One problem down, a few dozen to go.
I was just beginning to revel in the absurdity of my consumer day because it’s crossed that point where the silliness is almost more enjoyable than the frustration, so I called Telecheck again, fully expecting more audio for the planned Youtube video of this adventure. But this time (after the number punching madness of the voice system) I encountered a functioning, thoughtful person. I don’t know her name, but she was clearly ill with a respiratory tickle and was coughing a good deal. Since I was really planning only to make them say the ridiculous things they wanted me to do to correct the problem, I called as if it were my first adventure with them, merely asking why no one was taking our checks. She took my numbers again and put me on hold, and when she came back she said something about a bad sku and a digit off on a drivers license number, and then she said:
“I went in and took out the bad information. You’re account is positive again.”
I was stunned. After only three calls for a total of about an hour, I’d say, several declined checks, and a frustrating visit to the offending merchant, and some elevated blood pressure, our problem was solved. If I had reached this magical person on the first call, it wouldn’t have been such a frustration, to the point where tomorrow I was planning to cancel my bank account. I asked how she did it. She said, “I just went into deep research.” In other words, she gave a crap. For the first time in my adult life I was proud to be an American. (That’s a joke.)
I asked if there were any way I could put in a kind word for her to her handlers, but she said no.
Listen up Telecheck. There needs to be a way for your victims to put in a good word for your good employees. Because you’re crappy employees are just drawing attention to what you really are. You don’t want that. If you’re going to make money off the personal information of the consumer, you had better give a crap about getting that information right. Otherwise your customers can’t get money from their customers. That really slows did the business process, as I understand it.
Give that woman a raise, and give her a few sick days.
I still might be able to do the video, but I really wish I could tell you how to avoid this kind of farce. How to keep a clerk from writing the wrong information is a nut I haven’t cracked.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Amazing what can happen when someone does their actual job.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Wait a second… a helpful customer service rep?
We need to find some way to honor her in a museum somewhere. She must be one of the last ones left, right?
February 21st, 2008 at 2:14 am
Amazingly, in what may be evidence of a genuine shift in the way the universe operates, today I encountered another positive consumer experience from Sandisk. The Son Unit’s MP3 player went squirrely, and a call to India (I presume) produced a helpful person I could comprehend without too much difficulty, and when we were done troubleshooting, he found my records and arranged for the unit to be replaced. Things are looking up. Seriously, though. I don’t companies should have a way for consumers to recognize to management a rep who does his or her job especially well. I mean, if a consumer asks if that’s possible unsolicited, the rep clearly did something right. And most companies need more of those folks.