Mommin' It Up!

January 18, 2008January 18, 2008

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner. OR STEALS HER MONEY.

I am just a smidge hot under the collar. You see, two days in a row I have found that unscrupulous internet companies are trying to STEAL FROM ME. And have suceeded apparently to some degree. So I am writing this rant, dear readers, as a warning to you! And to HURT the companies that did this to me.

So here goes. First on my shizzle list is Restaurant.com and Shopping Essentials. Yesterday I found a $14.95 charge on my bank account through my debit card that I knew I had not authorized. It was for Shopping Essentials. I called their number to find out what was going on, and they claim I signed up for their membership when I bought gift certificates from Restaurant.com. I DID buy GC’s, and after my purchase, a screen popped up offering me a $10 rebate on my purchase. I quickly saw that it was shady and just closed the window. I DID NOT sign up for Shopping Essentials and I certainly DID NOT give them my debit card number! Which leads me to the conclusion that those jerkwads at Restaurant.com GAVE THE JERKWADS AT SHOPPING ESSENTIALS my debit card number!?!?!?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR CUSTOMERS??????

I got the lovely customer service rep from Shopping Essentials to cancel my “membership” but I am having to go through the dispute process with my bank to get the charges removed. I BETTER WIN THIS and get my $$ back or Restaurant.com is going to be very sorry. I will trash them every chance I get. I might even make it a weekly feature on this here blog. I also already filed a report on ripoffreport.com in the name of both these companies. Oh, and also I cancelled my debit card and ordered a new one, just to be safe, WHICH IS VERY INCONVENIENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have no debit card for 7-10 days. THANKS AGAIN RESTAURANT.COM & SHOPPING ESSENTIALS. AND BY “THANKS” I mean, “YOU SUCK”!!

So, then today I open my phone bill and there is a $16 NEW SERVICE charge from Enhanced Services Billing/Residential Email, LLC. I have NO IDEA what this is and my blood pressure begins to rise. So I call THEIR toll-free number and am told I signed up for this service (I still have no idea what this service is) over the internet. I “cancelled” the service and suposedly they ARE refunding my money. However the customer service rep said that there will be a charge on next month’s bill that has already been billed and that I am going to have to call them BACK to get that one credited AS WELL. So, my next call was to my phone company, AT&T, to give them hell for letting some 3rd party charge my account. The very nice (seriously nicest, most helpful CS rep EVER) explained that AT&T has to accept these because of monopoly laws, that they have no choice, but he told me how to block them in the future, AFTER I get my money credited back. He said that there has never been any problem with getting the credits returned but that it does take 1-2 billing cycles. I explained to him that AT&T could afford to lose the $16/month until the credit comes through more than I could and that I would not be paying that portion of my bill. He said he would make a note of that on my account. Anyways, he was cool. He also explained that there are 4 companies that run this kind of scam, and they do it in partnerships with websites that offer contest entry or surveys-for-money. They roll it into the fine print of their “terms and conditions” – you know that little box we check just so we can get through the process but never actually read – and basically screw us over. AND IT’S NOT ILLEGAL!! AAAHH!! So, a few weeks ago I told you I had been doing surveys through CashCrate. I have also been doing them through InboxDollars. I think it is one of their partners that did this to me, but I am a little confused as to how, since I never use my actual home phone number when I am required to enter a phone number. So, my advice to any of you who are on similar sites is, be very very careful. Read that fine print!! As for me, I am done with both sites, just to stay on the safe side. I am terrified I am going to see more charges in other areas of my life!! Next thing you know I am gonna get signed up for satellite dish service or something!!

Ok, so the moral of the story is: NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM RESTAURANT.COM and ANY CHARGES FROM SHOPPING ESSENTIALS or ENHANCED SERVICES BILLING/RESIDENTIAL EMAIL LLC on any of your bills are a MAJOR RED FLAG you need to get taken care of right away!!

GRR!! AND I’M ANGRY!! AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO MESS WITH ME! MY HUBBY WORKS HARD FOR OUR $$ SO DON’T TRY TO STEAL IT!!!

January 17, 2008

Walt Disney was right…

Last weekend, I was perched along side the Disney marathon route waiting for Andy to run by, when I happened to glance at one of the other runners. “That’s weird,” I thought to myself, “That looks like Pepper.” Pepper (which is not her real name, but the real one is equally unique) was, years ago, a regular poster on a messageboard that I have lurked on since I found out I was pregnant with Kate.

It struck me as odd, but I didn’t give it another thought until we were at the “Family Reunion Area” after the race, when I saw her again. This time I was able to catch a glance at her runner’s bib, and sure enough, “Pepper” was printed across it.

It was so weird – she was a perfect stranger, yet I knew her name, the names of her kids, where she was from, when she started running, and various other bits of information about her. However, she would never, ever look at me and realize I had that knowledge, because all I do is lurk on that board.

I was so shocked, and quite freaked out, by this incident… but I couldn’t tell my friends without seeming like some sort of scary internet stalker, so I kept my surprise to myself (that is, until I could find the time to text Jenny!).

It was a big reminder to me that whatever we put on the Internetz is totally out there, and who knows how many people are reading it. I don’t mean for this to sound like a warning of impending doom or anything like that, it is just so odd to think that any of us could be minding our own business running a half marathon and be recognized by some random person from Ohio.

Totally weird.

Sing it with me now – “It’s a small world after all, it’s a small world after all…”

It’s a ~~small~~ freaky world after all.

January 16, 2008

WFMW: Organizing Your Coupons

Are you sick of hearing about coupons yet? Well, too bad! It may ~~be obvious to~~ surprise you that I am not the most organized person in the world. Last week I told you I got my coupon organizing ideas from Money Saving Mom, this week I’m gonna show you how they’re working for me. To store my coupons at home, I use this old Rubbermaid container.

I have coupons organized alphabetically by category in an envelope with the flap cut off. The category name is written on an index card which is placed longways into the envelope. Now, since it’s a smidge inconvenient to cart a box this big AND two kids every time we go to the store, I take this more portable coupon organizer in the car with me.

(Kudos to my hubby for putting this in my stocking on Christmas! He got it at CVS! Woot woot!)

I have a tab labeled for each store I regularly shop at (including separate tabs for both my and my husband’s CVS ExtraCare cards), the front tab is just for CVS coupons, and I also have a tab for scrap paper and one for rebates. In each store’s tab there is an envelope with the coupons I want to use in that store. If I have the kids with me, I just take in that store’s envelope and leave the rest in the car. Here’s what it looks like all opened up:

If I am lucky enough to get out by myself for a big grocery trip, I take my whole big coupon box just in case I see I deal I hadn’t previously planned out.

So, that’s how I keep my coupons workin’ for me! For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer!