"It's a dog licence with dog crossed out and cat written in crayon.""Man didn't have the right form"

[captainsblog]

My Non-Ferris Bueller Day Off so far- presented by Target. You know, the ones with the bullseye on your back?

* First words out of the shower from my darling daughter: "Dad. We Need to Talk."  Capitalized just like that. 

Today, you see, was the day a big chunk of her financial aid was supposed to post to her bank account. I'd helped her open the account, filled out the paperwork that RIT sent her to direct-deposit it to the account, and prompted her to check periodically to see if it was in the account. When it wasn't there first thing this morning, she called- and found out there was an additional form I hadn't sent in along with the direct deposit authorization, formally granting them permission to do so.  I'd never seen it before- it was in an area of her account information that only the student can access- and if she had seen it before, it never clicked that it had to be filled out, too.

So, basically, the school got back one of two required forms, and just did nothing- assuming, you know, we'd send it along in due course once the rest of our billions of dollars ran out.  It's now been found, signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. Her RIT account says it's now been direct deposited to her bank. The bank, operated by a different division of Vogon Incorporated, has yet to respond to this scurrilous allegation.

The head of their financial aid is about to get a fairly singe-ing letter from a dissatisfied customer. They have singularly screwed up just about every stage of this Veddy Expensive process that they could- from effectively blowing her entire 2010-11 work-study award because they never told the Student Employment Office she was work-study eligible, to almost putting me in default on her parent loan for last year because they didn't send in a form electronically, to never ONCE telling us what the deadlines were for this year's process. Yes, it's an educational experience, but we're a little further down the learning curve than the people in their office are.

I doubt I'll get a discount on this year's tuition, but they'll probably send me a nice ballpoint pen or something as an apology.

----

* Even before I could put the "I'm off all day today hauling furniture" message on my voicemail, I got into a half-hour-long conversation with someone I used to represent, no longer represent, have repeatedly told that I do not represent, and maybe, MAYBE found a way to not represent him while still helping him.

----

* One unreturned phone call about an unpaid bill to a client was followed, seconds later, by an incoming call from Bangalore about the client.

At this point, I'm thinking, Did somebody shoot my TARDIS or something?

----

Fortunately, it gets better. I just completed a fairly complex three-party financial transaction with everybody doing what they were supposed to, when they were supposed to do it. And that, totally unexpected as of late Friday afternoon, will make up for a large amount of the preceding clusterfudges.

Comments

[audacian.livejournal.com]

Is it possible it just hasn't posted yet? My bank posts stuff at 11am and 6pm, which is why I had to wait until almost 7pm to close on my house.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Probably. Funny thing, though, is when PACER debits my account for a filing fee or somesuch? THAT shows up instantaneously.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

We've had a similar experience with the University of Houston for hotpantsgalore's student loans.

Just breathe deeply, remind yourself that even financial aid employees are human beings, & keep at it. We've finally got her money & no-one even died!

What does make it hard to understand is that the University of Texas had this shit down COLD. Financial aid was the easiest part of the whole experience of working with UT.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Heavens, but I love forms like that. Of course the school wouldn't notify you that it was missing something! Why on EARTH would they?!

At least you didn't have to listen to poetry after all was said and done. That would've been the last straw, given all else they've put you through.

(don't hold your breath on the pen. Let alone the apology)

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

A pen? Pens are expensive! But we'll add you to the Parents, Friends, Alumni, and Others With A Pulse And A Wallet list. They'll be sending you nice color brochures. About three a week from now on.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't blame the boots on the ground for any of it. That's why I'm going over their head to the boss- which, from how busy their office was yesterday, has a staff full of employees suffering from athlete's scalp.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Hell, I'd settle for a 2011-12 calendar. The 2010-11 one runs out tomorrow, and offers NOTHING in the way of what the dates are for the school year starting Tuesday Monday.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry. We're already on THAT list. The first parent event this year is a wine-and-cheese party at an estate winery. After finishing paying their $13,000 bill for just one quarter, we'll be lucky to have bus fare to get to one inside a cardboard box outside the nearest WalMart.