Whew... Can I get off this ride yet?

Ok, so I've been quiet on here for a bit, but that's because I've been holding on for dear life trying not to get flung off this marry-go-round of disaster. In July, our insurance reset, so we got another $500 put into an account and $1000 put into our Flex Spending account to last through the end of the year. By 7/31, all $1500 of that money was gone and we are just about through our deductible (of $3000). Granted, it started a bit lower because of the first 6 months of the year, but still :).

Then, to top it all off, Piper had to get some dental work done and because the Dentist lied about taking our insurance, we owe $591. Sure, they can "take" it and send the claim in, but for the things that are actually covered, it is at 60/40 instead of 80/20. Also, because they are out of network, other things cost a bit more. When I confronted them about this, they simply said "oh yeah, we're not in the network because they make us charge less." No kidding... you don't say?

So, here is my nastygram against "Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry" in Carmel, Indiana. We saw Dr. Laura Brinson Grahm, who actually is a great Dentist, but her business practices are complete crap. The other dentist in that practice is Dr. Rebecca Stuart Donnelson. I'm not sure of her competency, but I still insist that no one do business with them, and if you do currently, please stop :). And for Google's sake, here's some more information in hopes this gets indexed: Address: 13450 N Meridian St. Suite 363 Carmel, Indiana 46032. Phone: 317-846-5893.

Thanks to the wonderful freedom of speech we all have, they can't force me to take this down either, so eat it :). Stating that you can process Delta Dental isn't the same as being in network, and you need to make that clear to patients in need of semi-emergency work.

I've officially got the Vibe listed in hopes of selling that and paying off another year old hospital bill. I've actually got someone coming to look at it tomorrow. They've contacted me before and from the first email I'm sure they are going to low ball me, but we'll see how things go.

What I really need to do is stumble into about $30,000 somehow. That would make things much easier to deal with (and get a few predatory lenders out of our lives). I'd still have a ways to go, but it would be at least a bit more doable. At least my beater is running strong, and I got the AC somewhat fixed too -- so I'm not losing 20 lbs of water during my drive home everyday :).

Let this be a lesson -- Debt is bad, and even worse when you don't have an emergency fund and actually have a couple long term medical conditions to take care of. Cut the cards... live within your means.

Lazy....Economy, and Other Musings

After my glorious rant before, you'd think I'd run right out and try to switch banks. The truth is my work hours keep me away while the banks are open. I have, however, found out there is a branch of a particular bank I want to check on close to my house, so maybe over a weekend or a day off I can run up there and get this business straightened out.

On a positive note, despite what the government is trying to do to the economy, it seems to be starting to recover on its own. With the DOW approaching 8000 again, things are starting to look up in various markets. Let's just hope it continues. My only problem is not having any cash to invest now, because man, I would make a killing :).

The other day I was listening to a local talk radio show, and the host brought up coupons. Specifically, he was wondering if people who thought coupons were too much of a hassle were starting to use them if they had them, or were actively hunting them. I suppose I'd fall into the category of using them if I have them, but I'm definitely not actively seeking them out. Perhaps I should. Let me pose this question: how many of you are using coupons more when you didn't before? Also, if you are, where is a good and easy place of finding them? :). Like I said before, I'm too lazy to put too much effort into anything for too long :).

Until next time..

How Chase is Screwing Its Customers

I know times are a bit lean, especially if you are a financial institution. However, this doesn't give you the right to take it out on your customers in a somewhat captive market.

This story I have heard from multiple sources who come from every walk of life. Until it became my own, I wasn't aware of it. After things affected me and I started looking into the problem more, I became increasingly annoyed with those responsible.

Here's the deal. I've been a customer for chase for quite a few years. I've got a decent credit rating, always paid my bills on time, and brought quite a bit of business to Chase. I was a "responsible customer" as you might want to call it.

The financial crisis hit, and can be boiled down to irresponsible banks giving loans to irresponsible or ill-informed people who couldn't afford said loans. These handful of people completely crippled the financial system because so much was riding on the product they were failing to support.

Fast forward a couple months, and I get a notice in the mail from Chase stating they are changing the terms on my Credit Card. These types of things aren't really that big of a deal, but I actually decided to read this one a bit more closely. Even though I've been a good customer, a "responsible" customer, my interest rate was being changed from 6.5% fixed to 10.99% variable -- which in today's market puts it around 13%. So, for being responsible, I get "rewarded" with a 116% increase in my interest rate wheras those who have been irresponsible with their funds are getting handouts (bailed out) from the government. The interest rate I was moved to is higher than my first credit card I got when I was in HIGH SCHOOL working part time -- and had no credit history.

More stories I've heard range from adding monthly service fees to boosting interest rates even higher -- upwards of 22%. After some heated messages I finally got a reason -- "we needed to adjust our terms to make these products more profitable". So, due to their bad business decisions, those of us who did nothing wrong are being shouldered with carrying the company out of this mess.

As I noted in a previous post, I'm working on moving my business elsewhere. To reference the "captive market" comment above, in today's climate it is getting increasingly hard to find someone willing to take on a large chunk of unsecured debt i.e credit card balances. As soon as I can find somewhere I can move to, I am jumping ship and I hope that most of Chase's customers are in a position to do so.

I know you're hurting, but alienating your good customers is not the way to make it through unscathed. This is the same backward mentality that keeps certain parties from cutting taxes to stimulate the economy because they think it will cut into their tax revenue too much. Here's a news flash -- you put more money back into people's pockets they will spend it. The tax revenue collected from this spending would far outweigh the cost of giving people money back.

As the saying goes - "I'll promise to be nicer when you promise to be smarter". Here's to you Chase.

Health Care will be the Death of me...

To continue our fun medical saga...

We had a series of tests done a while back to try to figure out what was going on with Piper's immune system. Things went smoothly and we found out what we needed to. A few months after that, we decided to get Makenna tested for the same things to see if she had the same problems (so we could fix things before they got bad). After that test, we got a notice from the insurance saying it wasn't covered because it fell into the "experimental or investigational" category. That alone confused me, because aren't ALL tests "investigational"? If not, why do the test? :)

Anyhow, we had the lab and our doctor appeal the decision because it is actually medically necessary. One of the bits of ammunition I gave the most recent lab was that we had this done earlier, and we didn't have anything rejected from the first round.

Today, I got a bill from the first lab -- FOR $2500! Turns out they submitted everything to the old insurance, so it still hasn't been processed by Aetna. This is where I start to worry a bit with their "experimental or investigational" definition. ALL the tests they ran the first time would be "investigational" because we had no idea what was going on.

At least the first round of tests was set in by a specialist (infectious disease doc). The one that was rejected was just our pediatrician, so coming from a doc a bit higher up the food chain may help get everything covered.

This could get interesting.

Incentives....Really?

A couple months back, I decided to dream a bit and took a stroll around a local Mitsubishi car lot, and even drove a couple. Out of my curiosity, I went ahead and let the sales guy give me his pitch, and run through all of the purchasing numbers and leasing numbers. I know it was a bit mean to get his hopes up, but I do find sick enjoyment from time to time letting people try to sell me something I have no intention of buying and watching them look at me dumbfounded when I walk away.

Anyhow, I've been getting marketing email from them off and on ever since. A couple things even caught my eye. One was if you bought one of the remaining 2008 models, they would PAY your car payment for 6 months. Nothing I heard or read had "fine print" so I was of half a mind to go get a 12 month car loan and let them pay for half my car :). I know that probably wouldn't happen (maybe with a fight, but not likely) so I didn't mess with it.

This brings me to the topic of my rant. I got another email today about the 2009 models. "Get dealer incentives of $1000." One thousand dollars? Really? That's like maybe 5% of the cost of a new car. What kind of incentive is that? Most grocery store sales give you a better discount than that. Buy one get one half off, three for one, etc. Incentives? That's not an incentive. That is insulting my intelligence to think offering $1000 will make me think I'm getting a great deal on something that has been marked up well beyond that.

You would think with the struggling auto market, they would have their own INCENTIVE to help spur interest in their products. How about having a Kohl's style sale. You know, things between 40-60% off. Cars on the "clearance rack" marked down to 75% off. You start doing that and I guarantee people will start flocking in to by cars. If I could all of a sudden buy a new Lancer for $6000, now you've got my attention.

Are you listening auto industry? You want to sell stuff -- then HAVE A SALE. Forget this 1-5% off crap, actually mark something down and maybe we'll come pay you a visit.

Not that I could afford to pay $6000 for a new car right now, but still :). AFTER I get this mess cleaned up, I'm much more likely to be buying a $6000 car than a $15000 car.