Tweet
I used to work at a gas station. 10 months ago, I landed a job making several dollars more an hour at a call center. This call center is a bank that does "Private Label" or store credit cards. Every day I am amazed at the things our customers actually believe. Here are some of my most common one liners.
Apparently, It's Illegal to:
Charge interest and late fees on a closed account. (If that were true, everyone would get a credit card, max it out, close it, and never pay it off.)
Tell them they are not allowed to curse at me.
Tell them we cannot process a dispute on a purchase made over a year ago. (By federal law in the USA you have 60 days from the printing date of the statement the error first appeared on.)
Transfer someone when they've called the wrong company. (i.e. they called the credit card and need the store's corporate office)
Refuse to tell them by phone why their application or increase was denied. (Actually, we have to inform them in writing)
Leave an inquiry on their credit report if we deny their application.
Charge any fees (late fee, interest, pay-by-phone fee, etc) to any one for any reason at any time.
Offer them debt cancellation protection. (The sames ones who bitch when we offer this are the ones who call in throwing a fit when they lose their job and can't pay their bill and what do we mean we can't just forgive the debt?)
Require them to verify their Identity.
Refuse to release information to a third party (spouse, authorized buyer, credit counselor, etc) without consent from the account holder. Same goes for making changes to an account for a third party.
Store associates are sometimes suckier/dumber then customers. I answer the phone for store calls "Thank you for calling <Store Name> <Account Lookup/Authorizations> my name is Slave, may I please have your name and store number?"
I get these responses:
Uhhhhhh, what?
Wait, do you want my name or the customer's name?
Uhhhhh, I need an account looked up.
Why do you need that?
DumDum McDummyton, 555-555-5555.
All of these cause me to repeat, word for word the last bit of my greeting. Then I move on to "Have you seen a valid photo ID for our customer?" The answer should always be yes to this question. And the rep should not be lying. Especially on an account lookup. If you're calling me, the in store lookup failed. If you did a lookup, you should have made sure you're looking an account up for the correct person. While the reps do usually answer yes, I frequently also hear these things after:
The players:
*Store rep*
^Customer^
{me}
*Oh, she works here.* {I still need you to obtain her ID to verify the account information}
*half assed whisper*Ms Customer, can I see your license?* ^I don't have it.^ *Yes, I have it.* {No you do not. I heard her say she doesn't have it. I will be unable to assist you with the customer's account at this time. We appreciate your call, have a nice day.}
*Yes*{May I please have the customer's first and last name and her complete mailing address}*What's your first and last name again Customer?*
You folks are gonna see a lot rolling through here from this job.
Apparently, It's Illegal to:
Charge interest and late fees on a closed account. (If that were true, everyone would get a credit card, max it out, close it, and never pay it off.)
Tell them they are not allowed to curse at me.
Tell them we cannot process a dispute on a purchase made over a year ago. (By federal law in the USA you have 60 days from the printing date of the statement the error first appeared on.)
Transfer someone when they've called the wrong company. (i.e. they called the credit card and need the store's corporate office)
Refuse to tell them by phone why their application or increase was denied. (Actually, we have to inform them in writing)
Leave an inquiry on their credit report if we deny their application.
Charge any fees (late fee, interest, pay-by-phone fee, etc) to any one for any reason at any time.
Offer them debt cancellation protection. (The sames ones who bitch when we offer this are the ones who call in throwing a fit when they lose their job and can't pay their bill and what do we mean we can't just forgive the debt?)
Require them to verify their Identity.
Refuse to release information to a third party (spouse, authorized buyer, credit counselor, etc) without consent from the account holder. Same goes for making changes to an account for a third party.
Store associates are sometimes suckier/dumber then customers. I answer the phone for store calls "Thank you for calling <Store Name> <Account Lookup/Authorizations> my name is Slave, may I please have your name and store number?"
I get these responses:
Uhhhhhh, what?
Wait, do you want my name or the customer's name?
Uhhhhh, I need an account looked up.
Why do you need that?
DumDum McDummyton, 555-555-5555.
All of these cause me to repeat, word for word the last bit of my greeting. Then I move on to "Have you seen a valid photo ID for our customer?" The answer should always be yes to this question. And the rep should not be lying. Especially on an account lookup. If you're calling me, the in store lookup failed. If you did a lookup, you should have made sure you're looking an account up for the correct person. While the reps do usually answer yes, I frequently also hear these things after:
The players:
*Store rep*
^Customer^
{me}
*Oh, she works here.* {I still need you to obtain her ID to verify the account information}
*half assed whisper*Ms Customer, can I see your license?* ^I don't have it.^ *Yes, I have it.* {No you do not. I heard her say she doesn't have it. I will be unable to assist you with the customer's account at this time. We appreciate your call, have a nice day.}
*Yes*{May I please have the customer's first and last name and her complete mailing address}*What's your first and last name again Customer?*
You folks are gonna see a lot rolling through here from this job.
Personally, I don't even take calls from Unknown or Blocked.
Comment