If you married folks are anything like Marty and I, you have some household accounts in one persons name and others in the other. And really that's just because one or the other of us set up the account (whether water, cell phone, electricity, etc). In general this has worked fine for us. I take care of paying the bills, so I write the checks or know the account passwords to work with them all online. If for some reason I've needed to call customer service on an account in Marty's name, he's taken care of doing it.
But recently I've run into some problems with this.
These days Marty is unable to make those calls regarding accounts in his name. So I need to take care of them.
A few months ago we signed up for automatic bill pay for Marty's cell phone (Verizon) because they dangled the carrot of a free $2o. Last month Marty called to find out when we were going to see that $20 credit they'd promised. He was told it would be applied to the next month's statement. So this month when there was no credit, I knew we needed to call back.
I called them and gave them the account information and Marty's name. "Are you Martin?" I answered honestly. "Hmmm. I don't see your name listed anywhere on this account."
"I know. It's not. My husband is in the hospital in critical care. He can't do this himself."
"I can't give you any information about the account if your name's not on it."
"I'm not asking for information. I just want you to apply the $20 credit that he should have."
And on it went. She got meaner and I got more frustrated. Finally, I hung up saying I'd be canceling the account the next day. She snidely told me that I wouldn't be able to do that either.
I hung up and cried. Dad called to complain about the treatment I had received. He was also able to get that $20 credit taken care of and find out how to go about canceling an account when the account holder is incapable of doing it him or herself. Here's what they want: 1) I need to have legal power of attorney and 2) to break the contract without penalty I need a doctor's letter saying essentially that Marty is unable to speak on the phone.
I've got the doctor's letter. Still working on the power of attorney. I've been talking to one of the hospital's social workers to help with this part. But the problem that I'm running into is that the doctor in charge is being extra cautious and wants to be sure that Marty is fully aware of what giving me power of attorney means (which I'm fine with), but he doesn't think Marty has gotten there yet (which is where I disagree with him). Here's the thing, Marty and I have talked about it. He's fine with it. But the doctor keeps saying wait. And now today he's post-surgery and more drugged up and less interactive and aware than he was on Friday when I last talked to the social worker!
I'm not sure how this would work if Marty were incapable of authorizing me to have power of attorney for him.
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I often think of these things, and Scott and I talk a lot about taking care of them - we just don't. He has lots of passwords, etc., that I don't know and would have trouble paying bills if he were incapable. We also talk a lot about making a will and other things like that. Thank you for giving me a reminder to get those things done. I'm glad your dad was there to help out and get things done. I'm sorry for your frustration. I'm sorry that lady on the phone was a meanie.
I'm also sorry that the lady was such a mean person to you on the phone! Especially knowing that Marty was in critical care, and unable to do anything about the account, you'd think she'd be a bit more compassionate, at least!
Devin and I have been talking about what we need to do incase one or both of us is incapcitated. Is the power of Attorney a durable one or is it situational?
Just moments before reading this, the Coach made arrangements for phone service in our apartment in Akron. Reading this makes me seriously want to boycott Verizon, but it turns out they are the only telephone provider that services the complex where we'll be living. So . . . we could go with Vonage. They're still not a preferred provider, of course, but at the moment Verizon's offenses seem much more egregious. What to do? Thank goodness for Daddys (A's and O's) who can wrastle cooperation out of unwilling customer "service" providers. I'm sorry that even the simple stuff gets so complicated!
I knew how important it was to have power of attorney for certain healthcare issues, but I thought a spouse was close enough that none would be necessary. Wow. Anyway, it's a good idea for everyone to think about that for their own situations.
As far as Verizon goes, this is just one more example of why I hate the WHOLE industry. Their objective is to make your life miserable at the highest cost possible. Unfortunately, not having a phone doesn't seem to be viable in today's world.
Interesting thing is, I've had power of attorney for healthcare issues since he was admitted--just by being his wife. I've been able to sign and authorize major medical procedures, but I can't take care of anything regarding his cell phone. But I've got the signed form, so tomorrow I will be starting my boycott of Verizon!
Oh, B--the power of attorney I now have is durable. But I don't know much about different kinds.
Just an update--after faxing in the paperwork they wanted, I was finally able to get someone to talk to me today. I asked about that $20, he told me that it would be credited mid-August (mind you, we had JUST talked about how I am canceling the account). "So you'll send me a check then?"
"Well, since it's a payment credit and not a refund, I'm not sure we can send a refund check."
"Yes, but I've been paying every month and haven't gotten that credit yet."
"I'll look into it....OK, it should be credited on your next bill."
Isn't that just what the person told Marty a month ago!
If it makes you feel any better, I just cancelled our Verizon installation and told them it was because of how they treat their customers. We're going with Vonage (lamentably, also on the list) instead. There's no contract and they do have way more features and services for a lower price, so I thought it would be worth giving them a try.
At this point I like Vonage WAY more than I like Verizon. Really, my only complaint with Vonage is that you have a lot of hoops to jump through to cancel. At least they aren't mean about it. And now I'm actually glad to still have a home phone.
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