Customer Service Musings #2
Sep. 21st, 2012 12:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysThe short version - answer your damn phones.
The long version (which is mainly for personal cathartic reasons)...
I have (had) a minor insurance policy with a provider other than my main insurance provider. A while back, I set up a payment mechanism with them to charge the premiums to my credit card and it has worked fine. I got an invoice for the policy recently with the standard message saying they would charge my card as usual - all good, so I ignored it.
Then I got a letter from them saying that my payment had failed because my credit card expired. A little irksome - all the other organisations I pay in this manner send me a reminder that the card is about to expire so I can update the expiry date before there is a payment issue. More irksome perhaps because they only gave me 2 days to pay - at least that is what the letter said. The letter also gave me an 0800 number to ring to sort it out.
So I rang the 0800 number and negotiated my way down a phone tree. Then I waited and waited and waited and waited. You must all have experienced this before. Dumb muzak from the phone, every so often interrupted by a voice saying that my call is important to them. I gave up and tried again later in the day. Then again. Then the next day. And again. I tried other branches of their phone tree. I looked for alternative contact mechanisms. I could not get in touch.
Am I right in thinking that this is a pretty common phenomenon? Most people strike a customer contact service like this from time to time. It certainly isn't a first for me. Nor is it particularly extreme - I know of worse
So I did what most people do - I said screw them, I'll let the policy lapse. I got in touch with my main insurance provider - no waiting. They organised a replacement policy - no fuss, no bother and lower cost. Made me wonder why I hadn't done it earlier (Don't worry I know the answer - inertia.)
But then the original company calls me! The rep politely asked why haven't I paid my premium. I told them the reason (also politely) and said I was letting my policy lapse. Ah but "no" says the rep - I can't do that. Their procedure says I have to inform them in writing. So she would post me a form to sign and send back.
The form arrives in my mailbox a few days later. Also in my mailbox was another letter from the company saying that my account was in arrears and that if I didn't pay in 15 days the policy would lapse automatically. It is a bit hard to reconcile those two letters. Not to mention reconciling the 15 days time when they had been in such a hurry earlier.
But the reason why I thought to record this. Both letters finished with a cheery invitation that if I have any problems at all, I should call their 0800 number!
The long version (which is mainly for personal cathartic reasons)...
I have (had) a minor insurance policy with a provider other than my main insurance provider. A while back, I set up a payment mechanism with them to charge the premiums to my credit card and it has worked fine. I got an invoice for the policy recently with the standard message saying they would charge my card as usual - all good, so I ignored it.
Then I got a letter from them saying that my payment had failed because my credit card expired. A little irksome - all the other organisations I pay in this manner send me a reminder that the card is about to expire so I can update the expiry date before there is a payment issue. More irksome perhaps because they only gave me 2 days to pay - at least that is what the letter said. The letter also gave me an 0800 number to ring to sort it out.
So I rang the 0800 number and negotiated my way down a phone tree. Then I waited and waited and waited and waited. You must all have experienced this before. Dumb muzak from the phone, every so often interrupted by a voice saying that my call is important to them. I gave up and tried again later in the day. Then again. Then the next day. And again. I tried other branches of their phone tree. I looked for alternative contact mechanisms. I could not get in touch.
Am I right in thinking that this is a pretty common phenomenon? Most people strike a customer contact service like this from time to time. It certainly isn't a first for me. Nor is it particularly extreme - I know of worse
So I did what most people do - I said screw them, I'll let the policy lapse. I got in touch with my main insurance provider - no waiting. They organised a replacement policy - no fuss, no bother and lower cost. Made me wonder why I hadn't done it earlier (Don't worry I know the answer - inertia.)
But then the original company calls me! The rep politely asked why haven't I paid my premium. I told them the reason (also politely) and said I was letting my policy lapse. Ah but "no" says the rep - I can't do that. Their procedure says I have to inform them in writing. So she would post me a form to sign and send back.
The form arrives in my mailbox a few days later. Also in my mailbox was another letter from the company saying that my account was in arrears and that if I didn't pay in 15 days the policy would lapse automatically. It is a bit hard to reconcile those two letters. Not to mention reconciling the 15 days time when they had been in such a hurry earlier.
But the reason why I thought to record this. Both letters finished with a cheery invitation that if I have any problems at all, I should call their 0800 number!