December 08, 2011
CONFUSED CUSTYS CAUSE CALL CENTER HELL
Hi all, Hellraiser here!
This time I come with a tale from my call center hell. I haven't previously mentioned it, but I work in a call center in NC for an insurance company, and last Friday was the day for just plain confused people.
Custy 1:
This sweet little old lady calls asking about her policy, but I can't find her in our system at all. Not under name, date of birth, social security, policy number, nothing. Her number doesn't even sound like anything in our system. By the time I've exhausted all my options, she's almost in tears, saying she's always called NC and she's always had great service and she doesn't know why she doesn't have a policy anymore. In a last-ditch effort I ask her what number she dialed to reach her, thinking that maybe she had one number off.
The number she thought she dialed was for an insurance company in GA.
I then ask what state her mail from us comes from.
Ohio.
So your mail comes from Ohio and the phone number goes to GA, what on earth possessed her to think she needed to call NC? WTF? I let her down gently and advise she call the number again.
Custy 2:
Have you ever had a caller and you just knew that the person on the phone should not be speaking to you? That this person, for reasons of old age, young age, or mental handicap, should not be discussing their insurance policy with you? Any number of things give it away: long pauses between sentences, a slight lisp, or very basic or outdated vocabulary. Somehow you just know that the responsible party has stepped outside for a moment and this person got a bee in their bonnet to take care of business that someone else should really be handling. That was confused caller number 2. I just kind of went along with whatever they requested and tried not to make waves.
Custy 3:
This older gentleman wanted information about insurance company B. He wanted to trade out his insurance company C for insurance company B. We are not insurance company B or C. When I told him we are not B or C, he said he wanted to know what we did with insurance company B and C. When I said we did nothing and suggested he call insurance company B or C, he went on a long story about his problems with insurance B and how he heard insurance C was better. I said great, but I couldn't help him with that, he should call B or C. He reluctantly said goodbye, still somehow convinced I could help him.
Cust 4:
This gentleman's coworker, who has the same insurance as him, had just recieved a refund from his insurance. So he called us (the insurance in question) and asked if we were sending out refunds to everyone and if he should expect one. When I told him no, we weren't sending out refunds to everyone, he said, "But my coworker got one!" I said if we ever found we owed someone money, we would return it, but just because we owed his coworker money did not mean we owed him money. He hung up on me.
By the end of the day all I wanted to do was contact the information distribution company of the world and let them know they weren't doing their jobs correctly. If I hear another instance of what "some guy in the bar" or "some lady in the grocery store" or "my coworker" told me, I might just scream. And not to sound evil, but I'm beginning to think that everyone who, for whatever reason, is a few eggs short of a dozen should be appointed a "handler" to take care of things like calling the insurance company. Make my life and their lives easier. It's depressing, but after a while you learn that, while each person is interesting and intelligent, the public is boring and stupid.
--Hellraiser
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