I am going to rant.
Lately, I have had some interactions with companies that have made me stop in my tracks, with a puzzled look on my face, and ask "seriously?"
Where have all the brains and common sense gone?
I received 2 calls from the same number last week. I attempted to answer the 2nd one, and the line disconnected after I said hello. So, I called back. I was curious to know who was trying to get a hold of me like that. It was our mortgage company. I finally made it through the automated phone system to a live person. That, in itself, was a challenge, because my cough kept interrupting the voice activated menu. (I dislike voice activated menus).
I explained to the live person that I had received 2 calls, was disconnected, and wanted to know why the mortgage company was calling. The guy looks at my account, and starts to hem-haw around. "Well, you see, your payment just posted today."
Me: "That payment was made in person to your banking center 4 days ago."
Service rep: "Yes. But, it just posted today. You see, it was the weekend, and then there was a bank holiday."
Me: "That is all fine. But, why are you calling me about it tonight? Your policy is that if I make the payment in person, it credits the day the payment is made, regardless of when the company actually gets around to posting it."
Service rep: "Well, you see, our system did not update in time to show your payment was made. It just posted today."
Me: "Your system shows my payment is posted now. But, you guys just called me 5 minutes ago. It is over 3 hours past close-of-business. Why are you calling me then?"
Service rep: "Well, um, you see, our system is not updated that quickly. The collections department is still open for another hour."
Me: "Ok, let me get this straight. You are calling me today, because you are treating me as if my mortgage payment has not been made. But, my payment has been made....in person...earlier than the due date. But, the payment was not posted in time, because that department took a weekend off, followed by a bank holiday, and did not post the payment until today. Yet, your collections department would like to call me, hang up on me, and harass me, late this evening, for a payment that your own system is actually showing has been made 4 days ago....AND POSTED today?"
Service Rep: "Yes. Um, you see, our systems did not update properly today."
Me: "So why is this my problem? I made the payment on time. I have the receipt. I am not responsible for your errors. Please stop calling me."
Service Rep: "Would you like me to update your email address?"
Me: (Laughing) "No. I don't want to give your computer system anymore updated information to wrongly contact me. I pay my mortgage on time, and always have.
Service Rep: "I do show your payment was made on time. There is no problem there."
There is no problem except for the fact that the mortgage company treats people like numbers, and can't seem to handle their own duties of receiving and processing payments.
I had been thinking it would be a good idea to sign up for automated payments, but now I am hesitant at how messed up that process could become.
It doesn't help that my own credit union cannot seem to get automated payments going either. We have gone 4 rounds with them, and still do not have resolution to that problem.
We had our auto loans set up to pay every time a direct deposit hits the account. When The Referee changed jobs, he went in and asked the credit union to update the payments to come from the new employer. 4 paydays later, they still cannot seem to get the auto payments made out of the direct deposit.
The first attempt failed because the lady transposed the numbers of the year, so the request was rejected by the computer system.
The second attempt failed for reasons they could not explain.
The third attempt failed (supposedly) because the employer changed the deposit code.
I actually asked the rep at this point why it was so difficult to set up an automatic payment from a direct deposit. Shouldn't this be something you guys do pretty regularly, in a widespread fashion? She assured me that our situation was unique, and that they usually do have automatic payments done all the time without problem.
The fourth attempt failed because the employer changed the deposit code. Oh, sure, like I was going to believe that again. So, the rep went round and round and sought assistance, because she really could not figure out why it did not go through. She suggested that she could set up the payments to come out of the account automatically on payday, and not tie them to the direct deposit.
Fine. Try that.
Then, she called me right back and actually asked, "Do you want me to go ahead and make those payments for you? I show that they were due on Friday, so I can't make any changes until the account is current."
I could not help but laugh. I tried to gain composure and explained that the account would be current if the automatic payments that have been set up over 2 months ago would actually go through! Of course I wanted the payments made. That is why I call every single payday and inquire as to why the payment did not go through. And, as a matter of fact, the reason the payment is now late is because when I called first thing Friday morning, I was told by this exact rep that I had to give it until close of business to see if the payment would go through, and if it did not, then I could call the next business day. So, by her own poor advice, and by the credit union's incompetence, they are not receiving the payments that I am actually going through great lengths to pay! They are not quick to solve the issue, but they are quick to tell me that my payment is late...even though they were the ones who insisted I wait until it was late before they would admit there was a problem!
She stopped to think about what I just said. In a concerned tone, she replied, "You have a point. I will make those payments for you and try to fix this issue."
Great! I would LOVE to see you fix this issue. Trust me, my patience is growing thin. The Referee and I are already considering looking for a different credit union, if this payroll problem continues much longer. A credit union who cannot make payments to their own loans with a direct deposit makes me nervous about their competence.
It should not be this hard to make a payment. I would expect the companies to actually want the money that we owe them. I knew the commitment to get out of debt was going to be challenging, but I had no idea that the challenge was going to be in the actual posting of payments.
Lately, I have had some interactions with companies that have made me stop in my tracks, with a puzzled look on my face, and ask "seriously?"
Where have all the brains and common sense gone?
I received 2 calls from the same number last week. I attempted to answer the 2nd one, and the line disconnected after I said hello. So, I called back. I was curious to know who was trying to get a hold of me like that. It was our mortgage company. I finally made it through the automated phone system to a live person. That, in itself, was a challenge, because my cough kept interrupting the voice activated menu. (I dislike voice activated menus).
I explained to the live person that I had received 2 calls, was disconnected, and wanted to know why the mortgage company was calling. The guy looks at my account, and starts to hem-haw around. "Well, you see, your payment just posted today."
Me: "That payment was made in person to your banking center 4 days ago."
Service rep: "Yes. But, it just posted today. You see, it was the weekend, and then there was a bank holiday."
Me: "That is all fine. But, why are you calling me about it tonight? Your policy is that if I make the payment in person, it credits the day the payment is made, regardless of when the company actually gets around to posting it."
Service rep: "Well, you see, our system did not update in time to show your payment was made. It just posted today."
Me: "Your system shows my payment is posted now. But, you guys just called me 5 minutes ago. It is over 3 hours past close-of-business. Why are you calling me then?"
Service rep: "Well, um, you see, our system is not updated that quickly. The collections department is still open for another hour."
Me: "Ok, let me get this straight. You are calling me today, because you are treating me as if my mortgage payment has not been made. But, my payment has been made....in person...earlier than the due date. But, the payment was not posted in time, because that department took a weekend off, followed by a bank holiday, and did not post the payment until today. Yet, your collections department would like to call me, hang up on me, and harass me, late this evening, for a payment that your own system is actually showing has been made 4 days ago....AND POSTED today?"
Service Rep: "Yes. Um, you see, our systems did not update properly today."
Me: "So why is this my problem? I made the payment on time. I have the receipt. I am not responsible for your errors. Please stop calling me."
Service Rep: "Would you like me to update your email address?"
Me: (Laughing) "No. I don't want to give your computer system anymore updated information to wrongly contact me. I pay my mortgage on time, and always have.
Service Rep: "I do show your payment was made on time. There is no problem there."
There is no problem except for the fact that the mortgage company treats people like numbers, and can't seem to handle their own duties of receiving and processing payments.
I had been thinking it would be a good idea to sign up for automated payments, but now I am hesitant at how messed up that process could become.
It doesn't help that my own credit union cannot seem to get automated payments going either. We have gone 4 rounds with them, and still do not have resolution to that problem.
We had our auto loans set up to pay every time a direct deposit hits the account. When The Referee changed jobs, he went in and asked the credit union to update the payments to come from the new employer. 4 paydays later, they still cannot seem to get the auto payments made out of the direct deposit.
The first attempt failed because the lady transposed the numbers of the year, so the request was rejected by the computer system.
The second attempt failed for reasons they could not explain.
The third attempt failed (supposedly) because the employer changed the deposit code.
I actually asked the rep at this point why it was so difficult to set up an automatic payment from a direct deposit. Shouldn't this be something you guys do pretty regularly, in a widespread fashion? She assured me that our situation was unique, and that they usually do have automatic payments done all the time without problem.
The fourth attempt failed because the employer changed the deposit code. Oh, sure, like I was going to believe that again. So, the rep went round and round and sought assistance, because she really could not figure out why it did not go through. She suggested that she could set up the payments to come out of the account automatically on payday, and not tie them to the direct deposit.
Fine. Try that.
Then, she called me right back and actually asked, "Do you want me to go ahead and make those payments for you? I show that they were due on Friday, so I can't make any changes until the account is current."
I could not help but laugh. I tried to gain composure and explained that the account would be current if the automatic payments that have been set up over 2 months ago would actually go through! Of course I wanted the payments made. That is why I call every single payday and inquire as to why the payment did not go through. And, as a matter of fact, the reason the payment is now late is because when I called first thing Friday morning, I was told by this exact rep that I had to give it until close of business to see if the payment would go through, and if it did not, then I could call the next business day. So, by her own poor advice, and by the credit union's incompetence, they are not receiving the payments that I am actually going through great lengths to pay! They are not quick to solve the issue, but they are quick to tell me that my payment is late...even though they were the ones who insisted I wait until it was late before they would admit there was a problem!
She stopped to think about what I just said. In a concerned tone, she replied, "You have a point. I will make those payments for you and try to fix this issue."
Great! I would LOVE to see you fix this issue. Trust me, my patience is growing thin. The Referee and I are already considering looking for a different credit union, if this payroll problem continues much longer. A credit union who cannot make payments to their own loans with a direct deposit makes me nervous about their competence.
It should not be this hard to make a payment. I would expect the companies to actually want the money that we owe them. I knew the commitment to get out of debt was going to be challenging, but I had no idea that the challenge was going to be in the actual posting of payments.
I would be frustrated too. My husband pays most of the bills online because they had to be switched right as AJU5 was born. Luckily there was only one or two issues with things, and it was never the bank having issues with its own accounts.
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