It would just be so much easier if people would just realize that I am always right. Then I wouldn’t have to whip out my bitch claws and send nasty emails to corporations who don’t know how to do their job.

On today’s shit list is Providian [now Washington Mutual]. Providian Sucks. Washington Mutual Sucks. [That last little bit was just for the google bots.]

Both Lee and I have a Providian [now Washington Mutual] credit card. We were going along nicely for quite some time. I always pay more than the minimum [even if sometimes it's only a few bucks more than the minimum] and I always pay on time.

Now Lee has gone over his limit once or twice so I expected a little bit of a jump in his interest rate, but not OVER 30%.

But me…I can’t think of a time I have ever paid late or gone over my limit or anything. And I look through my past statements online and I don’t see any late fees or anything. But somehow my interest rate jumped to OVER 27%. OVER 27%. Can you freaking believe that?

The average credit score is 723. Based on that I have a very good credit score. Not excellent, but very good. Nobody with a very good credit score should be paying OVER 27% in interest on a freaking credit card.

So I sent them a very gentle [ok, maybe sort of bitchy, but tame] email. I said,

I was reviewing my statement and I noticed I know have a ridiculously high interest rate of 26.74%. I pay more than the minimum every month. I can’t think of a time that I have paid my card late. Why would I have such a high interest rate? This needs to be reduced immediately. I have other cards with much lower interest rates. If we can’t get this card’s interest rate down then I will just transfer the money to a new card and cancel this one. Please let me know what can be done about this.

And then I waited. And waited. And waited.

Yesterday I got an email stating they got my email and I am very important to them. It then went on to say that they are researching my question and will get back to me soon.

So today I got a response. They said,

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding your account.

Our records indicate your accounts interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate or APR) was increased in accordance with the terms of your Account Agreement (including any Change in Terms).

The Account Agreement provides that APR increases may occur if a cardholders account is not kept in good standing. For example if an account is past due, overlimit, or has incurred a non-sufficient funds fee, one or both of the following may happen:

1. An APR Increase on any account balances up to the disclosed maximum default APR.

2. An end of any introductory or promotional APR.

Unfortunately, we cannot reinstate your previous interest rate at this time. Please keep your account in good standing to help avoid APR increases. By doing so, your account may become eligible for future programs that may reduce your APR.

Notice Required by Federal Law
The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract); because all or part of the applicants income is derived from any public assistance program; or because the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The federal agency that administers Washington Mutual Banks compliance with the law is the Office of Thrift Supervision, P. O. Box 7165, San Francisco, CA 94120. All other inquiries should be directed Washington Mutual, P.O. Box 660509, Dallas, TX 75266-0509.

If you have further questions or would like additional information, please e-mail us through our secure Contact Center or you may also call our Customer Service Department toll-free at 1-800-356-0011. Representatives are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Representative

P.S. We hope you enjoy the convenience of online account access. Keep in mind, at our website you can check your balance, pay your bill, and more – - 24 hours a day!

Ummm….ok. Thanks for reiterating the terms of my card like I’m a freaking idiot. And the “your accounts interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate or APR)” like I’m too stupid to realize that it’s an annual percentage rate or an APR was a bit of an overkill. I’m not the asshole who can’t read. That would be Providian’s [now Washington Mutual's] moronic customer service team. I have to assume they cannot read since they did not answer my question.

So my response to them today was,

Thanks for the standard email. It’s nice to know that your customers are so important to you that it takes three days for you to send a generic form email.

And you never did answer my question. If you are having trouble reading, my question was “Why would I have such a high interest rate?” As I stated, I cannot think of any time that my card was paid late. And apparently neither can you since you couldn’t answer the question.

But never mind. I have transferred both my balance and my husband’s balance to another credit card. My credit score is to good to be paying 26.74% in interest on a credit card. If you would rather lose customers then answer questions or lower interest rates for customers with good credit standings, then so be it. As soon as those balance transers post I will cancel both of our cards.

Providian and Washington Mutual can both kiss my ass.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on United Healthcare. If I have to call them one more time to tell them we don’t have any other insurance and that they are the primary insurance, I will lose my cool. Up until now I have calmly explained to the nice customer service rep that they need to pay these claims because we do not have any other insurance. But if somebody can’t get this bit of information in to their system and I have to call one more time, the nice customer service lady is not going to like the big, bad maniac who is foaming at the mouth on the other end of the line [that would be me].

Geez, is it honestly too much to ask that companies get their shit together? Do I look like a woman who has time to do their job? NO!

I volunteered at school today. The kindergarteners were having their “end of the year” celebration. We had a couple of different stations; tie-dye [shirts], chalk [making their own sidewalk chalk] and fruit pizza [on sugar cookies]. We also had some games; the balloon relay [were they ran with a balloon between their legs and then popped it on a chair] and drip drop [which was essentially duck, duck, goose only with water on the head -- drip, drip, drip, drop -- instead of just tapping the kid on the head].

I worked the balloon relay. I made sure the kids popped their balloons. Sometimes that meant I actually popped them by pinching them as the kid bounced on the balloon with their rear end. I was also in charge of garbage. You have no idea how far balloon pieces can fly when a small child pops it with their rear end.

So anyway, during the celebration Spencer and his friend Gavin came over to say “hi” to me.

Gavin asked, “Have you asked Skyler if she has a boyfriend?”

I said, “No.”

Gavin said, “Well she does.”

I said, “Is it you?”

And Gavin giggled and said, “Yes.”

Later, after we were done with all of the activities and the kids were just playing on the playground before lunch, I looked around to see where Skyler & Spencer were at and what they were doing. They were actually playing together. Spencer and about three of his little guy friends. And Skyler. She was jumping over the boys and pushing them. She and Gavin were shoving each other. She was giving him her “don’t make me beat your butt” look.

Awwww, true love on the playground.

I’m reading through an old People magazine and there is an article on Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau celebrating their one year anniversary. I always get so pissed off when I see articles about this couple. If they had just recently met and he was 22 and she was 44 I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But they didn’t just meet. They met 10 years ago and “fell in love.” Fell in love my ass.

If you’ve been living under a rock, Mary Kay Letourneau was Vili’s sixth grade teacher. He was 12 and she was 34. They began to have a sexual relationship which produced a child. Mary Kay went to jail for child rape. When she got out she was ordered to stay away from Vili. However, she was just “sooo much in love” she just couldn’t stay away. She ended up getting pregnant AGAIN and then spent the next seven years in prison.

In the meantime, Mary Kay was married with four children. Her oldest child is just one year younger than Vili. So she was HAVING SEX WITH A CHILD THAT WAS ONLY ONE YEAR OLDER THEN HER OWN CHILD. How sick and disturbing is that?

Keaton is in sixth grade. He’s little and scrawny and immature. Hell, Justis is eigth grade and little and scrawny and immature. I don’t mean this in a bad way. They are almost 12 and 14. They are supposed to be little and scrawny and immature. All of their classmates are little and scrawny and immature. That’s how kids are at this age. A 12-year-old or a 14-year-old should not be having sex. PERIOD. Not even with their own peers. Let alone a 34 YEAR OLD WOMAN. And most definitely not a 34-year-old woman who is HIS TEACHER. He was a young and impressionable kid and she was, as his teacher, a major guiding force in his life. She is a disgusting piece of shit.

So not only was she unfaithful to her husband. But she was also a very poor role model for her four children. (1) Because she cheated on their father rather than being grown up enough to work on her marriage or seek counseling. (2) Because she broke the law by raping a 12-year-old child. (3) Because she missed her children’s childhood, all six of her children.

She’s never been a mother to those children. She spent their whole childhood in jail. Because of a guy. And not just a guy, but a 12-year-old guy.

And she lost her teacher’s license so she can never teach again. I’m assuming she went in to teaching because she wanted to help educate our youth. I’m assuming she wanted to be a role model and guide the lives of children. I’m assuming she felt that although she wouldn’t make much money doing it, she would receive payment in the form of watching these kids grow up to be educated and responsible adults at her guiding.

Or maybe she was just looking for a husband. I don’t know.

How is she going to feel when her 12-year-old daughter “falls in love” with her 34-year-old male teacher? Is Mary Kay just going to accept it because they are “in love?” Obviously she thinks a 12-year-old can make a decision about love for the rest of his/her life. Or is she going to think, like us sane people think, that the 34-year-old male teacher took advantage of her impressionable 12-year-old daughter and he’s a pervert and child rapist who never deserves to see the light of day again?

Ok, so let’s recap. Because of her love for a man boy she lost her teaching license, her husband, and precious years with her children. Heck, she doesn’t even have custody of her two youngest children. The two girls she had with Vili. Vili’s mom has custody of them. But she gained a young husband who never really had a childhood, who drives drunk and aspires to be a tattoo artist¹. Hmm…I don’t really think it was worth it. I think maybe she ought to rethink her priorities.

And what really pisses me off is that television and magazines are glamourizing this. The couple is living off the money they made by televising their wedding. I’m sure People is paying them for these spreads they do about their wedding and their first anniversary. They are making money off of being stupid and criminal. Yeah, that’s just the kind of things I want my kids to see on TV and read in magazines. Hell, that’s not even the kind of things I want to see on TV or read in magazines.

Vili has lived his whole life as a “celebrity.” It will be interesting to see how much “love” is in their relationship once the press actually starts to leave them alone. At least I hope the press eventually leaves them alone.

¹No, I’m not dissing tattoo artists. I love tattoos. I have one and I want another one. I’m just saying, Vili’s not going off to college which is something I would assume a teacher would encourage. If he’s very good and has a very good mentor to apprentice with then he’ll probably do just fine. But many tattoo artists do not make a whole heck of a lot of money unless they get a television show to go with it. Which I love by the way. I’m hooked on both of those tattoo shows; Inked and Miami Ink. Love them.

The animals are starting to take over at our house. We have our cat, Jasper. He’s been with us since he was a kitten. Lee got him for me for my birthday back in May of 1998.

Then, of course, we have our many fish in four different fish tanks. And we keep adding more. [Fish I mean. We keep adding more fish. But I wouldn't put it past Lee to get another fish tank. Skyler doesn't have one in her room yet. ]

And now we just added a new family member.

» Continue reading “Introducing our new family member”