The Daily Aggravation

By Darcy Thiel

I get that the world we live in is different from what it used to be, but sometimes I wonder how the heck some things are allowed to go on.

This week was nothing earth shattering or considered high on the importance scale of life, but I found myself irritated none-the-less. Maybe you can identify with some of these types of situations.

◾An oil change taking over 75 minutes. When asked, I got a response of, “Well, we washed your car for you” like that would take that long. I would have appreciated an answer like, “We got backed up. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

◾Having to shop for tires and having it explained that even though they are billed as 60K tires, everyone assumes they only last around 40K. The higher number is only in ideal driving conditions, which exist nonowhere in the world.

◾Finding out that the tires require an additional $99 fee for alignment. Yep, you can buy four new tires but they won’t be put on properly. If you don’t pay for the alignment, you forfeit your warranty. So let’s be honest here. The tires are an additional $25 each. I’d rather have that said upfront.

◾Having a business cash your payment, but not post it to your account. They can’t locate the payment anywhere, but the bank shows it has been cashed. They then need another couple of business days to research where it is. In the meantime, they dock your paycheck for the loan you’ve taken, even though you have paid it off. The bonus? No, we can’t call you when we locate your money. You have to keep calling us back. Double standard. When it comes to us paying our hard earned money, no leniency. When it comes to them, they have unlimited time to do whatever they need to.

◾You ask the local chapter of your professional agency a question. They tell you to post the question on the national listserv. You do so and the answer is that you should ask your local chapter those kinds of questions. Obviously, no one plans to help me.

Like I said, nothing monumental. It is aggravating though, day after day. Sometimes it is just exhausting to have to be on your guard and have your thinking cap on every minute to make sure you know what is going on. And it is hard to be powerless when you can’t get what you need to live your life the way you are supposed to.

End rant.