Red Tape

Furryanimal

Furryanimal

Y gath o Gymru
Location
Wales
What's the worst red tape you have had to plough your way through?
 

Insurance policies of all sorts ... life, health, home. All are a test of your nerves if you need to find something.
 

I don't have any red tape horror stories.

The worst in recent memory was the deluge of information about Medicare and Medicare supplement policies.

After my eyes adjusted to all of the smoke and mirrors it wasn't too bad! :):playful::eek:nthego:
 
Right now getting home energy assistance. Have gotten in for 6 years from the same place and now they want documentation that I am in fact a U.S. Citizen~oh, my.....
 
Trying to cancel a service that was in my late husband's name and put it into my name.

Over and over: "I'm sorry but only the original account holder can make changes..."

"But he's DEAD....he can't make changes! I'll send you a death certificate!"

"I'm sorry but...." Could not budge them an inch on this.

Couldn't change, cancel, or anything.

After 40 minutes of literally screaming at them on the phone, i finally told them that the charge card was being closed on Monday and there would be no more payments on the account from that card. If they had a problem with that, they could take it up with the "original account holder", who was currently in an urn on my mantle. I might have also mentioned that he wasn't much of a conversationalist these days, but they were welcome to speak with him.

Hmmmm....ssuddenly it seemed that arrangements COULD be made after all.....
 
Good for you, jujube! Trying to get something stopped or closed or returned like accounts or automatic payments or unwanted items can be much worse than trying to start, buy or open something in the first place .
 
jujube said:
Trying to cancel a service that was in my late husband's name and put it into my name.

Over and over: "I'm sorry but only the original account holder can make changes..."

"But he's DEAD....he can't make changes! I'll send you a death certificate!"

"I'm sorry but...." Could not budge them an inch on this.

Couldn't change, cancel, or anything.

After 40 minutes of literally screaming at them on the phone, i finally told them that the charge card was being closed on Monday and there would be no more payments on the account from that card. If they had a problem with that, they could take it up with the "original account holder", who was currently in an urn on my mantle. I might have also mentioned that he wasn't much of a conversationalist these days, but they were welcome to speak with him.

Hmmmm....ssuddenly it seemed that arrangements COULD be made after all.....
Click to expand...


I understand all of that so well. When my husband died 6 yrs. ago, I had several hair-pulling episodes with companies/banks over ownership of accounts and trying to get things straight. I thought death certificates held more merit!

The worst was when I went to sell our house last year, which was in both of our names.
We had been married 49 years, three kids and everything seemed simple to work through (for Me). And we had owned the house for almost 40 years at that time.
I found out that dealing with rules of law and common sense are two very different animals. They made me jump thru hoops to get the house in my name so that it could be sold. They spent weeks searching for anything and everything.... A few of our neighbors we had known most of those years even had to notarize documents as to what I was stating was the truth ... that no one else could claim ownership to the house, like exes or stepchildren. It bordered on ridiculous!
They finally gave me a clear title, and the sale was done. What a hassle!

At closing I was given a bottle of champagne.. by then, I needed it. :D
 
signing up for Social Security benefits
I tried to sign up online with no luck,then I figured it out.Three yrs ago,I received a letter from Home Depot,somebody had tried to open an account in my name.I called Home Depot,talked to rep explaining it wasn't me
Then I called my credit card company,talked with rep who told me what they would do. They placed a 7yr extended fraud alert on my credit report with the 3 consumer major credit score companies.Its why I couldn't sign up online
A friend of mine went with me to local SS office to sign up in person.
Its frightening experience to be a victim of 'identity theft'
 
Well,I guess the longest red tape situation we have had to plough our way through has been the contamination cleanup of our commercial property where we operated our business for 34 years (and my inlaws for 13 years before that). Prior to them buying the property (although not immediately prior)it was a gas station,and that`s where the contamination happened. The government mandated that all of these old ground tanks had to be removed by 1998,so in 1996,we started the process. Had the tanks removed and some contamination was discovered. It was supposed to be cleaned up by 2001. Ha!There was always a new reason why it couldn`t be closed. At times I think they just forgot about us. Finally last year,the State stepped in and told the County that they want this site closed within one year. Well,it took a little longer due to the drought we were in but finaly,n March,it was considered clean. The last step was to inform the immediate neighbors (businesses) that it was scheduled for closure to make sure there were no objections,with 60 days to respond if there were. Tuesday the 60 days are up. As of Friday,there had been no responses so we are keeping our fingers crossed. My BIL is going to buy us out so we will FINALLY end our 42 year long business relationship with him.
 
The worst red tape I've had to deal with is actual Daily life in Spain...i';s just one long round of Red tape even for the most minor of things even for something silly like paying a utility bill !!


I could write a Tome!!!!
 

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