As you know, I work in a call center answering questions about auto insurance. In a previous entry, I wrote about how people are shocked when their premium increases after an accident, speeding ticket or traffic violation. We also handle questions about billing, how much a bill is, when is it due, whatever. Anyway, the following is part of a conversation I had recently with a customer…
Customer: Why do I have to pay a late fee?
Me: Well Mrs. So-and-so, you’re previous bill which was due in August 15th, was not paid until after the due date of September 1st and now a service fee has been added.
Customer: Why was the payment late? I sent it on September 3rd.
Me: We didn’t receive it until September 10th, 9 days after the due date. There are options to avoid late fees in the future. (At this point I explain all of them)
Customer: If I don’t want to pay using those options, how else could I avoid late fees?
Note: at this point, the customer and I have been going in circles on this issue for about 15 minutes
Me: Well Mrs. So-and-so, the only way to avoid late fees is if we receive the payment on time.
Believe it or not, people really are this freaking stupid.
I really wanted to say that late fees are so named for a reason, but I thought that would’ve been over the top.
This is only a marginally stupid question we have to answer…In the future I’ll put some of the really stupid conversations in here.
More Work Stuff
Like any other job, there are a number of co-workers who aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.
I handled a call recently where the customer was calling in to make a payment. Her payment was due on 9/28 (or the policy would be cancelled) and she was calling on 10/1 because the rep she spoke with a week earlier told her it would be okay. Now…read that last sentence again. The payment was DUE 9/28 and the rep said it was okay to make the payment AFTER the due date! And to prove she was an idiot, the rep documented this – admitting she told someone to make a payment after it was due.
In the meantime, the customer had been unknowingly driving for 3 days with no insurance. Good service, eh? Fortunately, the customer had not had any accidents and I got the situation corrected (because after all, this IS what the ‘Rat does – makes things better)
Our department is now getting what is called a “Call Escalation Team.” These are people who’ll take calls from rep when a customer wants to speak with a supervisor. Can you see me doing this? I imagine my opening statement would be something like this:
“Hello my name is Al and I’m a supervisor. How can I throw more gas on the fire?”
Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken, former American Idol winner, came out and admitted that he is, in fact, gay.
Fucking Duh!
Not exactly a secret dude. He says he came out because since he’s had a son (through artificial insemination), he doesn’t want to raise his son thinking it’s okay to lie. Riiiiiiight.
What amazes me is this…many of his fans were shocked, shocked I say, that he is gay. Some news reports even stated that some are so distraught to have been suicidal. Aiken says his own mother didn’t know until he told her. Apparently these people didn’t even suspect.
Are they fucking kidding me? Nobody is THAT freaking stupid. Oops…let me change that. Nobody is THAT freaking naïve. Hmmm…that’s not right either because people ARE that stupid and naive. Oh well, never mind, you get the idea.
In The News
How to know when you need to lose weight…maybe?
On a British flight recently, there was a couple heavy enough that they had to be repositioned in order for the plane to take off. The report said that their combined weight was about 530-pounds, roughly 265-pounds apiece, leading me to wonder, just how small was the plane that it couldn’t handle 530-pounds on the same side of the plane? And why would anyone, regardless of weight, would want to fly on an airline whose planes couldn’t handle 530-pounds?
That’s all for now. Get back to work
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