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I had a customer call today because she had been charged a late fee. Her payment was due ~2 weeks ago, maybe 3. When she called today, we still had not received payment for her October due date; the statement for her November due date went out last week.
First she gives me this long, drawn-out story about how she was out of the country and didn't get her bill. She doesn't want the fee to affect her credit so can I please remove the fee. Then she tells me that there was supposed to be an automatic payment set up to pay from her checking account, which is also with our bank.
If there's an error on our side, we will definitely waive the fee and correct the problem...but I couldn't find any indication that direct debit had been requested for her account. No advance phone payments, nothing. I noticed that she's enrolled in online banking, so I ask her if that's how she set up the automatic payments.
No, she claims that someone at her local branch promised to set it up for her. That is simply not possible but it wouldn't be the first time that a bank associate made a promise they can't keep. I apologize and try to get more information to resolve the issue...and she tells me that "they" promised to set up the automatic payments when she APPLIED for the card.
As in, to set up payments to be made to an account that did not yet exist, before the application had even been reviewed by credit, let alone approved. Riiiight...
I have my complaints about branch associates who cause problems for me because they're not educated on credit cards and misinform our customers instead of reaching out for assistance, but I do not believe for one second that anyone made that promise. This is a case of a customer hearing what she wants to hear.
She didn't get the bill because she was out of the country. She couldn't check the bill online because her internet wasn't very good/there was no internet in said country (BS)/she doesn't have a computer. She couldn't keep her story straight. As for why she didn't call us, I never did get an answer on that. She kept coming back around to "them" promising to set up automatic payments when she applied for the card.
I apologized again, for the "miscommunication," and tried to explain how this is just not possible: you need a credit card account number to set up payment, automatic or other. There was no way for the branch associate to even know if her application would be approved; how would they possibly know the account number?
Apparently she thinks that we work with magic and psychic abilities, because that was NOT a valid explanation for her. She kept asking me to remove the late fee, which I was not able to do...we still haven't received a payment!
Then she really started pouting and said, "Well, I guess I'll just pay it off and close the card..." I transferred her over to our phone-pay IVR.
That call was 15+ minutes of my life that I will never get back and you know what? IDGAF if she closes that account! I hope she does!
First she gives me this long, drawn-out story about how she was out of the country and didn't get her bill. She doesn't want the fee to affect her credit so can I please remove the fee. Then she tells me that there was supposed to be an automatic payment set up to pay from her checking account, which is also with our bank.
If there's an error on our side, we will definitely waive the fee and correct the problem...but I couldn't find any indication that direct debit had been requested for her account. No advance phone payments, nothing. I noticed that she's enrolled in online banking, so I ask her if that's how she set up the automatic payments.
No, she claims that someone at her local branch promised to set it up for her. That is simply not possible but it wouldn't be the first time that a bank associate made a promise they can't keep. I apologize and try to get more information to resolve the issue...and she tells me that "they" promised to set up the automatic payments when she APPLIED for the card.
As in, to set up payments to be made to an account that did not yet exist, before the application had even been reviewed by credit, let alone approved. Riiiight...
I have my complaints about branch associates who cause problems for me because they're not educated on credit cards and misinform our customers instead of reaching out for assistance, but I do not believe for one second that anyone made that promise. This is a case of a customer hearing what she wants to hear.
She didn't get the bill because she was out of the country. She couldn't check the bill online because her internet wasn't very good/there was no internet in said country (BS)/she doesn't have a computer. She couldn't keep her story straight. As for why she didn't call us, I never did get an answer on that. She kept coming back around to "them" promising to set up automatic payments when she applied for the card.
I apologized again, for the "miscommunication," and tried to explain how this is just not possible: you need a credit card account number to set up payment, automatic or other. There was no way for the branch associate to even know if her application would be approved; how would they possibly know the account number?
Apparently she thinks that we work with magic and psychic abilities, because that was NOT a valid explanation for her. She kept asking me to remove the late fee, which I was not able to do...we still haven't received a payment!
Then she really started pouting and said, "Well, I guess I'll just pay it off and close the card..." I transferred her over to our phone-pay IVR.
That call was 15+ minutes of my life that I will never get back and you know what? IDGAF if she closes that account! I hope she does!
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