When is enough enough?

I don't trust politicians and I don't care what they say or how they say it.   The media say Obama isn't bold enough; Romney doesn't relate to the average person; Santorum is living in the wrong century; and Gingrich carries a grenade in his pocket with the pin pulled.   All of these things are probably true but does it really matter?  Jon Huntsman said Americans were suffering from a deficit of trust.  But it isn't just politicians.  I have reached a point where I simply don't trust any corporation, small business, service provider, or product. 

For several years I have paid my communication bill on line directly through Verizon.  At the end of last year, Verizon removed money from my bank account and applied it to a customer in upstate New York.    I made six phone calls and there were three faxes sent by me and the bank to Verizon.  The New York customer even notified the company that a mistake had been made.  It took Verizon thirty two days to return the money.   I switched to Comcast the beginning of the month.  The service came with Norton Security Suite which I have always liked.  Almost immediately my laptop started acting up.  The keyboard numbers kept coming up incorrect and I couldn't install any windows updates.  I called Comcast and was told that the problem had to be with the Sony computer.   Last week, I contacted Sony online and a technician told me my laptop was corrupted and when did I last optimize it.   Having no idea what he was talking about I immediately went into panic mode.  I was talked into purchasing a service plan for $299.99.   I came to my senses about two hours later, went back online to cancel the purchase.  This same tech engaged in a one hour dialog with me on why I should keep this one year service plan.  His supervisor even agreed to extend it for an additional six months.   I refused to give in and I got a little angry that they didn't offer an eighteen month plan in the first place.   I was told that I would be charged $25.00 for the cancellation and $34.00 for fixing the problem that caused me to call in the first place.  I refused the service charge since it was supposed to be free.  Later that evening, I discovered the problem had not been fixed.  I learned today that I was still charged the $25.00 cancellation fee (I guess this goes directly into their petty cash account). 

Yesterday, I spoke to a man from Xfinity tech support who wanted me to purchase a plan to correct the problem.  I refused because I don't believe in coincidences.  I had no problem with the laptop for the three years before Comcast.  I later found out the problem was with a program called Comcast Security Guard which had also been installed.  Once I removed it everything worked fine.  I am so sick of these companies coming up with new ways to put the screws to us.  My service with Comcast wasn't even a month old and their Xfinity tech probably knew what would solve the problem, but they wanted money.  I think that businesses have determined that if they swindle 100 people, only 5% will complain.  What a windfall!  It doesn't matter how big the company is or how much money they make, it isn't enough.