Getting a new roof....

Alright, I'm sitting here at work waiting on our roofer to get some documents to me before I can go back to our bank and have them send off the check I received from the insurance company to replace our roof. This is all due to the most recent hail storm that we had back in March.

That hail storm by the way was easily the worst storm I've ever witnessedwith my own eyes. I've been through tornados and stuff but didn't see them b/c I was hiding in a bathroom or closet. During that storm I thought at any point the hail was going to come straight through our roof and into our home. It was ridiculous how big they were. Some I swear were bigger than base balls. My car actually received about 50 dings or so along the roof and a few across other panels of the car. I received the check for that damage a few days ago and I think we'll probably use it to go to Florida on. My car is a cheapo anyway and it will probably be paid off before we get rid of it so why not?!

Anyway, back to the check issue. I get so sick of working with people and companies that either have employees that don't know what they're doing or have processes that make no sense. Why can't the bank just endorse the check and hand it back to me so I can deposit and pay the folks doing my roof? Why do I have to mail it to Michigan? Does the bank not hire competent people at their local branches who can sign a stinking check?? I have all the paperwork to prove the work is getting done. Why do I have to wait. I have such a short amount of patience with these sort of things. I try to keep my cool but if it persists I can't help but go a bit crazy and try to get something for my trouble. There's no telling how much money I've saved us by doing a bit of arguing in cases like this. People at work hear me on the phone all the time asking for credits or refunds or whatever and like to make fun of me but I don't care. If I can save us $20 or $200, why not do it? I'm the customer and I should be treated fairly. If I'm spending loads of time on fixing something they messed up on I expect to be compensated for it. Bank errors are the worst!! But what I've taken advantage of the most. Bellsouth comes in a close second along with Direct TV. Even if it's my fault you usually can get someone confused enough to think it's their fault. It's almost like a game. I'm in the process of trying to get a free DVR through Direct TV but they're remaining steadfast on their decision not to give it to me for free. Actually, maybe this is considered being dishonest? I don't know. I consider it being paid for my services! It's also a good way to get out of lengthy contracts. I got out of a verizon contract due to all the problems they caused me after 6 months or so. That saved me close to $600 since we had 2 lines.

I just received the phone call that I was waiting for so now I can go back to the bank and give them the information they need so they can send this check to Michigan to get endorsed and then send back to me. I really can't think of anything to get back from this but maybe I can think of something on the drive over there. At least we're getting a free roof!! And not to mention, we had a $1000 deductible that I don't have to pay for!! That's the benefit to being resourceful!!