Hi Bradley Duncan. I Have a Crushing Headache.

If you Google yourself, I mean. Bradley Duncan just added me on FACEBOOK. I tried to send him a "yrs in FACEBOOKship" note but my computer ate it. I just got off the phone with AAA. The locksmith who they had initially dispatched to come fish the broken key end out of my ignition (no idea if the person or people who broke in left something in my ignition that caused this or if it was just the coincidental cherry on the sundae of bad karma that was yestreen?) wanted 200 DOLLARS just to show up. And he admitted it was probably a five minute job. At most, thirty minutes he said. The locksmith knew he was asking for a pound of flesh which is why he WISELY called first. Because I've no doubt he's been turned away many times with pricing like that. NO FUCKING WAY. NOTHING PERSONAL. Turns out they SOAK all AAA clientele by charging that figure just to show up. And they don't show up nights as last night I was told to call in the morning. So it's quite a little life that scam artist who owns the biz has going. I called AAA and raised holy hell. At first, I was getting nowhere and was told they pay 50 bucks regardless of who the contractor is, so the other 165 bucks the guy wanted off me was no skin off their ass. Of course. So I had the call escalated and by the third tier I was getting somewhere. It all changed when I said I used to work there (completely true) and I began droppping names of people who are higher up. That helped somewhat but didn't get me the Golden Ticket. That came when I asked when the next board meeting was, because I wanted to "sit in." I felt they should hear about this contractor in Grantville who gets 200 Clams just to show up. He's the fucking Miley Cyrus of locksmiths. I should have asked him "Are you fucking your dad too?" "What" "Well, I figured you were Miley Cyrus if you get that much just to stand next to my car." Anyway, the first guy I called in the Yellow Pages told me that was highway robbery. He'd come out and do it for 75 books total, and he does work with AAA Lancaster and York. So they don't screw their members down that way. Woo hoo. Marif, Thanks! He said have them call me and I'll tell them somebody's screwing the pooch. Long story short, Rob at AAA turned out to be the magic bullet and solved all my problems. At first, I was going to have to go with Marif's company and submit for reimbursement of my fees and possibly get nothing back, or possibly get the fifty they always cover. But nobody could guarantee this. Then Rob came through like a champ and said another locksmith was called, AAA would cover the fifty and I would owe somewhere between 10 and 30 bucks but no more. So I was ecstatic. But I feel so sorry for the suckers who get the SCAM ARTIST ASSHOLE out of Grantville (that's where our racetrack cum casino is located...Penn National). They probably won't use any sanctions against him or replace him. I called him back to let him know he's an asshole for charging the 200 and that AAA should hear about how he's exploiting their members. I told him another locksmith actually LAUGHED OUT LOUD when he heard the pricing. He told me he just fixed the same thing on a 2005 car and had to make a brand new set of keys for the guy (the new complicated kind where you have to go through the several processes). And he STILL charged way less than this guy wanted from me for 5-30 minutes of work. He kept giggling. He asked who it was. He was nice to say I could have AAA call him to assure them I was indeed getting my shorts turned around. Pays to shop around, kiddies. And the squeaky psychotic does get the baksheesh.