- Details
- Category: Current Issue
We are a society that has become accustomed to being able to handle most of the needs and wants of our daily lives, virtually. We have apps for car maintenance, insurance, banking and travel. We can schedule an appointment or attend a meeting through our laptop or iPhone, which can also be programmed to function as our alarm, doorbell and security system.
However, lately, due to the shut-down of the world, as much as we are using and rely on our technology, it has become necessary to make a phone call when we need to cancel or reschedule an appointment or a trip, or to connect with a company about a payback or missed payment or future payment or altered payment. Whatever your particular need is, today, we are spending more time than ever on the phone and, quite frankly, on hold!
Lately, whenever I have to make a phone call because a website or agency or company directs me to “please call the customer service number”, I am greeted with the pre-recorded phrase: “We are experiencing a higher call volume than normal. Please hold and we will be with you in the order in which your call was received”. This is often followed by a set of button-pushing instructions to further define why I called. I press “1”, hoping that my kind and gentle button pushing request to “change or cancel my reservation” will, somehow, move me up in the “order in which my call was received” line. Then there is music for a long period of time, followed by a pre-recorded person telling me that she is “sorry and unable to complete my call as dialed and to please try again at another time.”
An hour later, I try again. This time, I listen to ALL of my options in hopes that there is an option to press “8” in order to speak with a live person. No such option exists, so I hold again, starting to enjoy the music that is playing from speaker on my phone and desperately searching for the charger so that my battery doesn’t die. Eventually, I try calling at 12:15 a.m., thinking that my placement in the “order in which we received the call” line will be higher.
This doesn’t work so I try setting my alarm to call at 6 a.m. The recording at that time is somewhat rude, telling me that I need to “call back during appropriate business hours”. I no longer know what appropriate business hours mean since I am now in the business of trying to be in the top three (or at least 50) of callers so that my time on hold will be minimized, and this business does not have specific hours. After several days of trying to reach someone, I finally do, which means, I can cross it off my list and move on to my next item: Calling the cable company… Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received. Please do not hang up. We’re sorry. We are unable to complete your call as dialed. Please hang up and…
“TRY!” “AGAIN!”
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
..