Retrograde or Not...Holy Moly

A few weeks ago, I had a series of issues come up that nearly drained the life out of me. In one week, I had issues with the following:

1. Mattress

• Never delivered on May 30
• Finally delivered Jun 16 - wrong mattress
• Weeks of back and forth, no solution, contacted BBB
• Received correct mattress Jul 5

2. Gnats

• Noticed a few gnats in the house when I moved in, bug guy said "fungus gnats," call back in two weeks if worse
• Called back in one week - was infested
• Became expert on fungus gnats; discovered it's a lawn/soil issue; purchased any and every remedy
• Both neighbors have the same issue
• Back and forth; bug guy's boss's boss will contact me to schedule date to fix it
• Two weeks later, no call, had to get builder involved
• Bug guy came last week; thought it was resolved; gnats are back but not as bad...yet

3. Bogus Move-Out Charge

• Received final move-out statement from apartment complex; bogus $80 fee for pet damage
• Small amount of money, but I refuse to pay it since it is completely 100% false
• Asked for invoice; only sent me pet inspection indicating the carpets were torn up throughout and covered in urine throughout, and tackstrips were all coming up; padding was damaged; carpet was irreparable; never received actual invoice
• Called carpet company; manager took my info and said he'd call back; never did
• Called apartment complex parent company; regional manager was nice said he'd fix it and call me back; never did
• Called carpet place; was told the manager had no idea who I was; called back; was told they were not allowed to speak to me; told them I'd have to take this further; received call back - was told they didn't do the pet inspection; they just cleaned the carpet; said they had photos; when I asked for them was told the guy quit two days ago so they didn't have them (they should have been the property of the company); when I told him this appears to be a scam between Main Street Square and Hill's Carpet Cleaning; he said I have to deal directly with Main Street Square apartments; when I told him I might have to contact the media; he threatened me "you can do that but be very careful...sometimes bad things happen to people who do things like that"
• Called manager at apartments; within her story, she said I was lucky they were able to save the carpet and I was only charged $80; and in the same breath, that they replace the carpet for each tenant (??). 
• I had my unit professionally cleaned as a sign of goodwill when I moved out (I do that every time I move out of an apartment). My carpet was brand new when I moved in, and two years later, whenever I entered my apartment it still smelled brand new. I get migraines and am extremely sensitive to smell (ask my realtor! I passed on so many houses because of it!) and I kept my floors meticulously clean. My cats have NEVER ONCE used anything other than their litter box to urinate or defecate - and it was kept in the laundry room on linoleum tile. The entire apartment was spotless and looked brand new when I moved out. The office has given me nothing but problems since I moved in - and I think this was their way of screwing me over.
• I gave the carpet company and the apartment complex the info for the cleaning company I used. I even contacted the cleaning company and they called both people and left a message stating that my unit was the cleanest move-out service they have ever been asked to do. I contacted my moving company - each of the four guys signed a statement saying that my unit was immaculate - and that was before the cleaning!
• My final call with the apartment company ended by saying she'd call the carpet company to see if they would waive their fee and she'd call me back. I told her that every single person I've spoken with has told me they'd call me back and never did; could I count on her to really get back to me. She said she works on Saturday and would call me the next day. Never got a call. Followed up Monday; received out of office message; contacted the main email; they were "able to get in touch with her" and "the charges still stand." 
• I emailed her requesting that when she returns to the office, I would need the actual invoice of the charge along with photos.
• That was July 6; haven't heard anything since; haven't received anything in the mail either.
• A friend and former property manager told me not to follow up and not to pay - that it's too much work for them to come after me for $80 and they don't have proof anyway. So that's what I've done. 
• This is one of those principal things for me... the amount is meaningless...it's the fact that it's completely untrue - and how many other people have they done this to? For years and years, I've been wanting to write a book on the decline of customer service (and things like this) in the US, and this has really put a fire under my ass - and with all of the other order-related issues I have gone through recently, maybe it's a sign!

4. Medical Billing

• The minute after I received an email notifying me of how lucky I was that the above charge was only $80, I walked into my doctor's office for an appointment and was told that I owe all of this money since 2017 that went into collections!!!! Are you kidding me? First, it's not true, second, it's impossible because in my home buying process they definitely would have caught that in my credit and last - I've had to show them bank statements on three separate occasions where their billing system was in the wrong.
• I refused to pay anything, and I contacted BCBS who told me....get this...my doctor's office owes me close to $800 for charging me past my paid deductible in 2017!
• Have I seen it yet? Nope. Another back and forth battle. Ugh.

5. Custom Desk Order

• "It will be about 4 weeks." So four weeks pass by...and I'm waiting excitedly and impatiently for this desk I ordered. I follow up...the guy assures me it's coming. I follow up again...yes I'll find out Sunday when your delivery date is. I'll let you know. No response. In a few more days I follow up again - soooooo...any word on when this desk is being delivered? Ohhh yes, Thursday morning, you're our first stop. Great - I work from home on Thursdays so I'll be here. I followed up twice on Thursday..." yes it's coming." I received it at 10:30pm!

6. Water

• The water company website is super difficult to navigate because there are two different companies for different parts of Durham County. I followed the strange process...found it, set up my account, applied for auto-payments, got approved for auto-payments and then never seen anything deducted from my account so I began to worry. I called them - and the very next day they were going to turn my water off!!! I never even received anything in the mail. They explained that I still had to register my account

7. Shoulder Injury

• I was putting together a metal box spring, trying to pull the cloth covering around it, so I turned it upward, vertically. When I leaned down to pull the cloth around the bottom side on the floor, it fell toward me, so I stood up to push the box spring the other way, and somehow fell forward, and broke my fall with my right, fully outstretched arm. I heard two cracks in my shoulder, but was afraid to go to the doctor. The pain got worse over the next week so I saw my doctor, who said it's either a torn or sprained rotator cuff muscle and she sent me to PT. My first appointment was yesterday - and holy fuck - if you know what the subscapularis is - it's uncomfortable when being massaged on a person who is perfectly healthy, but when your shoulder is messed up it is downright excruciating! It is the muscle along the inside of your shoulder blade - so to palpate it, you have to go under the armpit, really deep - and squeeeeeeeze. OMG. It still hurts. I have two more appts this week, then two next week. 

8. Chewy Order

• Not a big deal..and an example of excellent customer service. I spent $129 on a cat litter cabinet (I have nowhere, sensible, to put my cats' litter box in this house) and while I received my pet food order, the large box with the cat cabinet was still at the NC FedEx distribution center. For weeks! After one week I contacted Chewy and they immediately apologized and shipped me a new one, which I received two days later. I told them - be sure to keep track of the original one at FedEx so you get it back. But that one was delivered to me the following Friday! Meaning, I received two cabinets and only paid for one. Except I only wanted one. They told me to keep it for the hassle I went through. So I gave it to my mother who was just here visiting.

During this blog post, the general contractor came over for an update on the gnat situation. He said, while he sees it with his own two eyes, no one he's reached out to has any idea of what he's talking about. This includes landscapers at other properties, neighbors, pest control companies, etc. He said he didn't want to minimize this, because it's an obvious issue, but it's a mystery. He said he's going to have the pest control company come out and do one complete treatment to the entire plot of three units where I live (they normally come out and do one at a time). If that doesn't work, he said normally he would never suggest this but for all three of us to submit a warranty issue, saying there's a bug problem and we need it fixed so that at least it's documented at the corporate level and something can be done about it.

My mother and her husband visited for an entire week and just left on Sunday. Holy moly...it's true what they say about three days. I couldn't focus on anything. They argued about everything. Everything. He's a chain smoker and an alcoholic. He has no filter, he makes stupid childish puns all day long, ones that are vulgar and offensive and racist - all fucking day long. And in public. And with cashiers, etc. It's so embarrassing. They've been together for 30 years and for the life of me, I have no idea why or how. He puts my mother down constantly. She believes it and is obsessed with the way she looks and it takes her two hours to get ready every day. She wants to always be out doing things - mainly shopping. Dude - I am exhausted from working, and this was worse. It's hot as heck and we're walking at the hottest hours of the day around a huge flea market - he's chain smoking. I just...am so happy they're gone. I feel bad because he put up all of these lighting fixtures for me in the house and I appreciate it so much, but honestly, I'd rather pay someone. He was unable to install one so now they're talking about coming up for Christmas to do other stuff. I'm going to have to get creative to avoid that. 

Sorry, this post is so negative. I just needed to get this stuff out in writing. 

On the positive side, I discovered so many new places to visit in Durham, I love my ceiling fans and lighting fixtures; my writing desk motivates me to write finally, and for crying out loud - I have my own home!!!! :) Things are good and will only get better.

Hugs to everyone! Dana - I want you to know that I read your posts, but they make it so difficult to comment! And then I never receive any comments left on mine. 

To you and Jennie - I hope you're both well and I think of you ladies often :). Hugs from afar!