When my two siblings and I first got phones, we were under our mother’s contract. Every month we would just pay via bank transfer into her account the amount each contract was for each sibling. For reference, we had been with the exact same provider for many years and we were happy with the services… until this happened.

With her first job, my older sister decided to treat herself to a new phone and have a new account set up. To do so, she had to take a new number. Our mother called up to have her old number removed and then passed things to my sister to set her new account up.

We were assured that this would be sorted and her contract would be sent within twenty-four hours via email. They also said our mother would receive an email in the same time span confirming the disconnection of the old number. Twenty-four hours passed and we received nothing, but it was the holiday season so we just assumed they were maybe backed up and we would give them another day. 

A few hours after this, I received an email — all our separate emails were attached to each separate number on the account — saying my number had been disconnected, but as I had not finished payments on my phone they would like to know how I would be paying the remaining balance. 

My mother called them, rather annoyed but assuming it was an honest mistake. The person she got seemed nice, reconnected my number then and there, and assured us that the correct number would be disconnected this time.

We thought nothing of this until twenty-four hours had passed again. My sister had still not received her confirmation email that her old number had been removed. Instead, it was my twin who then got the email I had gotten.

Mother called again, angrier, but still trying to remain patient because she hates being one of “those” customers. My twin received confirmation that his number was reconnected again and we were assured again that the issue was resolved. Another twenty-four hours passed, and my sister had still not received the email. Instead, it was our mother who received it. Immediately, she took my phone and called them. This time, she was rather irate.

“I don’t know who is screwing up on your end,” she said. “I have asked for my eldest daughter’s number to be disconnected as she has now taken out her own account. We were told to wait twenty-four hours for confirmation emails. Firstly, my other daughter’s number was cancelled but the eldest’s was not. We called and we were assured this would be rectified. Then, my eldest son received confirmation that his number was disconnected and still not my daughter’s.

I called again and was once again assured the issue had been resolved. Well, guess who has just received confirmation of a number being disconnected? Me! What is so difficult?!”

As she didn’t have it on speakerphone, we could not hear what the poor person in customer service was saying. 

“No, you listen,” my mother continued after a minute. “I explained multiple times which number was to be disconnected, so don’t hit me with that ‘the numbers are similar’ tactic. Three different people have cancelled the incorrect number despite actually confirming said number on all calls. Get the issue sorted and now.”

We all waited in silence for what was to be said.

“Thank you,” my mother said finally. “Now send that email as soon as possible, please.”

Mother huffed in annoyance once the call was disconnected and handed me my phone back. Once again, twenty-four hours passed. This time, my sister finally received confirmation that her old number had been disconnected and our mother’s was reconnected again. Thinking the issue was sorted, we left it at that… until the mother’s direct debit came out after my twin and I had done our normal monthly bank transfers into her account to cover the cost for the month.

“Are you serious? They’ve charged us all double what they’re supposed to!”

We were all furious, so once again, my mother called up. This time, though, she put it on speakerphone so we could all hear.

“I can see here that there was an issue with a disconnection,” said the customer service representative. “Unfortunately, disconnection charges cannot be reversed—”

“Listen,” my mother said sternly. “My eldest’s contract had run out; she was just paying a month-to-month tariff. According to your terms and conditions, no disconnection fees are charged. Anyway, your disconnection fees are £45 per number. My contract is £14.50 per month, and my twins are £42 and £35.50 per month. Why have I been debited £250? That’s an extra £23. Oh, and it was your screwup that incurred disconnection charges. You made the mistake; you remove the charges.”

“Disconnection charges cannot be removed,” the representative explained. “As for contracts, I can see here your twins’ contracts are valid for a further twenty-three months at those prices, but yours is now £40.50.”

My twin and I looked to one another, shocked. Last we’d checked, we only had four months until our contracts ended.

“Excuse me?” my mother said, incredulous. “At no point did I agree to pay £40.50 per month. And last I checked, which was only a couple of weeks ago, my twins had four months left. Why has this suddenly changed to twenty-three?”

“When a number is reconnected, you are automatically placed into a new two-year contract—”

“Well, cancel said contracts,” my mother instructed. “We will be taking our business elsewhere. Not at one point in any of my previous calls was I aware of this, nor did either of us receive any confirmation email saying so. We did not agree to new contracts. I will also be disputing the charge with our bank.”

“Would you like me to cancel your account, ma’am?”

“Indeed, I would, and do not offer me anything,” my mother said. “I have been a customer for over a decade, and my twins have never been with another provider, but that will be changing. Remove the disconnection fees, charge us what we agreed initially, and do not add any more fees.”

“I apologise for everything that’s happened,” said the representative. “I will get that processed right now for you.”

Our mother hung up and immediately made a call to another company. They were appalled when they found out the circumstances of our switching. They were able to offer us very similar tariffs to what we’d had previously, we could keep the same numbers, and they were cheaper. Immediately, we signed up and thought that was now the end of it. 

After the chargeback was reissued to our mother’s account, she immediately cancelled the direct debit so the previous company could take no more payments from us.

One day, I came home from classes to find a bulky letter from a debt collection agency. Furious, mother called them.

“Hello, I have just received a letter saying I owe this amount for unpaid bills,” my mother explained. “I cancelled all contracts with [Phone Company] for multiple screwups and I have been with another company for weeks now. This is the first I’m hearing of this being owed.”

Once again, she didn’t have it on speakerphone so we only heard her side of things.

“What?!” my mother suddenly exclaimed. “I was assured that they had cancelled all our contracts weeks ago and I was told that all disconnection fees would be removed. I was also told I’d get a refund of the extra they charged me for a contract they signed us up for without making us aware it was happening!”

This went back and forth for nearly an hour, our mother getting more irate as time went on. From reading in between lines, we figured out what had happened. The phone company did not remove the charges, did not refund the £36 extra they charged our mother, added three more disconnection charges for the three cancelled contracts, and did not even process the cancellation in the first place. Therefore, they were still trying to charge us. 

Once our mother was off the line, she immediately let out a scream and got on the line to the phone company. The poor representative didn’t even get out a hello before she let rip.

“Listen here!” my mother started in. “I don’t know what is going on here but I am getting nowhere. I called to disconnect my eldest daughter’s account but you cancelled the wrong number. You then reconnected hers and again you cancelled the wrong number. I was assured that this would be resolved and again the wrong number got cancelled. After this, it seemed like it had been resolved, but then my direct debit came out, which included three disconnection charges which should not have been on there because you screwed up.

“Also, without our knowledge, you put us on to new contracts which we did not agree to, nor did we sign. I called up to cancel and I was told that all disconnection fees would be removed, as well as the difference of the cost on my phone which almost tripled due to your screwup, and no other disconnection fees would be added.

“I just received a debt collection letter and I called them. You guys never cancelled the contracts and did not remove the charges! We have been with another provider for weeks now, so you will cancel the accounts with immediate effect, all charges will be refunded, and you will let the debt collectors know it was your mistake.”

My mother listened for a moment and then launched back in.

“What do you mean, there are no notes about calls I have made? Are you telling me none of the people I spoke to left any trace so they wouldn’t get in trouble?”

When my twin and I hear this, our jaws drop in astonishment. They’d made it look like we were the ones at fault.

“I understand that on your side it looks like we screwed up, but you record all your calls, correct?” my mom asked. “Because, if so, I don’t delete call records from my phone. I will find exact dates and times for each and you can listen in on them all.”

The representative agreed to do so and to call us back once he had finished. Two hours later, we received the call back, which we were surprised about as we didn’t expect it.

“I am so sorry this happened,” the representative told us. “It’s not enough and I completely understand why you switched because I would’ve done so, as well, if that were me on your end. Two of the representatives you dealt with are in my building, so I have sent an email to their manager with the dates and times you gave me. As for the third, I’ve done an employee search and they no longer work for us.

“I have gone on myself, after receiving approval from my manager, to make sure that all charges will be removed. I have sent an email to you which you should receive within a couple of hours. I have also filled out a request to the team who directly deals with debt collection agencies to make them aware. Once they receive this, they will give you a courtesy call confirming that everything has been dropped.”

We all breathed audible sighs of relief at hearing this. It was obvious from the representative’s tone of voice that he was extremely annoyed with everything. A little over an hour later, we received the email he’d sent us which confirmed that every charge had been reversed. Logging into the account confirmed that this was the case. The next day, we received the courtesy call from the debt collection agency and we thought nothing of it until months later.

After my twin and I turned eighteen and our contracts were up with our new provider, we followed in our sister’s footsteps and made a separate account. Unfortunately, their system rejected it due to us failing a credit check. Neither of us had ever missed a payment for anything, so we asked where it had come from. You guessed it: our original provider. 

We all sent scathing reviews to their corporate offices at this, to which we were told the most they could do was to add a note to the report that there was not a missed payment and it was an error, but it would remain on the account for the whole five years it takes where we live for these to disappear from a report. Luckily, this small change allowed my twin and me to make new accounts, but now we can’t get cars, mortgages, etc., for at least five years.

All this because my sister got a new number.

This story is part of our Not Always Working Most-Epic Stories roundup!

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We have had a new counselor start with our agency who is one of the most socially awkward people I have ever met. She asks inappropriate questions, talks about weird topics, and is just generally odd.

Our agency has two separate locations that meet weekly for meetings. My husband works on one team and I work on the other. We are very conscious about not showing that we are together and at the max, we occasionally sit next to each other. While we don’t just come out and tell new hires we are married, most people figure it out due to us having the same last name.

The new hire is in our boss’s office when I walk by and she asks me a question.

New Hire: “Hey, [My Name], are you and [My Husband] having an affair?”

I stop and for a moment I’m unsure what to say. My boss is momentarily stunned, as well. I finally manage a response.

Me: “Uh, no. We’re actually married. To each other.”

[New Hire] thinks for a moment.

New Hire: “Oh, okay. That makes a lot more sense. I saw you sitting next to each other at the meeting.”

My boss was trying really hard not to laugh and waved me out of her office. I heard her telling [New Hire] that that was a “completely inappropriate” thing to ask.

My husband found it hysterical, as did our coworkers. I’ve been asked many times if my husband and I are together, but never like that!

I have a sign on my gate that says, among other things, “NO RELIGIOUS INQUIRIES.”

I’m enjoying a Saturday when my doorbell rings. At my front door is a woman in extremely casual dress; she looks like a biker chick. There are various females outside my gate. I’m instantly cautious.

Me: “Hello.”

Woman: “I see by your sign that you don’t want religious inquiries, but I’m not here to talk about religion. I just want to give you a gift. But before I give you the gift, I just want to ask, are you ready for what happens to your soul after you die?”

The girls and other women behind the gate look uncomfortable.

Me: “You need to leave.” 

She protests.

Woman: “I didn’t make any religious inquire-eyes! I just offered you a gift!”

Me: “You need to leave.”

Woman: “But I’m offering you a gift!”

Me: “Leave now.”

She left, but I wish I had called the police. In my jurisdiction, ignoring the sign is trespassing. And yes, asking me if I’m prepared for the afterlife is a religious inquiry. Across the street, I could see the male division of her party harassing my neighbor.

I work as an ambassador for a service supported by the City of Cleveland. In general, we answer questions while out in the public, escort older people to and from various locations, clean up sidewalks, and patrol neighborhoods. 

I’m out one day on my normal route and an older gentleman approaches me. 

Older Gentleman: “Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest public bathroom is?”

Me: “Certainly, sir. There’s a restroom a block north at the gas station on the corner of [Street #1] and [Street #2].”

Older Gentleman: “Oh, okay. Thanks.”

Before I can say anything else, he proceeds to pull down his pants and s*** right on the sidewalk, pull up his pants without wiping, and calmly walk away. Then, he looks over his shoulder.

Older Gentleman: “You may want to clean that up. You can’t trust anyone these days!”

I think I died a little that day, and if it weren’t for the decent money, I would have quit on the spot.

(I have brought my car in for a service. I am told when booking that if I come in an hour before opening, my car will be ready by 12:00 pm for me to go to work. It is 11:45 and the receptionist comes up to me.)

Receptionist: “They’re just doing our free, complimentary health check. You should get your car back by 1:30.”

Me: “What? No, that isn’t what was agreed. And I specifically asked to be opted out of the health check when I booked.”

Receptionist: “You can’t opt out of the free, complimentary health check.”

Me: “Yes. I can. The email confirmation actually states it.”

(I pull up the email on my phone and she reads it. She excuses herself and runs through a staff-only door. I hear a lot of shouting and then two men in coveralls storm up to me.)

Mechanic: “You can’t opt out of the health check!”

Me: “Yes, I can. My email says so.”

Mechanic: “I don’t f****** care. You will get your car back when I’m finished, and you had better show me the proper respect or it will take longer.”

Me: “Sorry, but aren’t you meant to be servicing my car?”

Mechanic: “YES!”

Me: “Why would it need a health check, then? Isn’t the service the health check?”

(He stares at me, stumped, for a few seconds.)

Me: “Exactly. It was agreed that my car would be ready by 12:00 pm. I expect it to be ready by 12:00 pm. Is that understood?”

(He blushes and then storms back through the door. I’m finally given my keys at 12:30, with apologies from the manager.)

Manager: “I hope this hasn’t damaged your trust in us.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it has.”

(I get an email on my phone and I quickly open it. A video plays instantly of an inspection the mechanic has done. It is playing quite loudly, with him screaming at me for being stupid and gay for owning “a pathetic piece of s*** car.” The manager is going pale as the video plays on. It finally ends with the mechanic lowering my car a little rougher than he should and him saying, “Oops, that sounds like your suspension.”)

Me: “You know what, I’m not sorry. I’ll be taking my ‘pathetic piece of s*** car’ and never coming back!”

(As I walked out, I heard the mechanic through the door exclaiming in shock that I was still there. I got a letter a couple of weeks later apologising for unacceptable behaviour and damage intentionally done to my car, with assurances that the mechanic was appropriately handled. I was also offered several free services as compensation. I would have considered using them, but I heard from a friend who also uses said garage that the mechanic is still there and is just as unappealing as ever.)