Have you placed a call to your own company lately? Well I have and I’m here to tell you it wasn’t an experience I would like to repeat. Here is just one of the many interactions your “customer service” people are having daily with people like me.
I received a call the other day from a company responsible for verifying information on loan applications. Like many of you, we are attempting to make it through the maze they call refinancing. Based on the questions, you would think we are on parole. But that’s another story for another posting.
An employee from the verification company (let’s call her Kim) left a message asking me to return her call. Kim said if she wasn’t available, I could speak with anyone else in the department, as they are all happy to help. I returned Kim’s call and received voicemail. Following her instructions, I found my way to another representative, who then informed me she had to ring Kim’s line, even though I told her Kim wasn’t in. “It’s company policy,” she said, as I rolled my eyes. I waited for her to come back on the line to tell me Kim wasn’t in. She then proceeded to tell me it would take four conference calls for us to complete our transaction. I did what any other sane person would do. I hung up.
Please tell me who invents these ridiculous policies. If everyone can help, then why is no one helping? And what about the four conference calls to complete a simple transaction? Isn’t this a waste of time for everyone? Now before you go on and say it’s a federal requirement, you should know that my mortgage broker is now confirming the information using some sort of secret handshake or something like that.
We are people here on the other end of the phone that would like to be treated like the valuable customers you say we are. For your own sake and ours, will you please pick up the phone and call your company?