Damn it, Citibank. I don’t need more reasons to be fucking cynical. We had gotten along so well since the EAB merger. Why did you have go and trick me?

Of course, I acknowledge my own mistake for trusting you. I should not have. You tossed out the rusty bear trap of Catch-22 in front of me, and I consented to step on the bait plate. Thus begins the lesson.

———-

It went down like this, folks. In June, I wanted to open a CD online on a Sunday (yes, I’ve done this before without problem). In the process, I noticed in the fine print that the rate was getting raised on Tuesday. So I cancelled the online form and called Customer Service to verify that the rate was changing. Mistake #1.

The service rep verified the rate was changing on Tuesday, but then told me that I could get the higher rate anyway if I opened the CD now. She said she would just note in the computer log that my account was to be opened on Tuesday. “Oh really? That would be great,” says trusting me.

At the time, I figured the phone call was evidence of this promise, since before you ever speak with a live representative, you always hear “This phone call is being recorded for quality assurances,” so I agreed to open the CD with the aforementioned note on the account. I mean, if she just said “No, you can’t get the higher rate now,” I would have waited until the next weekend. Mistake #2.

A couple days go by, and the stats finally come up online with my account info. Of course, it has the wrong rate. I call Customer Service right away and indicate this, explaining my previous agreement. Surprisingly, they say, “No problem, we’ll listen to the phone conversation, correct the account, and send you the updated info to sign. Check in 5 days for things to process.” I hang up, thinking the universe will be realigned. Mistake #3.

Mistakes #4 and 5 consist of a slightly more impatient version of #3, where I call about this not being fixed, open an inquiry (with not just the CS Rep but a Client Research Manager!) and wait another 5 days for things to process. So here I am, almost a month since I opened the account and nothing has changed. Today I finally get a letter from Citibank stating in technical terms that they will not change Jack Shit and the rate is the rate.

Now if you’ve heard my podcasts or read my writings, you know I’m mostly a non-confrontational guy… I believe in professionalism, keeping my cool, and talking things out. Honestly, this unnerved me. I mean, if you were always planning on screwing me over, why have your reps and managers looking at the account notes and saying for a month, “No problem Mr. Sahm, we’ll fix the mistake” then?

So the phone call round 4 begins with me clutching to a sense of inner cool, trying so hard not to yell or anything. This account manager, however, was different from her predecessors. She was a real bitch. She told me straight up that Citibank would never go back and listen to the phone logs, because such an endeavor costs thousands of dollars to do, and they do not see why they should do that for me.

Now look, at this point, it’s not about the money that the extra rate would have given me… even if it was a nice chunk of change to a working stiff like me, this was about general principles. About how if promises are made on a professional level, those promises are noted and kept. The phone recording was the only face card I could play. Without it, I looked like nothing more than some idiot who realized three days later that he could have gotten the higher rate. But the frustration is that I did know about the rate… yet I had nothing to aid my cause.

So I tried once more to remain professional, and kindly requested that since I was misinformed and misled by the phone representative of Citibank, I would just like to have the application to the CD cancelled (I never signed any paperwork that they sent me, mind you) and have my money returned to my checking account.

She quickly replied, “We can do that, sir… but you’ll have to pay the early withdrawal fee.” And then, I totally lost my cool.

I could get into what I said, but you can figure it out. After a few minutes of arguing, being put on hold, arguing some more for another minute, and finally resolving that this woman would not help me, I hung up.

You know, the irony of all of this is that I ask for quotes and estimates in writing all the time. Hell, it’s part of what I do for a living! Yet this one lone time that I did not, I ended up getting the shaft. I can only shake my head.

So even if this lesson is a difficult reminder to me, I am trying to pass it on to someone out there who might just get in that same moment as I was.

Always get it in writing first before you agree to anything… even when you know the phone call is being recorded!

After I made a sound composition talking about paint last month, maybe I was subconsciously trying to tell myself something.

I’ll be the first to admit that among my creative endeavors, painting has been the one that I’ve neglected the most over the last three years. While I planned out some concepts, bought supplies, had canvases stretched (or for the larger ones, cut out), most of them have sat around waiting like patients in an overbooked doctor’s office.

Call me naive, but I like to cling to the silly notion that things will always balance out. Sure, that goes against most of my pragmatic beliefs, but I also believe achieving balance is a self-determined thing. That even if I could not bring painting up to the high echelon of priorities right away, it would return in due time.

Now it finally has. With the website revised, a new MJR recently finished, a TAGB proposal sent, and Novel 2 on hiatus, the time was now to get back in the paint. It helped immensely motivation-wise that an opportunity to publicly display my work has presented itself. Since that’s something I’ve never done before, it brings me a new experience to absorb… that even if it doesn’t turn out all rosey, I can say I tried. And you know how important that is to me.

With that said, it’s time to head down to the subterranean studio with some caffeinated beverages, pump my Zero 7 and Thievery Corporation mix, and get to work on the future. Have a nice 4th of July weekend. Peace.