Flash Point

When my electric bill was the highest it's been in the 8 years I've lived in this house, I saw instant red. Come to find out, it doesn't matter if the utility company makes a billing error: you pay the amount due or they turn off the utility.

IF they've made a mistake and you can prove it, they credit your account. There are no refunds, no apologies, no other recourse.

Well, I turned off the air conditioning October 15, the day I paid the $229.12 bill. I had already looked up previous bills, the average of which Jan through May was $47.24; the summer months (J-J-Aug) averaged $130.62, so I knew the Oct $229.12 was an error--but knowing it and getting So Cal Edison Co to acknowledge it are two different things.

My new bill is $49.99, which is about right. The increased rate I'll chalk up to higher utility costs as that warning came in a correspondence included with the last bill, perhaps to justify the staggering increase.

As warm as it's been, I probably won't turn on the heat until January. It really ticks me off that do everything in my power to keep my utility costs at a minimum and pay my bills on time and still get gouged by an outrageous bill that is obviously in error.
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Along with the Edison bill came the determination from the insurance company that they don't have to pay for the last day of my hospitalization in July because "the patient had stable vital signs, was tolerating a diet, was able to walk and was not requiring intravenous (IV) medications."

All that's true.

But what's also true is that the cardiac catheterization scheduled for 10 AM was not performed until 6 PM, which added the "extra" day to my stay as I could not be released until 6 hours after the catheterization (it is inserted into the femoral artery, so they want to be sure it seals before they send a patient home to bleed to death), and patients aren't often released at midnight!

My admitting doctor made rounds the next morning at 8 AM, told me to get dressed and ready to go -- but it took until 11 AM to process me out. I don't know why: that's just what happened. Believe me, as soon as they said I could leave, I left!

Now, I am penalized by the system. I can't sign myself out and leave the hospital, but if I stay, I have to pay out of pocket because I theoretically "could have" gone home.

Of course, there is no refusal to pay because all those papers signed at admittance affirm that what isn't covered by insurance will be covered by the patient, and I'm the patient.

I've called my doctor's office and the office staff representative said she'll look into it, assuring me that this happens all the time. Well, maybe it does and maybe it doesn't--but if I were indigent, I wouldn't have to worry because if you don't have insurance, you don't have to pay.

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Finally, I sent back an 18-pack of pens I bought for grading papers. Packaged in a colorful array, the Pilot G7 assorted pens seemed like a great solution for keeping track of which essay I was responding to and separating the points in the hard copy of the grade book prior to inputting them into the electronic grade book.

However, the pens didn't work. I'd begin writing with one and have to switch to another as it dried up, but when I put it down to use the second pen, when that one dried up I could use the first one again. Irritating, to say the least.

So I wrote a letter of complaint, to which I received a nice reply: return the pens and we'll send you a product substitution. I paid $4.60 to send the pens back (remember it's an 18-pack) and today received 12 replacement pens, plus 2 "free samples" of other Pilot products.

Hm, let's see. I paid $4.60 to send you 18 pens and you sent me 12 back, plus 2 "free" pens. Unless I'm wrong, I not only am short 6 of the original pens, but the 2 "free" pens cost me $2.30 each because I did not receive credit for the postage I spent. Even if I subtract their $1.98 postage, I end up paying $2.62 for this deal, which is $1.31 per "free" pen.

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Today, life is difficult--perhaps because I'm making it so, rather than because it is. So, I'm going outside, light some candles, pour a glass of wine, and just enjoy the beautiful weather and my lovely garden.