What part of "deceased" are you having trouble getting?

[LillFilly]

I'm sorry for your loss.

We must have been getting calls/mail for 3-years after my 92 yo Grandmother died. We finally took to 'forwarding' her mail to the address of the cemetery where her plot was located

[AccountingDrone]

I handled all of the family stuff when my dad died summer before last. I had the death certificate straight from the hospital that day, and I immediately faxed it to every single account that I could find - cable, phones, electricity, the town [taxes and utilities] - *everybody* the certificate and power of attorney and a cover page.

Worked like a charm, my cover letters explained exactly what we wanted done with each account, and who the lawyer of record and executor were, and contact information.

We had some inkling that things were not going well for him for about 2 weeks before he died, and I had been telecommuting from Moms house for the roughly 3 months before he passed, so I had plenty of time to decide how to handle things.

I will mention that hubby and I already have things sorted out, wills and all so when either of us drops dead we have a plan. We have a folder with all the information on what we want done with our bodies, where the wills are, and all our account information.

[Treasure]

RK, also want to add my sympathies.

Had a similar problem when my grandfather passed away - My grandmother survived him, but my mom had her POA - grandma is moving in with us (yay) so mom calls the Cable company (anybody else seeing a pattern here?) to cancel service
"only the acct holder can cancel service"
"He's deceased, I have POA for my mother..."
"well do you have Mr. S' POA?"
"No, his wife would've had that and i have her's..."
"well we need authorization from Him to cancel His acct...."
"He's deceased... I'm calling to take care of...."
round and round we go... finally
"So, if we just stop paying for the service, you'll just cut it off, right?"
"Well you can't do that, the acct will go into collections"
"GOOD LUCK COLLECTING FROM A DEAD MAN!!!!" *click*

[RavenStarr]

RK I am so sorry for your family's loss.

I think giving the number to the cemetary would be a great idea. I think the look on the call reps face would be priceless. I wonder if anyone here has done that and if so did the rep call back.

However I would have to say one would be so upset that the idea probably wouldn't occur to them until later.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My mother got pissed at the cable company for trying to push her to take over my grandfather's service when she called to let them know it needed to be canceled due to his death. .

A similar thing happened to my grandmother many years ago when my grandfather passed awey. She wasn't trying to get rid of the service, she was trying to downgrade it and they wanted to say that since it was in his name, she couldn't (I guaran damn tee had she tried to upgrade it, that would have been okay). We got it straighted out, but we had to get nasty about it.

[crazylegs]

I would be going to the local media about this - if there's a US version of watchdog then let them know too.

[bankworking]

My mother got pissed at the cable company for trying to push her to take over my grandfather's service when she called to let them know it needed to be canceled due to his death. I pointed out that there is one legitimate reason for them to at least ask: they don't know who's living with the deceased, and another person in the same household could very well want to take over the utilities/services.

Reading this story, though, I'm wondering exactly how stubborn they were before she got off the phone with them.

[C. Cecil Ivanish]

Aw!
First of all, sorry for your family's loss.

Then... yes, I understand the "three declines", but - at least here and where I worked before - being told that the person we are calling is "deceased" prompted a scripted "oh, I am sorry for your loss, apologies for having bothered you".

[Ironclad Alibi]

If they don't get the message that he is dead right away, tell them they have to talk to him directly. Give the phone number for the cemetary, and tell to ask for Mr. Jones in room # (give the burial plot number.)

I often thought of doing this after my mother-in-law died (5 years ago at age 100), but we never got any calls for her. We still get junk mail for her.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thanks, all. It's been hard, but the family is pulling together to take care of each other, so that's been good.

As for the call center idiot, Whiskey is probably right. That's why I say a formal complaint is in order, chewing out the rep is not the answer. The company needs to be held accountable for having such a policy that would force a rep to act in such an unacceptable way.

[tropicsgoddess]

I find myself rather appalled to say that I'd be willing to bet this is the case.

It sounds like something some of these awful call centers would do to their reps, thereby making them appear to be heartless morons. Ugh.

I could see that being the case too, PepperGirl. Sorry for your loss, RK.

[Peppergirl]

Script format I would assume. "Deceased" would be considered a decline. You have to get 3 declines before you accept that they dont want it, etc etc. I can see a supervisor writing up a CSR for hanging up after one "decline" even if it was "he's dead."

I find myself rather appalled to say that I'd be willing to bet this is the case.

It sounds like something some of these awful call centers would do to their reps, thereby making them appear to be heartless morons. Ugh.

[Whiskey]

Seriously?

What else is there to say after its made known that the person they want is deceased?

I dont get it.

Script format I would assume. "Deceased" would be considered a decline. You have to get 3 declines before you accept that they dont want it, etc etc. I can see a supervisor writing up a CSR for hanging up after one "decline" even if it was "he's dead."

[roothorick]

After the second time, I would've started paraphrasing Monty Python's parrot sketch.

[Damien]

I would go further and embarrass the idiot company in the media - there is no excuse for this.

Sorry for your loss, RK.

We have had some similar nonsense with my dear grandmother's accounts, she passed away a month ago.