Saturday, July 11, 2015

Assurant Specialty Property Renter's Insurance Poor Service

This is a disappointing insurance company. It appears that they simply want to collect premiums and not actually help their customers. The amount of documentation that Assurant/Geico requires for specialty property insurance is substantially more and sometimes still insufficient for them to offer coverage. Wanting to insure an engagement ring, since I already had a renter's policy, I filled out a 3 page application, sent a copy of the appraisal of the ring, a picture of the ring in front of a current newspaper to prove that I still had it. I was told that I would have an answer in 3-5 days. I call on day 8 and ask for an update as my fiancé is about to board a plane and I want to make sure that the ring is covered. I am told that there is no way to find out the status and they are unable to contact the underwriting department. Within a couple days, I do receive an email asking for a copy of the GIA certificate, which not only wasn't originally requested - but they have the cert # and this can easily be pulled from the GIA website. I instead had obtained my insurance through jewelersmutual.com after talking to them on the phone. They didn't ask for half of the documentation and the premium was lower.

If you don't want to write insurance, then don't be in the insurance business Assurant.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Comcast Xfinity Internet Service Nightmares



I have had Comcast internet for a number of years in Houston, TX. When the service is finally hooked up and working, there are typically no issues, but getting it to that point can be a nightmare.

I was soon relocating to a new apartment a couple miles away. I had service already, and simply needed to transfer existing service. Comcast’s website appeared to have a simple option to handle this. I thought, “wow, this is nice!” – but I jumped to conclusions too soon. As soon as you confirm the information, you have to speak to a representative about it.

Thinking that it would be a relatively simple conversation, I made the call at the beginning of my lunch break at work. The agent was nice enough, American, but that didn’t end up mattering one bit. He explained the complications of my request because the person that was still residing in the apartment that I was moving into already had service.

After placing me on hold for 5-10 minutes at a time, he explained that he had to place a cancellation order for my old account number and then establish a brand new account (I didn’t like the sound of that), but that I should just plug and play as soon as I move in. I have my own modem and have done this numerous times, so I expected it to be relatively smooth once moving. Time of call: 1 hour.

In my new apartment, 2 weeks later….

Connect the modem and router and try to get online. You get a “Welcome to XFINITY Activation!” page. “Ok..”, I click “continue”, then am prompted to enter the account number that I was given along with the phone number associated with the account; next page says “This account is not eligible for automated activation” . . . you’ve got to be kidding me. I hang it up and decide to try calling early in the morning, thinking that there won’t be a long hold time.
I call, am on hold around 15 minutes before being connected to someone. After that person takes my info and “researches” she determines that she needs to put me in touch with someone in the account activation department. At this time, 45 minutes have elapsed and I need to head to work. I am connected with the new person as I am leaving through my apartment’s parking garage and my call drops. Hopefully… hopefully, this guy will call me back. Nope! Time of call: 45 minutes.

After work…

I really need internet as I am also a full time student, so I bravely attempt my call at 11:30pm. Hold time: 35 minutes. I am connected with a sweet, but clueless sounding woman out of Virginia. She starts by telling me that there is no record of my service. WHAT?? Knowing that they will simply hang up on me if I get upset, I calmly reply and explain that I just need to get service connected the easiest way possible.

She then starts to ask me dumb questions like, “what do you use the internet for,” “what type of devices do you use,” etc… I just say, “I’m fine with the 25mbs and have no need for cable or phone.” Then I am on hold for 10 minutes like my request was overly complicated. Looooong story short, she quotes me something like $45/mo for the first 12 months then the cost jumps to around $90/mo. What? Jumps to $90/mo for regular internet? I told her that I did not want to have to worry about being overcharged at a later date, so she puts me on hold again for another 10 minutes... comes back and tells me that she EMBELLISHED the amount! The price after 12 months would be around $65/mo. Ok, whatever... just get me connected.

It is now 1:15 a.m.

After I confirm to be signed up, she then states that I will have to call back for the activation line in the morning as they are closed. I almost die. Why in the world would I have been on the phone for this long if I wasn’t going to get service? Time of call: 1 hour 45 minutes.

I was, however, able to activate it online after the call and it did work.
Being that I now have 2 comcast account numbers, and knowing how quickly they are to botch their billing and send you to collection (I review credit reports for a living), I continued to monitor the old account and notice that they are charging me $40 for an unreturned modem… a modem that I never had. Fine, I pay it… better than calling them again.

While I am logged in, I check the speed upgrade options because I didn’t feel that the representative gave me all the options. I see a 50mbps package for new accounts at $19.99/mo and selected the upgrade option “add to cart”, continue… then it makes you chat with someone in India. Uh oh. I should’ve left it alone. After about 30 mins of chat, the agent explains that it is only available to those that have cable or tv – but I did check the restrictions and this was the one upgrade that did not list those prerequisites. No change was made. Chat time: 1 hour 15 minutes.

I wake up this morning to use the computer and the browsers opens up to:
“Welcome to XFINITY Activation!” and then…. “This account is not eligible for automated activation”

O….M…..G……

That’s it. 4 hours and 45 minutes of my life that I will never get back because of Comcast. I’m calling AT&T.


Monday, March 9, 2015

1201 Bering Dr, Houston, TX 77057 Seven Oaks Condominiums review and complaints



1201 Bering Dr, Houston, TX 77057
Seven Oaks Condominiums review and complaints

After living here for almost 4 years, I have had 3 major water leaks due to most of the water lines being made from old galvanized pipes from the early 1980's. These pipes frequently have tiny leaks that usually rust shut, but sometimes there are major leaks. Each time, a large hole is cut in the ceiling, a plumber comes to assess - then reschedules for the repair, then a drywall guy is scheduled, then finally the painter. Each time has taken 1-2 months start to finish.

As if this weren't enough, there are electrical problems with failing circuits which require ripping the walls open to fix.

Another issue I ran into was that I kept finding these small black particles on the table in my kitchen. For the longest time, I thought that I just kept spilling coffee grounds. Come to find out, there was a carpenter ant infestation in the ceiling and the droppings were falling out of the can light in the ceiling. The only reason for this would be that there is water damaged wood on the side of the building where the ants are coming in.

My final complaint with these structures is that you can here every step above you. You can feel your walls shake when your neighbor goes up the stairs. Heaven forbid that your neighbor has a guitar or something - because you can hear the sounds echo down the fireplace.

I write this in hopes that anyone considering moving into one of these properties finds it useful.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

http://www.vz75.com/ Verizon Wireless $75 Scam?

Just got a call from an unlisted caller: 800-000-0000 with an automated system that said to log in to www.vz75.com to claim a $75 discount on my next Verizon Wireless bill.

A simple whois search for the domain gives us this (domain just created... and private):

vz75.com

IP Address: 98.139.134.174 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)

  
Domain Name.......... vz75.com
  Creation Date........ 2013-05-15
  Registration Date.... 2013-05-15
  Expiry Date.......... 2014-05-15
  Tracking Number...... 1801303779_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
  Organisation Name.... Robert Alessi
  Organisation Address. PO Box 61359
  Organisation Address. 
  Organisation Address. 
  Organisation Address. Sunnyvale
  Organisation Address. 94088
  Organisation Address. CA
  Organisation Address. US

Admin Name........... Admin PrivateRegContact
  Admin Address........ PO Box 61359
  Admin Address........ registered post accepted only
  Admin Address........ 
  Admin Address. Sunnyvale
  Admin Address........ 94088
  Admin Address........ CA
  Admin Address........ US
  Admin Email.......... contact@myprivateregistration.com
  Admin Phone.......... +1.5105952002
  Admin Fax............ 

Tech Name............ TECH PrivateRegContact
  Tech Address......... PO Box 61359
  Tech Address......... registered post accepted only
  Tech Address......... 
  Tech Address......... Sunnyvale
  Tech Address......... 94088
  Tech Address......... CA
  Tech Address......... US
  Tech Email........... contact@myprivateregistration.com
  Tech Phone........... +1.5105952002
  Tech Fax............. 
  Name Server.......... yns1.yahoo.com
  Name Server.......... yns2.yahoo.com
 
Looks like I scam if I've ever seen one!