Call Center Escalating Moms [fairly long]

[D_Marx]

So, I'm not the best at handling customers, and I hate it when I have a sucky one who won't even talk to me because I'm the first person she's gotten hold of. We've lost one guy in our area because of what I call a severe case of "Escalating Moms" in a Student Loan Call Center, and it kind of brings me down a bit.

Me: Thank you for calling _______. My name is D, how can I help you?
EM: I want to talk to a supervisor NOW.
Me: Is there a problem?
EM: I just want to talk to someone who can help me Right Now, someone who Knows something.
Me: Are you the cosigner of the loan?
EM: I'm his Mother.
Me: I am really only allowed to talk to the borrower and cosigner about this loan.

She tries to tell me that being his mother is enough, but if we let that slide all the time we'd have angry moms all over the place and information would get NOWHERE. This is a bank center, NOT your grandmas'. I am here to help, NOT make you feel powerful in front of your baby.

Me: Is it okay if I help you first? [a/n: we really try hard not to send people to talk to supers if we can help the customer]
EM: Fine. [I give, I'll allow her to talk, since she won't shut up] This is what's going on.

Processing is behind a whole week and one day, we're damn lucky her son's is just a day behind in the processing, but she downright doesn't listen.

So, because it makes everything better, and demands that her son's loan get pushed through before everything else, HIGH PRIORITY. She wants my name, ME to personally oversee this process, and to call HER the next day to verify that everything's going HER way. That's just stupid. I end up transferring her irate and uncontrollable ass to one of the poor supervisors who are usually receiving EM calls at ALL hours.

What I wanted to do was hand her over to the collection handlers who Really know how to deal with irate customers.

Everyone on this green Earth should be forced to work in CS, in a variety of fields.

[Mytical]

First off, if I had to have my mother handle things like this, I would never show my face for my shame. Since apparently this person was able to get by with their own name, I am assuming they are an adult. However, I hope that whoever it was is still a child. Second, what an EW. If her name isn't on whatever, isn't it a privacy matter to not divulge information?

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of EW's,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?"

((Modified Hamlet quote))

[emax4]

I would love to be in a position on the other end where I could say, "Mam, you're speaking to the people that could make or break the chances of your child getting into our institution. If you keep up this attitude of yours, I will ensure that your child does not get accepted..."

Place the responsibility back on them, and then see how they react.

[Whiskey]

Why did you tell her anything? That could get you into a whirlwind of trouble. If my mom called up about my finances and got the information I would sue the living hell out of that institution.

[Jack]

I also have that option, of reminding SCs that I hold their computers virtually in my hands, and I could render them unbootable before they had a chance to close the remote connection or unplug the modem, but IMO that's too forward, and threats can get you in trouble. I prefer, if I don't want to help them, to find excuses not to. There's plenty of policy that's not normally enforced all the time.

Oh gee look, you're ineligible.

[Magpie]

It's kind of sad that universities these days need to have sessions for the parents. Consisting largely of explaining that "we are used to dealing with your children, trust us, look we have experts on staff who can help with all these kinds of problems [just counselling services, health services, etc]. We cannot tell you anything if you call. So please don't try."

It's even worse that those sessions don't take. I really don't think my mom needed the info session she went to, I can't see her trying any of that crap. I really can't see a helicopter parent like that missing the session though. So the level of entitlement is amazing: not only does she harass people like that, but has had the rules saying that she isn't allowed to do anything clearly laid out. So there's TWO sets of instructions that's she's ignoring here.

[Mr Hero]

Why did you tell her anything? That could get you into a whirlwind of trouble. If my mom called up about my finances and got the information I would sue the living hell out of that institution.

Or even worse, a lady pretending to be your mom gets that information.

[EvilEmpryss]

Or even worse, a lady pretending to be your mom gets that information.

This is why (at least in the US) we have FERPA: the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act that states that people's educational records (including financial aid issues) are to be released only to the student. Unless the student signs a FERPA waiver, places aren't allowed to discuss anything about the records. Only parents of children in high school or below are allowed to access educational records, and even then there can be restrictions.

[Magpie]

This is why (at least in the US) we have FERPA: the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act that states that people's educational records (including financial aid issues) are to be released only to the student. Unless the student signs a FERPA waiver, places aren't allowed to discuss anything about the records. Only parents of children in high school or below are allowed to access educational records, and even then there can be restrictions.

I don't think that we even have waivers here.

[zombiequeen]

And this is why I closed my bank account.
Found out my mother was taking my paychecks out of it so that she could go out to dinner, and that had to stop.
It's funny how bank accounts originally set up with a parent, then switched to just the one person, can magically get the parent back on the account without my knowledge or permission.

[Whiskey]

Or even worse, a lady pretending to be your mom gets that information.

I'd prefer a stranger got it, honestly. This is my point. Even if someone has some way of verifying theyre the parent, it doesnt mean the child wants them to have the information.

[Kristev]

Control freak parents.

[Eisa]

I have sometimes asked my mother to make phone calls for me because I have extreme anxiety problems surrounding phone calls. So I've asked if, say, she'll call the insurance to find out what doctors are on their plan or whatever. But if they need to talk to me, I'm fine with that, too. And I wouldn't ever ask her to call about my financial information or for my school. I'M the one who should do that. [I'm even getting better at making my own doctor appointments, yay. ]

But yeah, even if she'd called, if they said they needed to talk to me, she and I wouldn't make a fuss about it. Sheesh.

[SuperRTL]

My husband's grandmother tried to call and get our financial information. She said she needed to know so she could help. Yeah, her idea of "help" is not exactly the kind we need. She got turned down flat by everybody but our electric company and our car insurance. The student loan people wouldn't even talk to her.

[joe hx]

Sometimes I wonder if the kids of these EW moms refuse to yell and scream, so the mom, completely against said kid's will, do the yelling and screaming for them.

And this is why I closed my bank account.
Found out my mother was taking my paychecks out of it so that she could go out to dinner, and that had to stop.
It's funny how bank accounts originally set up with a parent, then switched to just the one person, can magically get the parent back on the account without my knowledge or permission.

When I got my first job at 16 and thus got a bank account, I made sure that my mom had no access to my money. Before that, my mom used to sneak into my room and steal money out of my wallet (we weren't exactly rich back then, although I'm not sure what she did with the money).