I should be ashamed of myself.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

SC: I see charges on my credit card, I don't know what they are...

Me: OK, do you own a prepaid long distance phone card?

SC: No. Not at all.

Me: all right. That's what these charges are, someone called in to us and placed an order to add minutes to a phone card. We can do an investigation for you if you'd like, but that can take up to thirty days. You also need to call your bank immediately and let them know there are unauth charges on your card, so they can dispute the charges for you.

SC: Well, I didn't make the charges. I need you to refund that money.

Me: I'm sorry sir, we are not able to give a refund for this transaction. You need to have your bank officially dispute the charges, that's the process that you go through to get your money back.

SC: But I didn't make these charges! I want that money back right now!

Me: I'm sorry, we are not able to give a refund on this account. The minutes that were put on the card have all been used up, so there is nothing to refund. You just need to call your bank and...

SC: That is ridiculous! You have to give me my money back! I can't believe this! What, are you guys some sort of scam?!!! Put the money back on my card right now! Why in hell did you take an order on this card when it wasn't me?!!!

Me: Sir, this order was placed over the phone, the person calling in gave your name and address. We did not know that it wasn't you. We cannot refund the money until we get an official notice of dispute from the bank. You need to call your bank.

SC: This is ridiculous! I can't believe this! YOU OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!!!!!*click*

[ThePhoneGoddess]

SC: Well, my daughter put these charges on my card, and I didn't give her permission to do so. I need you to take the charges off the card.

Me: I'm sorry sir, we are not abel to refund the charge. You would need to get that money from your daughter.

SC: This is outrageous! I did not give her permission to use the card, so you have to put the money back on! I did not authorize the charges!

Me: I understand that sir, but the money that was placed on the phone is all used up, so there is nothing to refund. And since it was your daughter, we consider this to be a family issue and do not get involved.

SC: This is unbelieveable. It's YOUR fault for taking a card from a 14 year old girl! Now take the charges off the card now or I will call the bank and have them dispute the charge.

Me: You're welcome to have the bank dispute the charge, sir, but be aware that if they dispute it, the police will put out a warrant for your daughter's arrest for fraud.

SC: Wha----!!!! You have got to be joking!

Me: No, I am not. Disputing a charge is a serious business. The bank is required to notify the police, and if the police can trace who used the cell phone, they will put out a warrant for that person.

SC: Well we'll just see about that. I'll give the bank a piece of my mind!!! *click*

[iradney]

shaaaaaaaaaame PhoneGoddess...
Doooom on youuuuuuuuuuu!

LOL
those people are very unique and special individuals, aren't they?

[ThePhoneGoddess]

You think they are special?

I'm working on a post right now for a call I had last week. It is probably the most unbelieveable call i have ever had. This lady was speccccialllllll.......

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

So SC is going to call the bank to yell at them because Daughter managed to sneak purchasing some minutes on the phone? How is it the bank's, or your, fault?

Sounds like the daughter is an angel in Daddys eyes. Not her fault at all. And of course Daddy isn't to blame at all.

(I'm making the assumption that it was a female calling...)

And have just noticed you used Sir. Post given a sex change.

[Cedophile]

if they dispute it, the police will put out a warrant for your daughter's arrest for fraud.

Hail the phone goddess!

It's fun how parents flip out on you because their kids are being stupid, and you can turn it around so skillfully!

[Kara]

Why oh why is it always our fault their kids are sneaky little brats?

"I didn't download that game! My son did!"
"It was my daughter who signed up for Jamster on the phone!"
"She didn't know any better! She met this guy online and called him in Pakistan! It's not her fault! You didn't call me after the first call was made to let me know about it!"

And since it was your daughter, we consider this to be a family issue and do not get involved.

I like this. I shall use it.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I like this. I shall use it.

Actually, this is our official corporate policy. We call this scenario 'false family fraud', and we refuse to get involved, because if we do then we have to follow specific laws and regulations which can include handing information over to the police. Most people balk at getting a close relative in such serious trouble, especially an underage child, and we don't want to be blamed for it and sued by anyone. So it's official policy, and as soon as someone tells us it's a close relative, we back off.

[MadMike]

SC: Well we'll just see about that. I'll give the bank a piece of my mind!!! *click*

Hope he doesn't give them too big a piece. It doesn't sound like he has much to spare.

[Becks]

I wonder how it all ended up, on the SC's side of things...

[Kara]

I wonder how it all ended up, on the SC's side of things...

Announcer: On the next, Judge Judy:

SC: She put those charges on there! The little brat should pay for them!
Daughter: You never let me do anything! I hate you!
Judge Judy: Shut up, both of you!

[air914]

I worked for a company that auto-shipped products. Meaning that we would automatically charge your account and ship you products. Mind you, you had to sign a contract and yes, it had to be written and mailed in to the office, before we would put you on the auto-ship program. The contract stated how it worked, what you needed to do if you wanted to cancel, etc....

We got SOOOO many calls from people "I never signed up for this", "Yeah I signed the paper but the person told me they wouldn't mail it in", "I want to cancel - what do you mean I have to send something in writing???"

- the answer to the last one - b/c people are paid commission based on your order and we want to make absolutely sure that it is you wanting to cancel. If we have something in writing with your signature and the statement "I want to cancel", we would be happy to cancel. I'll put the auto-shipment on hold until _____ but if we do not get something in writing from you, we will assume you changed your mind and wanted to continue to receive the product." - of course we got calls after that... "why didn't you cancel, you said you would cancel it" - nope, I didn't - even wrote in my notes here exactly what I told you. By the way, the policy was also in the handbook you signed, on the contract you signed, and is available online.

The best was one where I had called and left messages for a customer b/c we were having some trouble w/ their credit card and I wanted to make sure we had the correct information, etc. so they could continue to receive their product (I think we needed the CVV code). I got an angry call from a mother (the girl had to be at least over 18) saying "Stop calling here! My daughter never ordered anything from you and she doesn't even have a credit card!"

- hmm we had a credit card "rubbing" with the card image on it- which had her daughter's name on it, and a signature... but nope this daughter never had a credit card and never ordered anything --- if it WAS true then that mom & daughter seriously needed to look into the possibility she was a victim of identity theft..... otherwise mom needed to not be angry at us b/c her daughter did something "behind her back"....

[Noelegy]

Announcer: On the next, Judge Judy:

SC: She put those charges on there! The little brat should pay for them!
Daughter: You never let me do anything! I hate you!
Judge Judy: Shut up, both of you!

There's a commercial for one of the wireless providers, I think the one that starts with C, and a pre-teen girl and her mother are having a discussion about the girl's overuse of text messaging. The girl is replying to her mother in text-talk (NBD, OMG, etc.), and subtitles are provided at the bottom of the screen. The mom is telling her that she is going to have to cut back on texting.

Then the voiceover goes on to say that this provider now features unlimited texting. And this gets on my nerves for a reason I can't quite define. It's like a subliminal message to parents that they don't have to set limits for their kids anymore. Because you know, God forbid little Britni learn what a boundary is, or moderation, or consequences for costing her parents money for overusing a service she herself doesn't pay for.

My geekish cousin-in-law and I were having a conversation last weekend about how back when people used to chat online, like on message boards and such, we were told we needed to get a life and get out and meet "real" people. Now it's cool to "text." We did the same thing 20 years ago, only we did it with keyboards! <old person rant over>

There's an open-air mall in the Dallas area (Firewheel) where you walk outside from store to store. I visited this place for the first time the other night, and remarked upon the quantity of kids out taking in the fresh air, getting exercise...and all frantically texting and checking their phones every few minutes.

[Kara]

I visited this place for the first time the other night, and remarked upon the quantity of kids out taking in the fresh air, getting exercise...and all frantically texting and checking their phones every few minutes.

Well then this is really gonna fry your bacon. It's become a sporting event:

http://www.physorg.com/news96459601.html

And I thought competitive cup stacking was stupid. I mean, I text a moderate amount, but only because I'm an employee and I get them free. Otherwise I could just call somebody (besides, I can text someone while talking to a customer). But I have seen kids nearly hit by cars reading their text messages while walking across the street.

If they ever decide to make a competition to see who can use the most minutes, I have some customers in mind.

[felixxkatt]

Actually, this is our official corporate policy. We call this scenario 'false family fraud', and we refuse to get involved, because if we do then we have to follow specific laws and regulations which can include handing information over to the police. Most people balk at getting a close relative in such serious trouble, especially an underage child, and we don't want to be blamed for it and sued by anyone. So it's official policy, and as soon as someone tells us it's a close relative, we back off.

i have heard of people whose kids do something that stupid. i know that when i was a kid if i had done anything to wrack up charges like that (though there were no cell phones and we didn't have internet, lol) my parents would have put the blame right where it belonged, on my sorry ass! i would have been forking over my berry-pickin' money and scrubbing dishes till they said i was done!