Sad to see a customer going senile

[Ghel]

I think I should start posting more of my interactions with this customer. Let's call him Tim (since that's the name I've apparently used for him before.) He's irritating and sometimes amusing. He's an old fart who's starting to get senile. I think he's starting to realize it, too. One of his daughters is supposed to be coming in from out of state next week to help him move into an assisted living place. Which, at this point, I think would be the best option for him.

I talked about him before here and here.

Today, he called up with this issue:
Tim: Can you tell me who I pay for my phone?
Me: I can look it up on your checking account. ... I don't see a phone company, but your internet provider is <ISP>. Maybe you get your phone through them?
Tim: Yeah, <ISP>. I need to call them because I'm not getting any sound.
Me: Are you calling me on your cell phone?
Tim: What?
Me: Did you call me on your cell phone or your house phone?
Tim: Oh, I'm on my house phone.
Me: Ok... so what's not getting sound?
Tim: My tv!
Me: Oh! Well, you'll need to call <ISP> to help you with that.
Tim: Do you have a phone number for them?
Me: It's not listed on the payment on your checking account. Do you have a bill?
Tim: I don't know where it is. I've had this issue with them before, you know. <rambles a bit>
Me: Here, let me look online for a customer service number. <Googles. Finds it.> Ok. Here's the number. <xxx-xxx-xxxx>
Tim: <reads number back> What is this for?
Me: That's <ISP>'s customer service number.
Tim: Yeah, I've got no sound. And it's Friday. I can't go through the weekend without sound!
Me: Ok. Call them. They'll help you out.

I finally get him off the phone, and not two minutes later he calls back and gets CW. I hear her mention his name and ISP. I go over and whisper "Is that Tim? I just gave him ISP's phone number!" So she transfers him to me.

Tim: I tried calling this number, but she said it was <name close to bank name, but not quite>.
Me: Did you call your ISP at that number I gave you?
Tim: You gave me this number.
Me: Right. You need to call that number, and they'll help you with your tv.
Tim: ...alright. I've had trouble with them before...
Me: You said that earlier. Give them a call. They'll help you.
Tim: Ok...

He hasn't called back since, so he must have either gotten hold of them or realized he had his tv muted.

[Buzzard]

I know the sensation. I used to work security at one of those expensive walled 55+ communities. Every now and then, one of my residents would move to the assisted living facility next door, and it was generally not a round-trip ticket. Those who lost fine working minds were the hardest, I think.

[Nunavut Pants]

An internet acquaintance of mine has his mother living with his family, and she is slipping pretty badly. The thing is, though, that she can keep everything together long enough for a doctor's visit, so getting her official diagnosed has been tough. I think he recently got a longer appointment for her, and the doc was able to see how she's been "faking" full mental capacity...

My mother is in an assisted living facility. She has Parkinson's, and dementia that is also a symptom of that. It's not too far advanced yet, and she was always really smart, so she can work around a lot of her issues, but they are there... It's always draining to deal with her.

[Ghel]

Yeah, it is draining to deal with folks with memory issues. It's so sad to see their cognitive decline.

Something on the "So Frustrating" thread I linked above reminded me of another story with Tim. After the bank decreased his purchasing power on his debit card, scammers were still trying to get money from him. In this case, they did a "preauthorized" check supposedly to pay for some $4200 worth of dimes. When I tried to call on his behalf and handed the phone to Tim, he wouldn't clearly say he didn't want the dimes or that he changed his mind. He just repeatedly accused them of taking advantage of him (which they did, but he wasn't clear about wanting to cancel his "order", even with me trying to coach him). The scammers tried to claim they had already shipped the dimes, less than 12 hours after he supposedly placed the order. I managed to put a stop payment on the check before it cleared his account, but it was a nightmare.

Whenever he gets mad at a business, he threatens to go to the Better Business Bureau or the media, even if he's not clear what he wants from the business to remedy the situation. He claims to know the state attorney general personally, and he's repeatedly threatened to call her to get her looking into said business.

[Minflick]

My best friends dad has just been housed in some form of assisted living after a week of crisis and maternal denial. Her dad was placed in a skilled nursing facility; couldn't stay there due to an insurance issue [and yet he has great health insurance, so who knows what the hang up is] and he's so far gone he's getting combative and needs sedation so he'll stay in his bed, and not get dangerous for staff. He'd already gotten dangerous at the house, and my friend had to take the guns (long owned, never used) and all sharp garden implements out of the house, because he'd tried to attack her mom or her on a visit.

Her mother is close to having a nervous breakdown over it, and my friend may work herself into a heart attack, although I profoundly hope not! It's so sad.