data and locked him out. Fortunately he did not have mom’s credit card info, only her name and address but it meant he couldn’t mail her the invoice for several months after he treated her house. They wanted $5000 iirc so he didn’t pay but recreated his business data and set up a much more secure system.
Any small business you give your card to could have bad security and even the big companies get hacked. I now accept that’s its normal on a regular basis. Thank God we aren’t liable for the fraudulent charges. But the credit card companies are and I’m sure the cost is passed through to us somehow. These criminals are scum.
Post by: nddons on September 13, 2019, 08:32:33 AM
Every few days I download all our transactions and go through them one by one, and assign categories to them (groceries, home maintenance, auto fuel, hobbies, date night, etc.) and that’s how I caught the Netflix after only one charge and even then I might have missed it because we also have a Netflix account. My eye would not have seen it as abnormal unless it were close in time to our normal charge. However it was on the wrong card. That was the big flag.We have a great credit card company (State Farm VISA) that alerts us very quickly if here’s a suspect charge.
I never figure out where the card got compromised but I suspect the duplicate readers at gas pumps or the grocery store, and waiters and waitresses, and even doctor office staff, but also online purchases. I try to limit my online purchases to Amazon but if they don’t have something then my card gets in some other database. They’re being hacked all the time.
Back when I played World of Warcraft my card got compromised, and three months after I got a new card, that one was compromised and I suspected WoW and called them up, they denied it, said their system was secure but I think they were lying. If companies have a breach they don’t always tell you. JC Penney had a breach and didn’t tell customers until 3 years later. I had a card with them back then and was part of that incident.
My mom’s pest control guy got the ransomware. They hacked his machine and got all his data and locked him out. Fortunately he did not have mom’s credit card info, only her name and address but it meant he couldn’t mail her the invoice for several months after he treated her house. They wanted $5000 iirc so he didn’t pay but recreated his business data and set up a much more secure system.
Any small business you give your card to could have bad security and even the big companies get hacked. I now accept that’s its normal on a regular basis. Thank God we aren’t liable for the fraudulent charges. But the credit card companies are and I’m sure the cost is passed through to us somehow. These criminals are scum.
We also have Lifelock, and have received many notices over the years of compromises and attempted identity theft. I find it very worth the money.
Post by: Steingar on September 13, 2019, 10:12:34 AM
Post by: President-Elect Bob Noel on September 13, 2019, 10:24:52 AM
Never saw the point of life insurance and never bought any. I think I have a policy through my work. I pop off Mrs. Steingar has plenty of money, and once she get mine she'll be fine. to me life insurance is just betting you're going to die, which seems like a chump bet to me. House always wins unless you decide not to play.
Not everyone has the same situation you have.
In fact, I'd wager large sums of OPM that relatively few people have the same sitution.
Post by: Rush on September 13, 2019, 10:56:30 AM
Never saw the point of life insurance and never bought any. I think I have a policy through my work. I pop off Mrs. Steingar has plenty of money, and once she get mine she'll be fine. to me life insurance is just betting you're going to die, which seems like a chump bet to me. House always wins unless you decide not to play.
Then I take it you have no homeowners insurance? After all, odds are your house won’t burn down so it’s a chump bet. House (insurance house) is gonna win.
Of course they always win, overall, otherwise they wouldn’t sell insurance.
But you’re right life insurance is unnecessary if the wife has her own means. In my case I’m almost at that point, my pension just kicked in and we have a nice nest egg. We will cancel that policy when he retires in a couple years. I suggested we cancel it now but he said go ahead and keep it for a nice bump if he kicks off in the next couple years. It’s a million dollar bump, he got it when he was flying IFR over the mountains regularly. He’s real healthy so it’s a cheap premium.
Post by: President in Exile YOLT on September 13, 2019, 11:20:53 AM