Why is life so difficult?

Disclaimer: this is another of your f**ing WE entries by LL, don't believe a word he says... he always sounds so fishy.

FHC has used his blog many times to denounce the hoards of people that companies employ for the express purpose of standing in our way. 

All of us are accustomed to the customer service represents who are there neither to help customers nor to provide service.  Take, for example, the Apple Store employee this week who accused me of wasting other customers’ time by demanding that he fix my iPod mini’s clickwheel.  God forbid I waste other people’s time.  I’m not sure if he’s aware, but he – and service representatives like him – are hired with the express purpose of wasting so much time that customers just give up and stop expecting anything whatsoever.

The real surprise this week wasn’t that a customer service rep tried to deny me service, but that my law school threatened to put a block on my record because I had failed to submit an immunology report to the health department when I enrolled.

First of all, I’m not sure what the dickens a “block” actually does, but I was sufficiently intimidated (read: panicked beyond belief) to look into the matter.  Not only that, I also had no idea what an immunology report actually is, but I assumed, since I’ve attended school without much trouble for the past 18 years, that I had one somewhere.  I downloaded the form online, and it turns out, all I had to do was send medical records that proved I’d been immunized at the age of six months against rubella, mumps, and German measles.  What the fuck are those diseases anyway?  Has anyone had “rubella” since the 19^th century?  And why stop there - shouldn’t they check my vaccinations for amoebic dysentery or the plague?

I also had a suspicion that not only had I seen this form before, but that I’d submitted it to health services months and months ago.  I called them to make sure it wasn’t an error.  Since we’re talking about a major university, I expected they would have staff on hand to deal with my questions right away.  Guess what?  They put me in a queue with horrible hold music.  After ten minutes of waiting, I decided my 1000 Verizon anytime minutes could be better spent.

I called “Kelly” in Dr. Beth H.’s office (2021 K Street, NW) to see if I’d ever requested that they send my immunology records to my school.  Why yes, she said.  In fact, the form was right there, with a note that said “faxed, May 2005.”  Would she mind resending it?  No, not at all.

Before I bore everyone to tears, I’ll just say that a) it took three tries to get through to health services and confirm that they’d received them form and b) about four hours after this whole traumatic affair was peacefully forgotten, I got the following email from academic services: "The University Health Center has placed a block on your record"

All this for $40,000. 

Comments

[Tante Georgette]

Bof!