- June 12: I call a company and explain someone took the top off its equipment in our front yard by the street. The customer service representative tells me she will notify the correct department to fix the problem.
- June 18: I call the company back and explain no one fixed the equipment. The customer service representative tells me no one put in a work order to fix the problem. He says he put in a work order.
- June 24: I email someone I know at the company. I explain I noticed that after someone came out to fix the equipment, he removed one of our plants from the ground and left a lot of dirt in a riverbed of rocks nearby. I ask the company to look into the matter.
- June 25: My contact at the company emails, thanking me so much for bringing this to her attention. She is so sorry the employee did not leave our property in the condition he found it. She says please accept her apology on behalf of the company. “Even if the plant did impede his work space I’m sure there was a better way to handle the situation. I will follow-up with the appropriate departments with regard to this situation and get back to you by Wednesday. Again, thanks for giving us this opportunity to address this.”
- June 26: A man from the company’s claims department calls. He says he will look into the matter. He indicates the technician may have had the authority to remove the plant if it was within three feet of the equipment. I explain I’ve lived in this home many years. The plant was in the same location for years. Technicians have worked on the equipment many times over the years. None of those prior technicians removed the plant. If the claims department determines the plant was within three feet of the equipment, prior technicians obviously didn’t consider this a hard and fast rule. I understand rules are rules, but sometimes you take steps to do what’s best for everyone involved. Also, I’m not sure why the technician would have left dirt from his digging in our river rocks.
- July 16: My contact at the company tells me the technician says he did not remove a plant that was next to the equipment and the plant disappeared after he worked on the problem. I explain that scenario is a strange coincidence and is hard for me to believe.
- July 17: The claims department supervisor calls. We can’t determine with certainty who took the plant, but he agrees to resolve the issue by mailing me a check for $90, the amount a local nursery estimates it would cost to send someone to replace the plant.
- Aug. 2: I call the claims department supervisor, asking when I should expect to receive the check.
- Aug. 9: The claims supervisor calls, saying he is checking with accounting on the status of our $90 check. He thinks we should have received it by now.
- Aug. 14: I call the claims department supervisor, asking when I should expect to receive the check.
- Aug. 27: I call the claims department supervisor, asking when I should expect to receive the check. He calls back, saying someone mailed the check but no one cashed it. He either will have someone mail it again or post a $90 credit to our account. He calls back a second time, explaining the company posted a $94.50 credit on our account.