Protection Plan

Yeah, so I never buy "protection plans" or extended warranties, or extra little service contracts for stuff.  Maybe because I trust things will just work they way they should, or maybe because I'm a tight-ass, or maybe a bit of both.

Tonight, I had to get one, and I'm pissed.

So, my Dish receiver in the living room wasn't working last night.  After restting it a few times, I gave up and went to bed...and watched some TV in there, because that one was just fine.  This morning, the boys turned on the TV and we had our channels back!  Woo Hoo!

Except there was no sound.

And this afternoon, there was no sound.

So, we checked all the connections, reset the damn thing a bunch of times, went through the troubleshooting guide....nothing.  I know my TV is fine, because my karaoke machine played through the TV with no problem.  We didn't change any wiring, so it wasn't us.

I called Dish, spent five minutes pushing buttons, and got a human on the line fairly fast.  He asks me a million "Did you try this?" questions, to which I said yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  And then we was unable to help me so he transferred me.  He must have been "low level tech support" for dumb asses who don't realize when they need to plug stuff it.  So then I get this lady, who asks me the SAME FREAKIN' QUESTIONS! and I say yes, yes, yes, yes.

And she says I have to have someone come to my house.

And then she says, "I notice you don't have the protection plan."

And I say, "Yeah?"

"Well, a service call is $95 then."

"You have GOT to be kidding me!"

"But, if you would like to sign up for the protection plan, I'll waive tomorrow's fee."

"So, how much will that cost me?"

"Just seven dollars a month."

Just.

So I said, "Fine, I guess I'd better get the protection plan."

"You can cancel it after four months, but if you cancel before that, there will be a cancellation fee of $25."

Of course.

So, I get to get part of the day off tomorrow (totally wasting my very limited personal time)....which I do not want because I have a shit-ton of stuff to do at work (and I have to be there in the afternoon at some point).  A technician will be at my house between 8-12, and it will take from one to three hours to fix the problem.  Notice I didn't say MY problem, because it's their damn receiver, which I pay for every month. 

And of the four people who live here, guess which one couldn't care less if we had a TV up in the living room anyway?

Yep, that's me.