Marriage does not precede privacy ...

[stargirl195]

First post/rant ever - here goes ...

I currently work as a customer service agent at a toll road company in Australia. Basically I give answer account enquiries and give advice (for example, if there's a problem with a statement or a customer's account has been suspended) and I open accounts for new customers.

When I take calls from current account holders, I go through a specific identification process, as our company policy dictates:

1) I take their account number

2) I ask for their name

3) I ask the customer for a pin number

From the first day I started work at the call centre, I've had a great number of instances where someone (usually a spouse) will call up and want access to the account - usually for something as simple as an address change or ordering a new etag. Which is fine - as long as they are listed as a secondary contact on the account. If they aren't, then we aren't able to give any information or change any details. It's a privacy issue.

This has made for some pretty abusive phone calls - spouses in particular can become quite upset: 'But I'm MARRIED to the account holder! This is F*CKING STUPID!'

I'm sorry, I no longer care. I'm simply not willing to risk my position and the company's reputation to let someone unregistered in to the account.

But the specific phone call in question ...

So I get a call from a woman - she has punched in all her details on the automatic system so that I could see them straight away. Her request was simple: Change the address. That's ok, but ...

The name on the account was her husband's, and her husband's only.

I asked the woman whether I could speak to her husband, and here's where things got weird:

SC: He CAN'T talk to you. He has a MEDICAL CONDITION.

Well, a medical condition could mean anything ...

Me: I'm really sorry, but your name does not appear on the account. I would really need to talk to your husband.

SC: I SAID he can't talk to you - I'm his WIFE!

Me: I understand but we have a privacy policy - if I go against that I could lose my job and the company could be fined.

So SC goes off her head, swearing and moaning on about soulless companies and smartarse customer service employees ... I waited patiently through this and finally, when she realised that my response would not be changing:

SC: FINE! I'll GET him!

So I thank the SC and the husband comes on the line. Right away I know there's a big problem - the guy can barely talk, and all I can decipher is 'yes' and 'no'. I felt terrible at this stage; from his speech it was obvious that the husband has had a stroke or has sustained some kind of ABI.

While the husband was talking, the phone was snatched away, and I hear a oddly smug SC:

SC: I TOLD YOU HE CAN'T TALK TO YOU! HE HAS A [I]MEDICAL CONDITION[I]!

I'm definitely not soulless - I can understand that there are situations such as this one where the sole account holder is suddenly unable to maintain their account and therefore rely on someone close eg spouse, and I did feel bad, because I can only assume that there would have been other phone calls like this and the wife was probably at the end of her tether, BUT to not give me a clear idea of what the situation entailed and then trying to shame me by putting her husband on to prove a point just seemed very unnecessary to me. I put her on hold and spent a few minutes cooling down, then got back on the line:

Me: Thanks for holding. I can understand that this is a frustrating situation and I am truly sorry, but because of privacy policy I'm going to need to let you know how you can make a change to the account. Write a letter with the account number and name, make the request for change on the account. Also, put in also that, due to a medical condition, you may in future need to access the account and you'd like to be added as a contact. Get your husband to sign and then send it to (address).

SC: This is ABSURD! Absolutely ABSURD - I AM HIS WIFE! He has a MEDICAL CONDITION - there has never been a problem BEFORE!

That's when I got angry - she would never have been able to access his account before. Plus, if this medical condition was an ongoing issue, then surely she was only causing herself a great deal of stress and angst, not to mention her poor husband ...

Me: Madam, if this is true and the condition is an ongoing problem, then the best thing for you to do is get yourself added to the account by correspondance. I cannot do this for you as you are clearly NOT authorised to make any changes to the account. If this is an ongoing problem and your husband is no longer able to maintain his account then it's important for you to get power of attorney and send a copy of POA along with the letter; at this stage this will be the ONLY way you can gain access to your HUSBAND'S account, do you understand?

SC: THIS IS ABSURD! I SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ACCESS MY HUSBAND'S ACCOUNT!

Me: To gain access, be sure to send the proper documentation in asap. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

SC: No. (Hangs up VERY loudly, but not before I can hear her screaming in the background)

Sorry it's so long ... I've been in two minds ever since. I do feel for her - if my partner was incapacitated then I would be beside myself. And I get that company policy can seem, in situations such as this, very cruel and painful for people who have it hard already.

But I can't stand people like my SC and their subsequent behaviour ... yelling at me is not going to make me bend policy. I have to follow it whether I like it or not.

[bainsidhe]

I do feel for you and SC both. Your hands are tied and I can't imagine how frustrating this is for her. Keep in mind that his medical condition is also an issue of privacy, so it's troublesome to need to wave it like a flag in order to gain access to his accounts.

But. Is it possible she did, in fact, gain access to husbands account before? I know, I know, the typical SC line is that "I've always done this before!!!" I just remember when my father was having trouble paying his gas bill. I called in ready to make a payment, and the person told me they couldn't give me any info since I wasn't an authorized user. Until I explained I wanted to make a payment, that is. Then they were more than willing to help me. The next time I called, a different phone agent was a brick wall and wouldn't give me any info, even though I just wanted to pay off the account. In other words, I could make a payment, but the agent couldn't tell me how much to make it for. *sigh*

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

One of the worst of these type calls I ever got working at a wireless call center was a woman who was calling trying to I think restore service to her daughters phone. Simple enough, but here's where it gets tricky:

Apparently the daughter had been set up on the plan of a former employee of our company so she could get on one of our sweet deal employee plans. The name on the account was clearly that of a male.

On top of that:

- The caller (the mother) had no idea where the account holder was
- Had no idea what the PIN code was on the account
- Had no way to contact the account holder (I guess because the account was suspended, either that or daughter had a falling out with him)

She begged and pleaded with me for like 10 minutes wanting me to do something, I just kept telling her I couldn't because she didn't couldn't verify any information and was not the account holder.

[Nurian]

First, Welcome!

Second, you don't need me to tell you you did the right thing. People often hide behind the "I'm married" bit just to cause as much damage as possible. I've seen it and had people try it on me.

[Merriweather]

[QUOTE=
But I can't stand people like my SC and their subsequent behaviour ... yelling at me is not going to make me bend policy. I have to follow it whether I like it or not.[/QUOTE]

I always felt sorry for the people working in the records dept. of the military hospital we used on my DH's last tour of duty before retiring from the Navy.

We found out the hospital's policy when my DH took me into the emergency room after my car was rear-ended as I was waiting to turn into our own driveway. I wasn't seriuosly injured, but after dealing with police and having the car towed off, I was aching so badly it seemed prudent to go get checked out to be sure.

So I'm sitting in the emergency room, and they want my medical record (in military hospitals you always go to records and pick up your own, they don't send it down, etc). So DH went off to the other side of the huge hospital to get my records, to to save me the walk. They wouldn't give them to him. He was told that he could not, under any circumstances, pick up my medical records for me, I had to pick them up in person. DH, being just home after a six month ship's deployment, having watched me sitting in my car and being rear-ended from our garage, and being sick with worry over me, well, I don't think he was the most "understanding" of customers at that moment.

So I had to walk (with assistance, by this time) to the other side of the hospital (and back) to get my records. Ok, with the pain I was in, let's just say I wasn't the best customer either. After being told the same thing, that he cannot pick up my medical records, I believe I made a comment to the effect "ok, so what if both legs were broken and I couldn't walk over here, what then? How could he get my records for me?"

At that point, we were informed that it's possible for me to fill out a form stating he may pick up my records for me anytime we want - if that form is in my records, there's no problem ever. The catch? They are not allowed, by hospital policy, to mention the existance of this form, nor to suggest it, no matter what the circumstances, unless a patient specifically asks "how can my spouse get my records" My comment, though sarcastic, was technically enough for them to tell me about the existence of this form.

Ok, the privacy policy I get - there are cases I can think of where one spouse might not want the other to see their medical records. But to not allow staff to tell people that a simple two-minutes-to-fill-out form is available unless they ask for it

How many people, upon hearing that their spouse was told they cannot get their medical records for them under any circumstances, will then ask "how can my spouse get my records"? Scream, swear, etc - yes. Demand - yes. But simply ask how they can do what they've already been told can't be done? - not many.

As I said, I feel very sorry for those working in records and having to inforce that assanine policy.

[bleedingheart]

I'm on two sides about this as well, first, as a daughter of an aging parent, who doesn't remember well, I have found myself having to call to make all kinds of arrangements with companies for her. I usually meet the wall of "you're not on the account" and while frustrating, I understand. I'd hate for some random person, who knows mom doesn't remember too well to gain access to her accounts and rob her. I finally got a POA and it's all good now.

As an ex-spouse, I think it's good not to just have random access to my accounts because "but I'm her husband!" What if you're my abusive husband who is shutting off my phone, or hijacking my bank account? (No, not my ex, he was actually a sweetie.) But it happens.

So, bottom line, it is a pest to have to work around the privacy issue, but CSRs holding that line is in the best interest of everyone. If hubby has an on-going medical condition, get a power of attorney! It's not that hard!

ETA: to fix my appalling grammer!

[sprocket79]

I agree with the whole privacy thing, and worked for a hospital and had to follow HIPAA and all. However, there was one time where I seriously got annoyed at this privacy policy.

I live with my mom and we share bills. She has me under her auto insurance policy and pays for that. So one day we decide we're going to drive to Mexico for vacation. I call up the insurance company to ask if we're covered for Mexico and if not, can we buy some supplementary insurance. I call up and before I can even explain anything I get shot down. They tell me that only my mom can talk to them. I ask why that's the case, because obviously I am on the account, plus I don't want to change anything, I want to see what we have existing. Apparently I don't have the right to know what my own auto insurance covers because I am not the primary account holder. That is just stupid. It's MY insurance too.

I did get my mom to call in and add me. And the retarded thing was? After I finally got to talk about the insurance, they say they don't have Mexican car insurance and I can get it at the border. A couple days later I am in the insurance office to get maps and guidebooks and they ask me, "Do you want Mexican car insurance?" I swear I nearly lost it - internally, I didn't yell at anyone. I did tell them what I went through with the call center though and they said the call center was wrong. I knew it!

[Seshat]

You did the right thing. You told her she couldn't access his records, you told her why, you told her what she needed to do.

However, in the past, I've been able to verify myself, then ask that the call centre staff talk to my husband/best friend/whatever, for the duration of this call. If your call centre allows such things, offering that -may- have calmed the woman down.

Maybe. Or it might have been another thing to set her off.

[Ghel]

Star, I feel for you. I've been in your situation more times than I can count. We have similar privacy laws here in the US, and as a CSR at a bank, I've had to tell customers exactly the same thing. I don't think I've ever had anyone scream or swear at me about it, though. Try to lay a guilt trip, yeah, but never scream.

Most hospitals here have folks on-site that will help patients set up a power of attorney. Then the family member can just mail it to us, and we're all set.

Recently, a customer called to ask about his mother's accounts. He said he handled all of her finances, and even gave us account numbers, but since he wasn't on the accounts, we couldn't tell him anything - we couldn't even verify that the accounts existed. He was frustrated, naturally, but there was nothing we could do.

[Sliceanddice]

.

As an ex-spouse, I think it's good not to just have random access to my accounts because "but I'm her husband!" What if you're my abusive husband who is shutting off my phone, or hijacking my bank account? (No, not my ex, he was actually a sweetie.) But it happens.

exactly and just because it was a woman calling doesnt mean she couldn't be an abuser, so until the OP could talk the man in question and get a better gist of the situation it is perfectly reasonable to deny access if you need someone to be able to access an account in an emergency alot of companys have away to do, even if its a 'PersonA can access account if they provide password B first" thing and you have to keep a file of all the info for them in an emergency.
heck ive heard of people doing that so that if they get killed their parents can have there servise taken care of right away.

[fireheart]

First, Welcome!

Second, you don't need me to tell you you did the right thing. People often hide behind the "I'm married" bit just to cause as much damage as possible. I've seen it and had people try it on me.

True. Also, OP, I think you did the right thing. It could've been anyone-a carer or even a relative, rather than his wife.

[Teskeria]

And actually you DON'T know that was really the account holder you spoke to. It could have been a scam and she could have put a friend on, after telling him to slur badly and ensure nothing was clear to you. You did exactly right. If her husband was THAT bad off and at home, she should already have a POA. My aunt's husband was very much 'the boss of the house'. Everything in his name. when he got seriously ill, the hospital social worker suggested that he give my aunt a POA, so that she could keep everything running.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Ok, for the wife who has a husband with a stroke and can no longer talk, there is a solution that I think would have worked for you if the laws in Australia are similar to the ones here in the US.

In the US we have something called "Power of Attorney" that is she had applied for and been granted, she then could have presented the paperwork to any financial company (bank, Credit Card, etc) and they would have added her to the account because she would have the right to do so.

Might want to see if Australia has similar laws and then tell people like her what she can do to get the status changed on a spouses card. Might help, might not.