Why Is Everything So Complicated?

Many of us have alarm systems on our homes, and dutifully pay the fee to the alarm company every month, plus money to the city once a year for a license. My mom has had the same alarm company for 30 years, and has been paying fees to them for all that time. A few weeks ago Chayo, my mom's housekeeper/companion set off the alarm by accident, and did not know how to call the alarm company to tell them it was a false alarm.

The alarm company sent out the police, ready to deal with a bulgary or robbery. They got to the house and were told it was a false alarm. I think this was the first time this had happened to my mom in all these years.

A few days later my mom received a letter in the mail saying she owed $147 to the alarm company for having them send out police on a false alarm. My mom was very upset over this charge as it was an accident, and here's what the alarm company told her. They would waive the fine if she took an "Alarm Exam." That's a new one to me. They sent her a test with 9 questions regarding operation of the alarm system, and if she got 7 of the questions correct, she would not have to pay the fine. Honest, I'm not making this up. All the answers were right there on the paper they sent her, so all she had to do was read the paper and find the answers. I thought this was one of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard, but I realize that most people will just pay the fine, and of those that call and complain, most will not take the trouble to complete the test, so it's easy money for the alarm company. Another complication of life, and another way of companies making more money because of lazy customers.

Another example of how we have to stay on top of everything. Recently I went online to change my form of payment from automatic credit card to pay by check for Direct TV. I waited and waited for my Direct TV bill to come, but I did not receive it. Finally I got an e-mail notification saying my bill was past due and I must pay right away, plus a $4.50 late fee. I called them and explained that I had not received a bill and that I was sending a check right away, but that I wanted the $4.50 late fee reversed. I got it done, but it's another example of how complicated things are today. They want you to go online to make changes, but then they don't follow through on their end. Then the customer gets a late fee and has to try to get it reversed.

It's so hard in these difficult economic times to stay within your budget. Businesses make it even more difficult by dinging you for every little thing they can. We as consumers have to check each bill and make sure we are not getting charged for something we didn't buy or do, and if we did, complaining about it. Sometimes I think that just keeping up with bills, inquiries, and especially medical stuff (which I don't even want to go into), is a full time job.