But. There are some things.
I would probably check twice if she gave you directions on how to get somewhere. And there seems to always be some kind of dispute with the phone/cable/power/city people over something.
So I decided to work on getting Internet service for her and unravelling a torrid history of misunderstood promotions and failed promises with her local service provider. I called them.
The representative quoted me a price for her monthly service, $19.95. Which seemed fine. And then some back fee from a long time ago that needed to be cleared. And then a $4 “convenience fee.”
“ConvenientĀ for whom?” I asked. “Look, I realize I have a lot of choices for Internet here. Don’t lose us over a $4 fee.”
“Hold on,”he said. I held, for a while.
“I can’t refund the fee, but I can give you a $50 Visa gift card, is that OK?”
Yes, it was.
Feeling quite smug, I called my mom and relayed our conversation, and told her to call the company to book her service turn-on.
She called me back a couple days later. “I got them down to $9.99 a month. I just told them I know I have plenty of other options.”
People will always try to lowball you. And even when you think you’ve hit the rock bottom, there’s probably a little wiggle room under the rock.