Dealing With Incompetence

Already this morning - before 5 AM - I have been on the phone with a representative of Expedia trying to fix a problem with the transaction for our Puerto Rico trip that we booked on Friday. It seems that we have been charged for 4 airline tickets instead of 2. The nice representative tried to explain that 2 of the charges were only temporary authorizations, but my bank statement shows them all as charges posted on 10/21. The bank doesn't apply temporary authorizations to your balance since the final amounts can change. She asked that I call back again on Tuesday after the extra charges have a chance to disappear. The point is this - there seems to be an increasing occurrence of instances where we have to spend time (actually, waste time) in telephone conversations regarding errors that have been made in processing transactions of all kinds. It is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions. I can't ever remember so many times where we have had to waste time fighting for what is right, when the people that provide these products and services can't, or are not able to, perform their jobs competently and thoroughly. Another example is the problem we had with the people at Verizon Wireless where we spent months to right a situation that was caused by their incompetence in the first place. It makes you wonder why, in the year 2011, we are going backwards instead of forward with making life easier to do business. Has anybody else noticed that, or is it just me?

Sorry to go off on that tangent, but it is frustrating to have to deal with these unnecessary situations.

Day 3 of our work week is today and that means that right now we are halfway to free time once again. We have heard of situations where people that have started to work at Amazon have left after only a short time as a result of the physical work involved. It's the kind of work that is difficult to describe unless you actually go through the experience yourself. The people that have left early are the ones that thought it would be like workamping at another campground somewhere. That's why we always look so forward to the free time. The end is in sight though - only 8 more weeks after tomorrow...