Over the past few weeks, I have had several things that seemed to be a bad thing (frustration) that have turned out to be a good thing (blessing) for me.
1. While driving to church one night, I could not get the cruise control on the van to hold the speed. This went on for more than 24 hours. I finally took it to the dealer - still trying unsuccessfully to set the speed all the way there. The technician took it for three test drives and the cruise control worked perfectly each time. The good part here is there had been a recall on the air bags, and I was unaware of it. This was corrected and therefore I was not charged for my appointment. I was happy to have this done just a few days before leaving on a trip. Blessing!
2. The hot water was only warm. I called the plumber that installed this new heater. This was not the first return visit for them. In fact, it was the fourth. The one just prior to this was because the floor was staying damp under this heater; the servicemen could not find the cause and since it was only staying damp, and not an apparent leak, they left without charging me. This time, they noticed there was not a cover on the vent pipe and determined a strong wind had gone down the vent pipe and blew the pilot light out. They went to the store and purchased a vent cap and also a shield for the bottom of the pipe because neither of those was on the pipe. They lit the pilot light, installed the vent cap and shield and went on their way. Result - no more damp floor and I have hot water. Blessing!
3. I got an advertisement in the mail from the same cell phone carrier I use. One of the items listed in order to tempt users to upgrade their phones were free services I did not have. I called and asked about them for the present customers. Turned out the services I had were being upgraded and I was upgraded to these services at no initial fee or additional monthly charge. Blessing!
4. My home phone/internet bill arrived with a higher balance than normal. Upon checking, I found that I had been charged for their long distance calling, which I had declined many years ago and have never had a need for. I called to see why this was charged and requested this be deleted from the current bill. The customer service representative checked and agreed I should not be charged for that, but also noticed I was paying a higher fee for my regular service than I should be due to a reduction on their part. She suggested I authorize a change in this, which would lower that charge more than 50% and also would give me more features than I presently have. After making sure I would not be losing any services I already have and that the bill would be lower, I agreed to this change. Blessing!
(I must add that I am still waiting to see if what she told me is correct. Guess I’m just a tad bit skeptical.)
UPDATE (August 3) - Things were not the same because I lost all long distance calling, included in the same county. I now have Nationwide Unlimited Calling and I have been promised the monthly charge will still be lower. We will see!!
FURTHER UPDATE (August 26) - Have received the first bill since the change. It is indeed less - about $30.00. Maybe I can start taking customer service people at their words - well, I'll try to be a little more trusting!
