Worst Customer Service Ever, and Another GenCon Pic

Bounce Energy has absolutely the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced with any company.  Some of you may have read about my ongoing issues with them, which basically started with them screwing up from the very first day I had service with them.  They billed me for the wrong ESID #, for the wrong address.  Getting that sorted out, my proper ESID added, and getting the charges they tried to lump onto me for fixing THEIR mistake, and simply getting my bill straightened out has taken months of frustration.  I’ve been flat out lied to by Bounce CSRs, I’ve seen them repeatedly ineffectual at following through on what should be relatively simple changes/fixes that I was PROMISED by their supervisors would be handled that day, or the next . . . and I’ve received precisely a total of TWO return phone calls from anyone from Bounce ever.  Yet I’ve been told I’d be called back by someone there (after my issues were resolved, of course) probably a dozen times.

Yesterday, I got home from work, to find my apartment oddly quiet.  Why?  Because my apartment was devoid of power.  They’d frigging disconnected me.  By mistake/accident.  In calling them, on my cell phone, to get this mess sorted out, I got disconnected/hung up on twice.  I was spoken to rudely.  I was berated, accused of lying, and told flat out things that contradict the pink piece of paper I was holding in my hand from Bounce – the one that told me to either call them, or use their web site online to make my payment to avoid disconnection. The final supervisor I talked to was so confused by my bill from Bounce, she ended up arguing with me about what I’d paid and suggested that I was disconnected because I didn’t pay enough.  I quite simply paid what their web site’s billing section for my account said I owed.  Simple enough, right?  My current bill is really amusing.  My current monthly charges, indicated on it?  $-42.99.  Then there’s the amount due for my Next billing cycle, not due until September 8th (Currently, nothing is due – zero balance – as the only semi-intelligent rep I spoke to observed, there’s no reason I should have been disconnected) is $137.01.  Oh, but if I wait until After the due date . . . it’s $134.86.  Wait, what?  I save $2.15 if I pay my bill AFTER the due date?

Lunacy.  Insanity.  Absolute, ludicrous incompetence.  After my power is turned back on, I’m looking for a new energy provider ASAFP.  I’m done with Bounce screwing up with me.

On more amusing notes, here’s something that’s just too awesome not to link:

Automatic Pancake Machine: 200 pancakes per hour

Next up, here’s the next GenCon pic:

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This girl was actually featured on an article on this year’s GenCon in the Indianapolis Star: Despite recession, Gen Con Indy drew 27,900 I ran into her as she was waiting for the elevators on Saturday as I was heading up to grab food before my DM shift, and she was en route to the costume contest.

So, I Went to GenCon Indy

I went to GenCon Indy, as a Full-Time Volunteer for True Dungeon, as I’ve done for the previous 5 years.  It was fun, it was a lot of work, my feet (especially my heels) were in massive pain for days after I got back from the con.  I played one fun game, helped build, run wiring for, DM’d a couple of rooms for, and tore down a multi-dungeon set.  I wandered around the convention center exhibit hall, demo’d a couple of games, bought one The Spoils 2-player starter set, looked at lots and lots of art, hung out with people I like, and bought a few pieces of art (which I’m still waiting for, they haven’t arrived yet).  I took some pictures – mostly of people at the con or nifty things that caught my attention.  Not much of the dungeon.  There are a lot of dungeon pics, if you check the official web site, or search for True Dungeon 2009 on Facebook, you’re sure to find some.

I don’t really feel like going in-depth about the con.  It wasn’t quite as fun as I’d have liked, I didn’t get to do quite as many things as I wanted.  I’ll still do it again.  But dammit, next year, I’m staying for the Dead Dog party.

I’ll try to post a pic from the ones I took at GenCon here every day or two for a bit.  Here’s the first one, which I simply call “Umbrella Girl:”

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Stuff of the Day

Update: Blah.  Not lots to say here.  Work was work.  I chatted for a decent amount of time and talked on the phone for a while with womenfolks (well, just one on the phone).  Watched the 2nd and 3rd episodes of the Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries.  Had dinner.  That’s about it.  So happy that this week is coming to an end, looking forward to my date tomorrow night.

Got paid today.  Money from that paycheck has vaporized alarmingly quickly.  Cable, Verizon, Airfare to Indy for GenCon.  Yeah, that hurt.  $346 was the best I could score, even with The Priceline Negotiator working his dubious magic (not as magical as I had been led to believe).  Having to borrow some money from my Dad for 4 weeks so I can be sure I don’t starve and so forth.  Bounce Energy STILL has my account screwed up.  Called, left two different voicemails to people there (Though I don’t know if one of the extensions actually is anyone or not), filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and even griped on Twitter.  Someone at Bounce responded on Twitter and I emailed them about it, going with cut ‘n paste from my BBB complaint.  😉  I’ve got to budget for paying Bounce still this month, once I can find out what I actually owe them, and probably replace another wheel on my car (please god/universe/karma/luck/whatever, just be the wheel and not require the tire to be replaced now as well).

Link of the Day: Key/Keyring Combo

Spam of the Day: ” Are you looking for the Fountain of Youth?”

Funny of the Day: Lit-er-al?

Pic of the Day: Super Trooper

Quote of the Day: “Life is like a road trip. Sometimes, the road is smooth, the scenery is beautiful, and the weather crisp; other times, you break down with a flat across the road from a hillbilly with 3 teeth, playing a banjo and looking at you like a dented can of Spam out of the dollar bin at the local Piggly Wiggly.” – Kara

Awesome T-shirt, Awesome Price, and Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton designed a cool shirt featuring various gaming dice in the model of an atom, and it’s up on was up for sale on shirt.woot! I was going to advertise the shirt here (like my site has any influence power at all, hah!) and encourage people to buy it . . . but it sold out.  By 9:01 a.m. Central.  Glad I bought mine late last night/early a.m. this morning.

So, I’ve met Wil Wheaton twice. The first time was at a Creation Star Trek convention in Midland, Texas, where he was a guest the guest and signed autographs.  The con pretty much sucked a bit, a little because it was when Creation was first starting to take over and monopolize Star Trek cons, and mostly because it was in Midland.

The second time was at True Dungeon in GenCon SoCal the first year I was involved with True Dungeon.  Wil ran through the dungeon with a group of his friends, and he was one of the best and most amusing Bards I saw that con.  Less than halfway through the dungeon, Wil started having a really bad urge to pee.  This resulted in some of the more amusing improv Bard Songs I’ve heard in all the time I’ve been involved with True Dungeon.  I don’t remember the exact details, but one room with a giant spider he was singing something like “kill kill, kill the stupid spider” and worked in something about how he had to pee.

I was coming off shift just as Wil’s group started their dungeon run, and radio chatter started to the effect of, “OMG WIL WHEATON IS IN THE DUNGEON!”  I was tired, and had honestly gotten a teensy bit jaded by seeing some of the Gaming Scene Bigwigs come through True Dungeon (we’d had Michael Stackpole run through the dungeon, a bunch of WOTC folks, including Ed Greenwood, the Hickmans, etc.) – I was like, “oh, that’s cool.  I hope he enjoys it.”  The radio chatter went on, with DMs and Blue Hands talking about how awesome a Bard he was.  So, I wearily trudged back to spy on his group from behind the black curtains.  One of our female DMs started begging to switch with a DM for the Spider Room (she ran it on the opposite shift).  After it was ok’d, she then stated, flat out, “I’m going to kill Wesley!”

She did, of course.  She was unfair, and had the giant spider repeatedly attack Wil’s Bard character.  He was kind of justificably irritated by her picking on him like that – but he handled it with more grace than I would have then.  I think he was more relieved to be able to get to a bathroom than mad.

I hope to see Wil at True Dungeon again.  He was a lot of fun, he seemed to enjoy it, and we’ve made a lot of improvements with the experience.