...details, details

REVISED VERSION...

since the visit with the lawyer last week, I've been busy...

I opened an account at Bank of Mudville...
enabling it for online/mobile banking...

changed the direct deposit info for my pension, effective the next payment...
and Social Security benefit, effective next month...
[the account/ATM card/15 checks /mo. are free with direct deposit]

took my 1st mortgage off auto pay...
as well as making sure that no credit card payments...
are set to be withdrawn from WFB...

I also changed my "pay from" account to BOM from WFB for...
all my utilities as well as my car & home insurance...
which have to be auto-pay to cost the least they can...

all done MUCH more easily than I had anticipated online or by phone...

a couple will not change until March, but I can deal with that...
since changing the bank for my SUSD medical insurance benefit repay...
[which is deposited into WFB each month...]
has, to this moment been difficult...
and will go into WFB, whether I like it or not...

so I'll "drop by" the "Castle" on my way home...
to see if I can talk to someone from Payroll in person...
[their,"helpline" wants me to leave a contact number...
and they'll call me back in a few days...]
their idea of a quick response is a couple of weeks...

been there... not interested in going there, again...
but then, I'm NOT at all surprised...
that SUSD would be the hardest to deal with...
for even such a simple change...

dealing with the Federal Government was simple...
one quick phone call was all it took...
if I could've remembered my password...
I could've done it online in a flash...

dealing with the state & my pension plan was also very easy...
I signed-in online, found the link, entered the new info...
they e-mailed me of the pending status...
and then quickly confirmed the new bank's approval in an e-mail...

all of my utilities & car insurance allowed me to change banks online...
by adding an account & then deleting the old one...
Sprint was actually processing my payment...
and changed to the new bank... right then...

I don't deal with my homeowners insurance company online...
but through a local agency, so I contacted her...
faxed a copy of the new check to them for her to process...
and received a confirmation e-mail from her...
of the change to take effect for March...

so what I thought would be complicated, has been really not...

well...

I haven't finished with SUSD yet...

but I'm hopeful...

oh... and I received 3 letters from the 1st mortgage holder today...
all asking for me to send ALL the stuff we submitted through HUD...
4 times already... ARGH...

made it a lot easier to go and turn-in my safety deposit box keys...
and empty out all the stuff in the box, most of it out of date, anyway...
I'll close my savings account tomorrow...
with the checking as soon as I get through the beginning of next month...

but for now, onward to grapple with the beast...

POST SCRIPT...

I went by the "Castle" yesterday...
Payroll sent me to Accounting...
and just when I figured that I would get a total run-around...
I heard a voice say,"I know you...I was in your band in middle school..."

it was Robbie, a former student[good saxophone player and good kid...]
who now works in Accounting at SUSD...
so after "catching up", he went looking for someone to help me...

the young lady who came was very considerate...
and listened to my problem, repeating back to me what I needed...
and then promised that she'd call the "holding company" today...
getting back to me, ASAP, with what I needed to do...

I also said that there was nothing on the website for retirees...
and that since this holding company was hard to contact...
there should be a link for retirees on the SUSD website...
at least a contact list for Cobra, the holding company, etc...

so I left, not expecting a great deal, but encouraged by her attitude...

this morning, I found a voice mail from her assistant...
[I didn't know that I was talking to the person in charge yesterday...]
she gave me the address for the website...
as well as detailed instructions and a couple of alternatives...

she also said that if I had no internet access...
to come back in & they would print me the needed form...

so I went online at the holding company...
followed her instructions and easily changed my info on line...
it was just as easy as every other online account...
I just needed the address...

so I called SUSD Accounting back to thank them for their help...
[They have been historically BAD & UNHELPFUL...
so I wanted to encourage this new mindset...]
the assistant I spoke with said that...
they were putting together a proposal to create a "retiree's"link...
on the website to deal with questions such as mine...

AMAZING! I would have NEVER expected that timely & complete a response...
to my mention of needing a retiree's contact list on line...

I guess things DO sometimes change for the better...
even in organizations mired in red tape & complacency...