- Joined
- Oct 13, 2010
- Messages
- 10,803
This is just a rant, so may safely be ignored. Ignoring this would probably make your world a better place.
If Andy Rooney were still around, he would have a great bit to do on this topic, I'm sure.
It seems like if an organization doesn't want you to succeed at getting a problem straightened-out, they make you call instead of write.
They've got their 12 things that happen a lot figured out and you can do that online without any personal interaction. But if your issue doesn't fit, and you use their own "secure messaging system" to ask for assistance, they tell you that you need to call customer service.
They have two buttons to respond to everything sent through the "secure messaging system": 1) Use the web site and fix it yourself, or 2) Call.
Calling is a pain. You wait on hold for way too long, then you often get someone who doesn't have the tools or authority to solve your problem. So a complete waste of time.
Health insurance companies are famous for it, but what precipitated this post was a dispute with Fidelity Visa (really Elan Financial Services). A restaurant server altered the total (gave themselves a huge tip). In the past, I've just written a letter and the whole charge disappeared. Not with Elan. They wanted to me to fax my copy of the receipt, which I did, to the fax number they specified. It turned out they gave me the wrong fax number, but that's just more bungling of a different flavor.
So I write a message to get a status, and they respond, saying I need to call 866-729-8984
When I call in to get this thing rolling again after they lost my fax, they say I'm "selected for a survey". "Good", I think, at least I'll be able to give them feedback. Just "stay on the line at the end of the call". Fine. So the rep gives me the bad news that the fax number I used was the wrong one and gives me the good fax number. I stay on the line and sly rep that she was, doesn't hang up. She puts me on hold again. Ok, two can play at that game: I just sit there and listen to the music for a while. Then, when she realizes I'm not going anywhere, she brings out the "big guns": she transfers me back into the queue (at the number I called in the first place). I'd already been on the phone for a half an hour, so what's another 10 minutes? I wait. Finally another rep picks up the phone and I tell her I was just following instructions: waiting for the survey. Reluctantly, she actually does hang up and the survey begins. But now I'm afraid to rate the rep properly because it'll probably be attributed to the innocent transferee.
All of this could have been solved if they would have answered my written inquiry. And you wouldn't have had to listen to my rant. But thanks for listening.
If Andy Rooney were still around, he would have a great bit to do on this topic, I'm sure.
It seems like if an organization doesn't want you to succeed at getting a problem straightened-out, they make you call instead of write.
They've got their 12 things that happen a lot figured out and you can do that online without any personal interaction. But if your issue doesn't fit, and you use their own "secure messaging system" to ask for assistance, they tell you that you need to call customer service.
They have two buttons to respond to everything sent through the "secure messaging system": 1) Use the web site and fix it yourself, or 2) Call.
Calling is a pain. You wait on hold for way too long, then you often get someone who doesn't have the tools or authority to solve your problem. So a complete waste of time.
Health insurance companies are famous for it, but what precipitated this post was a dispute with Fidelity Visa (really Elan Financial Services). A restaurant server altered the total (gave themselves a huge tip). In the past, I've just written a letter and the whole charge disappeared. Not with Elan. They wanted to me to fax my copy of the receipt, which I did, to the fax number they specified. It turned out they gave me the wrong fax number, but that's just more bungling of a different flavor.
So I write a message to get a status, and they respond, saying I need to call 866-729-8984
When I call in to get this thing rolling again after they lost my fax, they say I'm "selected for a survey". "Good", I think, at least I'll be able to give them feedback. Just "stay on the line at the end of the call". Fine. So the rep gives me the bad news that the fax number I used was the wrong one and gives me the good fax number. I stay on the line and sly rep that she was, doesn't hang up. She puts me on hold again. Ok, two can play at that game: I just sit there and listen to the music for a while. Then, when she realizes I'm not going anywhere, she brings out the "big guns": she transfers me back into the queue (at the number I called in the first place). I'd already been on the phone for a half an hour, so what's another 10 minutes? I wait. Finally another rep picks up the phone and I tell her I was just following instructions: waiting for the survey. Reluctantly, she actually does hang up and the survey begins. But now I'm afraid to rate the rep properly because it'll probably be attributed to the innocent transferee.
All of this could have been solved if they would have answered my written inquiry. And you wouldn't have had to listen to my rant. But thanks for listening.