If You Really Feel the Need to Anger Me...

...Just call me a liar.

I had no idea, either.

 

So part of my job is all about putting up online advertising of the open positions.  HTML and I are good buddies by this point.  So are online credit card transactions.  Having played on the Accounting team, I know all about turning in my receipts promptly and not making anyone have to wait for back-up information, that is just plain rude and frustrating for the A/P person.

 

Low and behold I get a copy of the statement and on it is a charge no one can reconcile.  It's for an ad.  One I never placed, costing over $1,000 for a position we'd already advertised with a certain company.  Hoo boy.

 

So I call the company and speak with their support personnel, I'll call him D, and I wanted to wring his neck.  He never raised his voice, go D!  But I too can easily use a perfectly cordial tone to tell you what a piece-of-crap, poor excuse for a human being I think you are.  I'm rather good at it, so is D.

 

He did not believe me when I said I had not placed that ad.  He did not believe that someone else at this company had not placed that ad.  Someone here had to have done it, and his finger kept pointing in my direction.  He said it was highly unlikely that the ad generated itself.  One big problem, D.  At the time this ad went up?  I was at my Periodontist's office.  If we're talking east coast time?  I was in the middle of setting someone up in the testing room, where they would have been at my computer testing, not maliciously posting ads for a job they weren't even testing for!  And hi, I have been the ONLY PERSON placing ads for the last three months.  But I said I'd look into it.

 

It would have been fine if he'd left it at that.  All I'd have to do is go track down everyone's whereabouts at the day and time the ad was posted.  No biggie, we're not that big.  What made me lose it was the fact that he said I had to have done it.  Who else would have the credit card information?  Who else would have a vested interest in posting the job?  How many different ways could I say I did not do it for you to believe me?  I understand that it seems highly unlikely that an ad would spontaneously generate on their site.  I mean, how would it get paid for?  Oh, I come to find out, actually the credit card information is already saved in our account?  So someone simply had to log in? Hmm, interesting, ass wipe, give me to your bloody manager!  I mean, that's nice, D.  Can I speak with someone who can help me?

 

All he had to do was pass me on.  Really.  But before he did, he had to open his mouth again, saying, "you know this looks bad for you.  You guys asked for this job to be updated and didn't do anything with this other job that is the exact same posting, but really short."  Short, you see, because they charge us by the word.  So ALL of our ads are short.  THIS ONE?  $1,000+ worth of words.  And as I'd posted the short one?  And as it was the only active ad, so I thought?  When I was told something had to be updated, yup, I updated the last job posted on my job list...the one I didn't put up.  So I definitely could have caught it then, but I didn't.  The wonder of their site is that you can update all sorts of information without ever looking at the text of the ad.  Which is what happened.  For a reason I couldn't fathom at the time, the candidates were sending things to an incorrect email address.

 

But I digress.  Basically D said it looked rather suspicious that we were only concerned about the $1,000 posting.  I agreed, but as it was supposed to be the ONLY ad that was up on their site, why would I be concerned about any of the other ones?  Maybe he was just thinking out loud?  I dunno, but I blew up at him.  What?  Me lose my cool?  You're kidding!

 

I told him that if he kept accusing me of lying and saying I didn't have a chance in the world with his manager, we'd have a bigger problem here than he realized.  I never swore, and for that I was oh so happy.  But if I wasn't yelling, I wouldn't be me.  I pulled out some 50 cent words...and that's when he got all ghetto on me.  Really.  He totally pulled the race card on my messican ass.  But I kept the rabid latina in check.  Like I said, he never raised his voice, and I never swore, but if there wasn't a whole slew of hate going back and forth on that phone line, I dunno what I'd call it.

 

---

 

I've since spoken to the manager.  And M?  He's the manager for a reason.  He may not cancel the charge, but people, never once did he say he did not believe it possible for an ad to be placed without my permission or knowledge. (Callin' me dumb there, D?)  Never once did he say that it had to be me.  Never once did he say, "how would it look that you are calling us now, after the post has expired." (Hi, we just got the bill, D.)  Never once did he say we were playing them.  Sure, he could be thinking it all, but thinking and saying are two very different things. 

 

Nothing's been settled, but aaaauuuuummmm, the way to placate me after you've called me a liar?  Tell me you at least can see my side of the story, and mean it.  Benefit of the doubt, it's a magical thing.