1 Happy St

You may all recall back in March my attempts at getting the Chicago Sun-Times to stop billing me after I had canceled my newspaper subscription. If you don't remember, here's the short (actually, it's pretty long) version:

I canceled my newspaper subscription in January of this year. However, they continued to deliver it to my house every morning. I didn't think anything of it; I just figured I'd be getting a free newspaper for a while until the delivery person discovered his/her error.

Not the case.

In February, I received a bill for $14. There was no way I was paying that, so I called Mary at their service line to complain. She agreed with me, said she'd take care of it and told me not to send in any payment.

But she didn't take care of it. After that call, I still continued to get a newspaper delivered. And of course, in March, I received another bill, this time for $28. I called the service line again and this time, I got Armando. I went through my whole story again for him, he said he had no records of me canceling in January, and no records of me speaking with Mary the previous month. Of course not. Then he asked if I had Mary's last name. I didn't. Then I asked for his last name and I promise you, this was his response. "Oh, we don't give last names."

Process that in your brain.

Anyway, he said he'd cancel my subscription (yeah right), but I'd still be responsible for the $28 because I had been getting the paper delivered that whole time. I told him he must be crazy or on crack if he thought he'd be getting $28 from me. He said he was neither crazy nor on crack. I told him I didn't believe him.

Fast forward 1 month. I received a collection notice from Biehl and Biehl (it sounds like a law firm, but it's actually just a group of chimps with a word processor and some letterhead). I went through my spiel for some guy named Nick White. He said "you're complaining over $28 and you've been getting the paper this whole time?" I contemplated giving him a lesson in economics, but instead, I said a few curse words and asked for his boss. He transferred me to David (again, no last name).

Finally, a man willing to help. David said "you're right, I wouldn't pay that either", then told me I'd never hear from Biehl and Biehl again. I asked if he had any suggestions on how to get this straighted out with the Sun-Times since I was still, to that day, getting a newspaper delivered. He said all I could do was to try calling them again.

This was in mid-April. As of this morning, I am still getting a newspaper delivered daily. By my estimation, I have received about $70 in free newspapers.

Unless of course I have a gi-normous bill in my future. I'll keep you posted.