A reader sent this. I don't know if it's a true story or not, but it makes for a good chuckle (and a good warning).
Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless, and so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today.
"This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes."
This made the rounds a while back. Probably not true, but then... I have never heard a word of protest or denial from Citibank about it!
Whether that particular story is true or not, I know stories like this that do happen.
My friend's father passed away last year. Comcast (the cable tv company) would not turn off his service without proof of death! His account was not past due, he owed no money, but they were rude regardless. My friend was wanting to give back their equipment, but they would not accept it without his death certificate. And they would not accept a copy. I never did ask her what the outcome was on that one. Her husband shoulda just called and posed as her father to cancel the account. It would have been less stressful on them.
This one doesn't surprise me at all! Thanks for sharing Mrs. Lewis!
hahahaha! this is good. problem is the feds are just as bad..especially the department of veterans affairs!
My Papa passed away in a house fire a few years ago. The cable company continued sending bills to his post office box. My father, his executor, contacted them, provided them with a copy of the death certificate and requested the service account be disconnected.
This continued for 3-4 months with additional billing, threatening letters etc etc due to the "overdue" bill.
My father finally got frustrated and told them that there was a problem with the service and he couldn't get reception, requesting that they fix if they wanted their money. The appointment was made and when the service tech came out my dad advised him to "hook it up" The service tech had a priceless look on his face due to the fact that the house was wood frame and no longer existed due to the remnants being hauled off.
Still took a few more months of going round and round with them to get it sorted out. Apparently they don't have a way to have service disconnected by a party not on the account.
I've been involved in a number of these circumstances, and based on my experience, I always give the same advice: If you are the family member responsible for taking care of some of these mundane affairs, you can accomplish so much more with great ease by thinking outside the box. Which means doing everything you can possibly do BEFORE anyone finds out the deceased is no longer around. I'm not talking about fraud, or cheating anyone out of accounts due, just cleaning up some of these ridiculous, trivial loose ends without allowing the brain-dead customer service idiots room to maneuver. "Hi, this is Bill Jones, cancel my service and send me a final bill." Easy-peasy. Otherwise access to accounts gets locked up, everyone wants an original birth certificate and reams of forms signed in triplicate. Over nonsense like the cable TV service.
Include the newspaper ,which I contacted frequently but found a 2 foot high pile of newspapers out by the road under her full paper box this went on for months , and same for the garbage service who claimed they could not discontinue service without actually hearing from her in person. It is so hard to keep saying SHE is DEAD over and over while you are still in mourning it feels so harsh and yet I was practically yelling it after a few months.I finally caught on and just lied to her credit card service that I was she and cancelled, it is hard to think though when going through so much.