Trying Not To Have A THREEpeat Of Non-Performance

Perhaps you assume that Mrs. Hillbilly Mom finally has this bill-paying thing all figured out. C'mon! You KNOW what happens when we assume.

Three days ago, I got a bill for SiriusXM radio. We have it in T-Hoe, and also in A-Cad. In addition, we gave it to The Pony last year as a Christmas gift. Not that he spends a lot of time driving...but when he does, it's handy to have SiriusXM when you're in the middle of Oklahoma, and driving through assorted middles of nowhere wherever you go. Can't be fiddling with the radio, trying to find a station. This billing statement stated that the bill was for the 2016 Acadia.

Two days ago, I mailed back the payment stub and check. Those SiriusXM people are crafty. They're always trying to get you to set up your account for automatic payment, so they can remove money from your bank at will. Not for me. No siree, Bob! They should thank their lucky stars, actually, because they KNOW that the account is paid for AN ENTIRE YEAR, with no chance of Mrs. HM to not get a bill and not pay it. This arrangement actually saved us a couple bucks, too, when royalty charges went up, and we were locked in at the same price until renewal time.

One day ago (that's yesterday for those of you who use a more sensible form of speech), I got another bill for SiriusXM radio. For TWICE the amount! I didn't get all discombobulated. I knew that my check was in the mail! I knew that I didn't owe again for the 2016 Acadia.

Here's the problem. This newest statement only specified the 2013 Rogue. That's The Pony's car. It would make sense. His paid subscription started when the trial ran out. About this time last year. So there's no dispute that we owe for the 2013 Rogue. MY question was the other car on that bill. WAS it the 2016 Acadia, as I suspected? Or did they have it on a separate bill, and this was the 2008 Tahoe? I was pretty sure T-Hoe's SiriusXM gets renewed in late summer or fall. But...I could be confusing that with his On-Star.

So...I called the SiriusXM people. Or their automated phone. Which has a recording ask you a question, but only gives you limited choices to answer. After three tries, I made it understand that I wanted to talk to a PERSON. Her name was Angel, and she had a thick accent of undetermined origin, but she was very polite, and with a little lag time while my mind translated her words, I was able to explain my situation. She looked up the account, verified my information, and said that indeed, this second charge was for A-Cad. That T-Hoe was good until September.

Angel said that I would not receive another bill once my first check had cleared, and that all I needed to do was send in that payment stub with the payment for the 2013 Rogue only, plus a $2 paper statement fee. Easy peasy for this old geezer.

We'll see if I get any extra bills in the coming weeks. It's either feast or famine around here where bills are concerned!