What Happened to the Fax I Sent??

Twice in the last 24 hours I've received information saying that the fax I sent had not been received. Now, I know this happens, but it's still aggravating.

Situation #1: I'm in the process of changing banks (the bank doesn't know it yet, so don't say anything!). I had an automatic transfer set up between two accounts going into a third. The fax was sent to the fax number provided on the bank's website. I sent an email a day or so later to see if they had received the fax and found they had not. The return email stated they had not received a fax at the same number as stated on the website. Luckily, I had a confirmation sheet that gave the number I faxed to. Yep, same number. So, I sent another email saying that my confirmation sheet stated the fax was sent to this number on this day.

I despise this bank. It's been sheer laziness and procrastination that kept these account open as long as they have been. This is the same bank who failed to even suggest that when my husband and I opened personal accounts we put the other on the account as at least a beneficiary. Because my husband didn't list me as his beneficiary, I don't have access to his account and can't get the money in his account without a court order. No matter that I have a marriage license and a death certificate and can prove 90 ways to Sunday who I am. Luckily, the amount in his account was minimal and it's not going to mean the difference between keeping the house and being on the street. In the bank's defense, this is apparently required by Florida law if a person dies without a will.

I just checked and I haven't had a response to my latest email to the bank. I deal in emails when I can because I can't trust myself to remain civil when dealing with this bank. And, I have a paper trail to refer to. Normally, my paper trails are so that I will know I've done, but in this case, it's so that I will also know what the other party has done.

Situation #2: About two weeks after my husband died, I went to our local Sprint store and asked to close his account At that time, I understood the bill was paid up and no money was due. I gave the original death certificate to the Customer Service Representative who went into a back office with it. When he came out, he told me that he had faxed it to Sprint (headquarters, main office, billing office, accounts receivable office - whatever) and the account was now closed. About a month later I got a bill from Sprint that included time after the account was supposed to be closed. I sent the bill back with a letter explaining what I had already done and a copy of the death certificate. I haven't had a bill since, so I "assumed" all had been taken care of. Today, I got a call from a collection agency for payment of about three months billing. Huh?

As politely as I could, I explained to the lady at the collection agency that I would not pay this bill, and explained what I had previously done. She asked that I fax a copy of the death certificate to her so that the account could be closed out. I declined to do so as I had already taken the required steps with Sprint (and then supplied another copy of the DC) and this should not have happened.

I then called Sprint. After being on hold for I would guess 20-30 minutes (or longer), a spoke to a very pleasant lady who listened to my story. Oh, she did say at one point that I was breaking up, so I took the headset off my Sprint phone and spoke through the handset. Either the headset I bought through Sprint doesn't work very well, or walking from the kitchen into the living room made a difference. I don't know-don't really care. Anyway, she put me on hold and spoke to the billing office. They want me to fax another copy of the DC to Sprint. I asked why I should do this as I had already faxed it from the Sprint store and then send a copy through the mail. Well, she was nice and said she was only relating what the Billing office asked. I said I wasn't mad at her she was trying to be pleasant to someone who was obviously annoyed. I understood she was only the middleman. I have too much to do today to run around looking for a fax machine and I work this weekend so I told her I would try to do it by the first of next week.

I'll pay any amount due prior to the first fax being sent from the local Sprint office. But not a dime after. I wish this had happened before I renewed my Sprint contract or I'd be with another company today.