Never trust SBC

Dear partners in poverty,

I live on SSI, and I qualify for SBC local phone service at the
reduced "lifeline" (poverty) rate.

Each year, SBC sends me a postcard asking if I'm still poor.
This card, unlike other SBC documents, is printed so faintly that you can barely read it. I need to mail it back to them, or else my phone bill will increase.

Usually, I send the card back in an envelope, by certified mail, with return receipt requested. I think my extra $3 (or so) is well spent, for safety.

But this year I was too lazy to make a special trip to the post office in order to do this in a fool-proof way. I simply signed the card and sent it back by ordinary mail. Now I regret my casualness.

Today I got a letter, clearly and legibly printed (unlike the card), telling me that SBC hadn't heard from me; and so my monthly phone service will become more expensive.

I was furious. I had to wait an hour to calm down enough
so I could phone SBC and complain politely.

When I called, a polite man (probably in Canada, since he didn't sound like a native of India) agreed to send another card to me. After SBC receives the card, he promised, everything will be okay; except for a one-time charge of $7 or so, and I can call AGAIN to get that charge erased.

Luckily, I managed to avoid expressing my true feelings
over the phone. This underling didn't invent SBC's deceptive and unfair policies; so I shouldn't make him hear my rage at the executives who did.

Now I'm waiting for the card, which I'll return by certified mail,
return receipt requested; as I should have done in the first place.
I've learned my lesson, at least for several more years, until I again forget to be wary.


Queer Tenderloin Resident,
San Francisco, CA 94109

30 November 2004