One More Day. I have to be the service rep. For myself.
Once again, I had to take a full work day worth of time to correct errors not of my making. Thanks to increasing corporate disdain for systems that actually work.
Netflix won’t accept my payment from my credit card company. How many months/years have I been paying for Netflix? (This required umpteen calls to each of the companies involved in this payment plan. ) Credit card company persons say, “Oh I found the problem I’ll fix it.”
Each time it’s a different reason, each time it is not fixed.
My mortgage company charges me a late payment fee of $20 . When I made the payment it was accepted. So just as usual, I thought all was fine. Three weeks later they said, Whoops, no payment has been received. Yes — there was a glitch to fix, that I had no knowledge of, and that made my payment late.
A phone interview to apply for a federal poverty benefit (for which I qualified). One hour on hold, but no matter — the interview was completed. Now all I had to do was upload some proofs of poverty. My home insurance monthly payment and others. Ok fine. Of course the first time I tried to enter their upload system I was rejected. They could not verify my address (of thirty plus years.). No problem, I’ll try again.
Next day — I get a voicemail telling me to call the agency in order to complete my interview, so that I can start getting benefits. More than an hour on hold to confirm that my interview had indeed taken place the day before.
Pharmacy automated system tells me that my Rx medication cannot be refilled. I’m holding the current bottle with a label saying three more renewals are available. I call the pharmacy and report the Rx #. No, it’s cancelled. Ok — yes I will medical message my doctor .
Wow! The prescription is re-issued. Now I will have to go pick it up — risking my bones on the ice that covers everything this winter. Thanks to climate change. Because this HUGE pharmacy chain will no longer mail out prescriptions gratis. Well — ya’ know they HAVE TO CUT COSTS!.
My phone won’t accept a call from a friend of decades, whose phone number has not changed in decades. HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO CALL A PHONE COMPANY? There is no other type of Company BAR NONE that is harder to call than a phone company.
And these days — no -matter what — each company or financial institution that you have to contact has added yet another layer of security. Verification by text message, extra email messages. Rejections of your new password because it’s shorter than 200 digits. OK. That’s exaggerated.
HOW ABOUT THE DELAYING TACTICS, before you can actually get a person to assist? THE CLEVER HELP-BOTS with their fun names: WHO CAN “ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS”. Some companies indeed have useful systems. Very few.
It could be interesting to catalog and categorize what types of companies have great systems and which do not.
Final comment. It is worrisome that so much hacking has made so many companies implement so many layers of protection that all tasks now take — what? That little bit of extra time so that every task — fun or otherwise - adds to a daily toll of time and fear.
