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tales from the call center....(MINOR language warning)

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  • tales from the call center....(MINOR language warning)

    So, I work in a call center for servicing credit cards for a fairly large and well known international bank...

    up until April 3rd, we were not offering any kind of relief from this pandemic, except what we already had in place (waiving late fees).

    Lots of complaints about how I work for a soulless company and I should feel bad and get a real job and stop stealing money from people....if I wrote all the stories of what people had told me in the month (most of March) leading up to us finally doing something I'd be still sitting here typing in December.

    A lot of people thought that just stopping paying their credit cards was enough to be forgiven, then call and complain when they get late fees. Then complain about having to wait on the line so long (MINIMUM wait time has been 40 minutes to talk to a live agent, that's how busy we've been with calls), then complain FURTHER when I tell them what they are calling about is beyond our control (needing to talk to the company that put the charge on the card, find more info on online purchases, etc) and have to transfer them to the CORRECT department, which has an even longer hold time...

    a few stories to tickle your funny bone...

    Suck 1:
    This one happened today and I'm STILL not sure about the logic... Our stores are curbside pick up ONLY and thus returns are near impossible for this reason...this lady has had the item for almost a month now but can't return it for the exact reason that I just outlined...

    So she calls in because she just got her first statement for said item, still in her possession, that can't be returned, because of stores...

    Lady: So I just got a call saying that I'm behind on my payments, but I need to return this item because I don't want it anymore (note not damaged/broken/unusable just doesn't want it anymore), and the stores are closed so I can't return it. I don't feel i should have to pay for something I don't want.

    Me: Ma'am...you just said you have the item correct? Payments are still required since the item is still legally in your possession.

    Lady: but I want to RETURN it, and CAN'T because the stores are closed did you not understand what I just said?!

    Me: Yes, I do understand, but legally you still have the item and legally still have ownership of it, so therefore you still have a payment due on the item in question.

    Lady: YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING!!!! GET ME YOUR MANAGER!!!!

    ME: please hold...

    I put her on hold but since the management team is just as backed up with calls as we are, the wait time is going on 7 minutes. She hangs up on me JUST as a manager comes on the line...well her loss.

    ----------------------------

    Suck 2:

    Remember what I just said about the stores being closed, this also means that you cannot make payments in the store, BUT there are other options....you can mail in your payment, you can make a payment online, or you can call and talk to someone like me and make a payment over the phone, or even make a payment through the automated system and make a payment without waiting to speak to anyone.

    This call starts off WONDERFULLY and goes downhill from there...I BARELY get my call greeting out before she starts in on me...

    Lady: I JUST WAS CHARGED A LATE FEE!!! I ALWAYS PAY IN THE STORE!!! THE STORES ARE CLOSED!!! I ALWAYS PAY IN THE STORE AND SINCE THE STORES ARE CLOSED YOU CHARGED ME A LATE FEE!!! I THOUGHT SINCE THE STORES WERE CLOSED THAT YOU WOULDN'T CHARGE A LATE FEE SINCE I ALWAYS MAKE MY PAYMENT IN THE STORE!!! I HAVE A JOB I CAN PAY MY BILLS!!! YOU CAN'T CHARGE ME A LATE FEE CAUSE THE STORES ARE CLOSED.

    queue versions of this rant for the first 5 solid minutes of the call (I timed it), she won't let me get a word in edgewise, won't give me her name so I can pull up the account, or even offer any kind of solution.

    When she finally DOES calm down and gives me her information and I explain to her the other ways I outlined above to make a payment she goes back ON the rant about how she always pays in the store and if she mails a payment now she will get more late fees and what am I going to do about this?!

    Her son in the background must be hearing what I'm saying because she says "well my son will pay with his card!"

    Ugh, lady, I don't care that you have a job and can pay your bills...lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine...

    -------------------------------------

    Suck 3:

    This guy calls in, wants my help resetting the password for the online account so he can look at his bill since he thinks there MIGHT be some fraud on the account. It seems easy enough, ask for important information like an account number or something so I can pull up the account...not rocket science...

    except he gives me the SSN (which is fine), then tells me his name...which is NOWHERE on the account as an authorized user OR the primary account name.

    Well you see it's his mother's account whos 70 years old, and he handles all her affairs and she doesn't HAVE a computer and can barely use one at all. But NO he doesn't want this reporting to the credit bureau so he doesn't want HIS name added as an authorized user and its Fing stupid that I can't help him get online!

    Dude: I don't WANT you to give me any account information, I just want you to help me sign into the single most useless card in history that apparently a 5-year-old can hack into and use since there's so much fraud on this card its all your fault!

    Me: Sir, I can't even get into the account without speaking to the primary cardholder since you're not authorized on the account. It means that giving you the method to get into the account allows you access to the personal information on the account that we can't give you.

    (for those of you playing along...he wants me to get him into an account that he says is to easy to hack into and commit fraud on, yet doesn't appreciate the irony of what he's asking me to do...)

    well, he's all in a tizzy that I won't help him in any form or fashion to get online because I won't accept that he's an authorized user cause his mother said he could be! (this I don't doubt, if you authorize someone verbally they have access to discuss the account for 24 hours). He's cursing me up and down and after 2 attempts to ask him to keep it civil and reduce his cursing I'm allowed to hang up on him, without him getting what he wants!

    ------------------------------------------

    Theres more stories but I'm tired and stressed, and can't remember more at this time...the good thing about all this right now is that I get to work from home thankfully so I can sit in my comfortable recliner and take calls from these...........FINE specimens of human nature............
    It is by snark alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire 'tude, the lips acquire mouthiness, the glares become a warning.

  • #2
    Well

    One reason I only have debit cards is to avoid the interest charges I use to end up with when I used credit cards.

    But number 3 was the funniest. If the card is so easy to hack into, why does the caller just do so himself?

    Comment


    • #3
      The third suck reminds me of when, years ago, I was trying to get something done with the insurance I had at the time through Random Craft Store, I can't remember what it was, but my late mother was trying to help me with it. I do, however, remember my mother trying to get information when she didn't like how I was phrasing the questions and the agent telling her to either hand the phone back over to me or hang up if she couldn't let the policy holder talk. Yea, my late mother didn't like that at all.
      Eh, one day I'll have something useful here. Until then, have a cookie or two.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth earl colby pottinger View Post
        One reason I only have debit cards is to avoid the interest charges I use to end up with when I used credit cards.
        We actually had a customer in the store a few months ago who told us he pretty much functioned entirely on one pre-paid credit card. He had to re-load it to pay for his purchase, which was kind of an inconvenience, but he didn't worry about his account being hacked.

        Comment


        • #5
          Related

          Quoth workerbee222 View Post
          We actually had a customer in the store a few months ago who told us he pretty much functioned entirely on one pre-paid credit card. He had to re-load it to pay for his purchase, which was kind of an inconvenience, but he didn't worry about his account being hacked.
          I in-fact have three debit cards. One account is Canadian which I use in my regular life, the other two are American, one I use only when I go to the States, and ond I use only when I go cruising. By limiting the amount of money I have on the two American cards it means if I go traveling and someone commits card fault, my cards are limited in how much money they can get.

          Even the same applies to my Canadian debit card, there is more money but the bulk of the money is in a seperate account that is not withdrawable using the card.

          Comment

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