Well it is official, I am now broke. I spent the morning off paying bills and going to Kroger’s. The budget is busted.

Called my cell phone company yesterday to see how much of a hassle it would be to pay my bill ahead of the due date. Was just trying to be considerate and not destroy their billing system.

Much to my surprise I got a real live American from Nebraska. A very nice lady named Marsha came to my aid.

As part of the verification so she could get into my account she asked my DOB.

I replied “9/14/50”

She wished me a Happy Birthday and we went on with our business. At the end of our conversation I remarked that since I was a long time customer who always pays on time and since it was after all almost my Birthday they should give me a free month.

To my surprise she agreed. She said what I needed to do was let her connect me with customer service.

I told her I was just joking and did not expect them to do that. She did not agree, she told me that it was their job to keep me happy and she was connecting now.

Well the next thing I knew I was talking to Agnes in customer service.

To start out she asked my DOB.

I told her.

She asked how she could help.

Well I told her about my conversation with Marsha.

After a pause she replied that she didn’t know if she could do that but could I hold.

So I held, and I held some more.

Finally Agnes came back on the line.

She told me that she was not authorized to give me a free month of service-but she could give me a $15.00 credit on my next bill. Seeing how it was my birthday and all.

I told her that was more than I expected and that she had made my day.

I learned two lessons here.

1.      It doesn’t hurt to ask.

2.     And maybe even more important, you have to be careful when dealing with big business –sometimes you might just run into 2 sweet ladies that will make your day.

Da  grump