Posted by admin on April 17, 2009 under Uncategorized | 
When was the last time you judged and were humbled at the outcome? For judges of Britain’s Got Talent show it was just this past week in front and along with an audience that most definitely were ready to toss the book, just by looking at its cover.
The name of the book, or singer in this case; Susan Boyle.
An astounding voice profused out of a lady that all had pre-judged quite severely, openly displaying on camera smurcks and eyes rolling. After taking care of her family her whole life, she is on her pursuit, with a golden voice in hand and a quirky and interestingly sassy uplifting attitude.
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In Britain’s Got Talent, Simon Cowell along with fellow judges, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden, and the entire house were gobsmacked (English slang meaning utterly astonished) when they heard the most precious voice coming from Susan Boyle as she sang “I Dreamed a Dream” (Les Miserables) and had every person in standing applause.
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Her performance was so beautiful it had people wide eyed starting by Simon himself, if you have ever watched the program you know how abrasive he is with all the contestants. For Susan all he had were praises.
This video was uploaded to YouTube and since then Susan has received several offers, including interviews with Larry King and possibly Oprah.
In the mesmerizing experience of hearing her voice, echoes a blatant manner in which we are so quick to judge. We all do it, and if you are thinking “I don’t” you are lieing to yourself!
We judge ourselves, our family, co-workers and yes, this lady that we had never seen before!
Why? Perhaps it’s the plank! What plank? The one that remains in our eyes as we dodge it and are quick to criticize and judge everyone and thing we see.
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 5:7”
Enjoy the music and take some time to focus on your own plank as you pick up your jaw with humbleness!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
Posted by admin on under Uncategorized |
I couldn’t believe it either. A friend was in an accident and his car was totalled. He was not going to fix this car anytime soon, hence was not driving this or any other car and didn’t need insurance. When he called to cancel his insurance he was strongly advised not to do so!
“Keep the insurance” said the agent over the phone. Puzzled he questioned the agent, was transferred to several different people, several times over, only to hear the following answer. In the state of Texas if your car insurance lapses, when you go back to get insurance, from any company, it will increase substantially. The revolving door of agents on the phone suggested changing the policy to a “garaged car”, meaning you can have the minimum coverages on it. Yes, he had made it clear he was not going to drive the car! Enters another agent, this time from the sales side of the insurance company , suggesting a “non owner named” policy. Huh? Well, it’s a policy that means you don’t have a car, so you are basically getting it so your insurance won’t lapse. Note that this one was more expensive than the policy on the actual car owned previously.
Still puzzled, I called my own insurance agent thinking “aha!” there will be a reasonable explanation for this.
Sad ending, there wasn’t. Same thing. Car insurance will increase if it lapses.
Without a car to drive, hopeful to get one soon, and utterly puzzled, he is still paying on the same insurance he had before. Only having eliminated a couple of lines, reduced the rate by 40%.
Only a piece of chocolate can combat this one!
Has this happened to you? Did you find something different? Share!!!
Posted by admin on April 3, 2009 under Uncategorized |
PUSH BACK!!! Checked your Credit Card Finance Charge Lately?
My credit card bill displayed an interest rate this month that was more than double the last 6 months. After catching my breath and digging up the past 6 bills I was able to notice that my rate was 7.24% for the past 6 months, and now it was 14.99%. Yikes! Help!
I called the bank (Citibank in this case) and ended up speaking to a customer service person overseas with a heavy accent. On top of being frustrated I had to double my attention in hearing what she was saying just to be able to make it out.
After I questioned this, she fumbled with the keyboard a bit, I imagine going back and forth seeking a script titled “what to say to the customer at this point”, at which point she blurted out nervously; “Oh, you’ve been a customer for seven years (actually it has been longer) and we do value you as a customer. You are precious to us.” That is a new word used by customer service… precious? She continued: “So, I can bring your rate down to 9.9%”.
What? No, no good? I have made payments on time; I am not even near my credit line limit. What the heck happened?
So I told her. No, I want the rate I had before. She asked for a moment, repeated the customer service pre-formatted sentence and then said: “I will transfer you to an Account Specialist.” I heard some music and voila, on came an English speaking, no accent man that proceeded to pretty much repeat what she had said, minus the pre-formatted “you are precious” line.
I started by telling him how frustrated I was and trying to figure out what the heck happened! He stated that on my January statement there was a note printed on the bill about the right to “opt-out” from the interest rate hike. What? The right to opt out? How did I miss this?
I fumbled through my bills which I now had all laid out in front of me, and questioned him. “Ok” I said, “I have it here in my hands and at the bottom of the bill is the following. They are offering me chocolate.” He interceded and lightly added “would you like some chocolate?” I probably needed it at this point, yet continued to read. “My mileage summary. An offer for paperless statements, which if I had accepted I would have had to print all these statements right about now, might have thought it was too much work and just passed on the whole thing all together. Oh, and they are also offering me fruits. However, nothing about this finance hike.”
Then, and only then, he started to explain what this really meant and came up with some alternatives. Well, I can offer you a rate of 9.99%. I responded: “No, I want my 7.24% rate back!”
His explanation was; “If you opt-out that means that you will keep your current rate, or the prime rate (a rate made up by your bank, plus the finance rate, this supposedly being close to the government interest rate.) You can continue to use your card until the expiration date on your card”. I quickly looked at my card and it expires on 03/2010. So, I have nearly a year to use it at this rate. Heck yeah! I want to keep the rate!
“What happens when that date comes around, do you guys simply close the card?” He replied “Yes, we do”. “Can I call and say I want to keep the card and what is the current rate?” Silence. More silence. “Yes, you can”, he replied.
“Aha!” I exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the beginning then?”
He replied “Well, we are not supposed to suggest that, but you asked so I can answer.” It’s good to ask questions he added.
Wow! That is how things roll.
Put your reading glasses on and go “r e a d” all of your bills and all of the “fine print” on each one. Also, wouldn’t hurt to compare finance rates from the past months with the current ones. Then there are the phone bills, that is a whole other article.
Suggestion: review bills from July 2007 to present date to establish a pattern.
