9 August 2018
The frustration of trying to change your address etc!
I am going to start any calls I make to companies (like utility providers and banks) with, ‘My name is Leigh Walton, sorry Leigh Elisabeth with an S instead of a Z, Walton, I take a size 4 shoe, size 12 dress, have my hair parted in the middle, pluck my eyebrows regularly and eat too much chocolate’.
Why? Read on…
As regular readers know we have recently moved back into our cottage. After five years of travelling – where you don’t have to deal with electricity, water, gas and landline providers – we are having to ring around explaining that we need to register and/or change our postal address; our post has been redirected for the duration of our travels. Of course, we are having to ring banks and mortgage providers too. Every single call we make needs to be security checked (which I fully understand and am happy to give out previous addresses, DOB, NI number etc) but, honestly, it goes beyond a joke at times.
I rang one building society with whom we have a couple of buy-to-let mortgages; speaking to the same operator on the same phone call she asked me the same security questions for both accounts. It took ages to get through the many questions; towards the end of the security check when the advisor asked for the date of my direct debit I replied, ‘It is either (this) or (this) depending on which account you are asking about’.
To my amusement (I had almost lost the plot) she said, ‘Oh, I can’t tell you which account I am asking you about, so I cannot take your answer as being correct’. What???
On another call I was asked what my current monthly payments were. I told the advisor the correct answer (I had my bank statement in front of me, smug eh?), to which she replied, ‘Hmmm, that is not quite correct’. Stunned, I told her, ‘I am actually looking at my bank statement and I can see that amount being taken last month’, to which she said, ‘Yes that is correct, but because the interest rate has gone up this month’s payment will be slightly more’.
Biting my tongue I told her, ‘I cannot see the next payment as it hasn’t been taken out yet so that is ridiculous, besides I am not physic which is why I told you what last months payment was’.
She did relent and allow me to ‘pass security’, by which time I was rambling on about my shoe size, dress size and what time I go to bed …just in case those additional facts would help her to understand I am who I say I am.
Frustrated and exasperated! Perhaps It’s Girl Thing – but I think not!
Hugs, Leigh
PS The oddest thing was that although we registered with Severn Trent last week they sent our bill to my OH’s sisters address – she lives 2 doors away and has the same surname which just shows how inefficient they actually are!
Karen says
I hate having to make calls to any such company. My bank rang me and told me they have to ask me some security questions before they could tell me why they were calling! “Write to me, ” I said.
Worse is when I call the IT helpline at work…TWO hours to get something sorted. It infuriates me when they speak to me as if I am stupid for not understanding their jargon. I’ve told them before now that since I would not expect them to know the ins and outs of my job, they have no right to expect me to understand theirs!
Leigh Walton says
That made me smile; the same thing happened to me years back when I called IT in America, I said to them something like, ‘Could you write and present on how to generate leads and then convert them into hosts or recruits please’ – the guy was amazed, then agreed we had totally different roles and, just as he couldnt do my job, I couldn’t do his!!