Re: I agree with you marci "the guy I was talking to knew more about my financial condition than I did, including my exact bank balance" How is it possible for him to know your exact bank balance?? What CC company was this?
Re: I agree with you marci Are your rates jacked to default, or are they just high? I would call each First USA seperatly, if you get one to lower it and the other wont, then tell them that your other one was lowered due to the same situation, they will probably lower the other one because of it. Explain that it was due to hospitalization. They will probably lower it because it was against your control. The rep cant see your credit report, but they can probably see your credit score and internal score. Just explain that you are cleaning things up from this serious time in your life. Alos tell them about the collection that was put on your report that was not yours and it has been removed. (only tell them this if your rate is at default rate) If it doesnt work woth a rep, go to a supervisor, but give the rep a chance first.
Re: I agree with you marci I don't know how they can look at your report and judge that you can't BT your balance. I just BT my cards onto a card that's not reporting yet. They have no way of knowing that. I had almost 100% utilization til I BT both visas onto a mc. Now I have my 2 smaller cards empty.
Re: I agree with you marci Daisies: When the rates were jacked, it was because of the high utilization and the paid collection on the credit report. I don't know if this is considered a default or not. I eventually got a letter from the original creditor saying that they never had any dealings with me and the collection was removed from my credit reports. I sent the letter to the credit card companies that jacked my rates, but they were unsympathetic. They now say my utilizations are too high and that is why they will not lower my rate. I have never missed a payment, nor have I ever been late on a payment. EAGLE: The company was NCO (a collection agency). There is no way for me to know how he got my bank balance, but others here have told me that it is common for the collection agent to look up all your personal info (readily available on the credit report) and then call the bank posing as you. I suspect he did this, because he knew the balance to the penny. I checked after I got off the phone. The moral is to protect your info with a password.
Re: on the other side of the phone Ooohh. I hate that. Had it happen to me. You call CS and they tell you that interest rates have been raised for all "consumers with similar profiles" I have to admit, when I closed the account it made me very happy to reply to the CSR on the line that my reason for closing was: "I'm closing all my accounts with similar interest rate profiles". Politely, of course. -ingenue
Re: on the other side of the phone Again, the CSRs are missing the point. Go ahead and don't go the extra mile for customers that call in and come across a little peeved. When you loose all your customers, then I guess you will be looking for a new job. I am not encouraging people to call in and be "jerks", but sometimes people get up set. I firmly believe that management hired CSR's to navigate these problems and come up with "win win" solutions, even to the worst of situations. If it is a lousy customer, determined through an account history review, then go ahead and do the minimum. But, if it is a long term customer, with a great payment history, that your company has made lots of money from, then go the extra mile whether he is a jerk or not. That way he may not close his account and go to your competitors. That is what I expect, as a member of management, and as an investor. I don't make business decisions based on peoples personalities, and I don't want agents of companies I have invested money in making decisions based on such motives either. If some goofy CSR ran off all my good customers because they didn't sound "nice" over the phone then I would be one po'd manager. There is far too much competition in the credit industry to run a business based on "warm and fuzzies" over the phone. I guess your argument will be "if he's a jerk, we don't want his business whether he is a good customer or not." I just wonder how your department manager, and division VP would answer this question? Why don't you ask them and see how they feel about good customers receiving less than excellent customer service? lol
Re: on the other side of the phone I'm gonna be extreme and just that Daisy you are plain wrong. Most (a large most) CSRs are..uhm how should I put it...pricks. They give you wrong information, hang up on you, are rude, talk over you, threaten to hang up and so on. Half of the time, as soon as they start speaking, you sense that "miserable cause Im here" tone and you just know you're gonna get an attitude no matter what. I would love to know who this fantasy bank you work for is cause it sure aint any of the banks I have dealt with. Maybe you are being biased toward your side which is understandable. Anyway, I used to be nice to all representatives on the phone, which got me nowhere. Eventually I said "**** that" and just exercised my customer rights, you know, "the customer is always right". I have also worked in the service industry for a while, and I know that the customer is almost always right. I get a lot more done just being stern and confident (basically an ******* attitude) on the phone rather than trying to appease the CSR. If I feel that the CSR is slacking or just not caring (really seems to be the case 80% of the time) I just ask for the supervisor. 8 times out of 10, the supervisor takes care of what I need with great respect while listening (or at least pretending to listen) to what I have to say. But he/she gets the job done. I really just want a CSR that talks to me like a human. Not try to get me off the phone or the second I mention the problem, tell me that I have to call somewhere else even I already called there and was transferred. The overall impression that I get of CRAs are uneducated, rude and disgruntled ppl that are on a small power trip. If I get a REAL Customer Service Representative, which is rare, I consider myself lucky and am very thankful.
Re: on the other side of the phone A-FREAKING-MEN!!! God, I just got off the phone with a voicestream 'supervisor', what a dipshit!
Re: on the other side of the phone Hi, thanks very much for all your helpful advice dasies! I was hoping I might be able to ask a question. When a CSR does go the extra mile to help a customer, what is the best way a customer can thank them? Is it just saying something simple like "Thanks -- I really appreciate it"? Not trying to sound dumb or anything -- just asking so that I can have an idea of what to say to the CSR so that they know their efforts are genuinely appreciated and that the customer is very happy to be carrying the CSR's company's card? Also one additional (similar) question...are there any best practices for if a customer wants to let the CC company know that s/he is sincerely very pleased/satisfied with his or her card? E.g., would a letter or a phone call be better? (I just thought maybe if the CC company knows a customer is happy with his or her great card/terms that might make the company more likely to offer the same/similar cards/terms to future customers based on the positive feedback.)
Re: on the other side of the phone www.convergyssucks.com look at some of the forums on this website. You'll understand why csr's can get rude working for a company like this, not that i'm defending them, i'm just saying that they put up with a lot. i did it for amex for 3 months then just got up and left because my supervisor was a dipshit.
Re: on the other side of the phone If I get a REAL Customer Service Representative, which is rare, I consider myself lucky and am very thankful. Mecro ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A- FREAKING-MEN!!! God, I just got off the phone with a voicestream 'supervisor', what a dipshit! PAE ============= You two are 100% correct but I got lucky the other day and got three great CS reps. in a row. One from AT&T another from AmeriTech and one at Bank One. I'm still scratching my head in amazement! LB 59
Re: on the other side of the phone Oh man yesterday I called Sprint and the CSR was just a dumb prick. For no reason at all either cause all I was doing was checking on my account cause their website seems to be reporting the wrong info. Sprint CSRs and supervisors are horrible. But today I had to speak with a Saks 5th Ave CSR about a 30 day late on store card which I have no clue how it got there. He was just like, we will remove it, no problems. Strange. I was impressed. It seems like the better CSRs do get picked out by the higher end service companies.
Re: on the other side of the phone Convergys is a temp agency isnt it? I dont work for a temp agency...
Re: on the other side of the phone Now I'll go to the extreme as well. If you are getting that kind of attitude from a rep, you are either: # 1. speaking to a rep from a temp agency who doesnt give a care less about anything. You can tell when you are talking to someone from a temp agency, the call usually wreaks unprofessional tone and bad attitudes. There is definatly a difference. or # 2. Your attitude is being mirrored by the rep. If someone is threatening to hang up on you, are rude, or taking over you, there has got to be a reason, MOST reps dont act that way unless they are mirroring you. Step back and think...Are you sounding condescending, or acting like a total *sshole? If not, then #1 probably applies. I wish that I could tell you who I work for, but I am not jeapordizing my employment situation. Its not a "Fantasy bank"
Re: on the other side of the phone Please read my later post. The Spring example is so common among CSRs. Before you even ask for anything, you get a dsigruntled attitude. The Spring CSR was talking down to me as if I was asking smth really absurd. That is not right. I had a valid concern and I was very calm about it. And Daisy, in case you did not notice, but my impression is the impression of most ppl. So I tend to think that my opinion is on the money. I tried what you suggested when I called Discover to investigate about all these weird lates showing on my Credit Report cause they did not make sense. I got an attitude and a half, moments of silence (CSR ignoring me) and all I did was ask for some documentation about these lates, most of which I did not recall. I did not even get to the part about asking to remove them. I personally think the CSR lied to me to avoid doing any work. Supposedely, their screen shows no records whatsoever. And as soon as I said that there might be a mistake, he goes "Contact the CRAs". Yeah great customer service! I wonder why ppl are frustrated with CSRs. It might be the subhuman treatment we get.
Re: on the other side of the phone On all of my credit obligations, Cap One, Target, my phone company, Nextel, Chase, Fist USA, (even Providian after a little effort) My electric company, Internet company, Etc... I have gotten almost everything I want by doing what I mentioned in my original post. I have had all fees credited, annual fees, overlimit fees, any kind of fee. My APR's have ALL been lowered (except Target guestcard wont budge, and providian will not go below 16.9, but they did reduce it from 23.9) When you call any company, you have to feel the person out, thats just common sense. If you get someone and from the very first moment, the rep is an idiot like you mentioned previously, then hang up and call back. You just have to have a feel for the person and make sure you dont clash immediatly, or you will never get what you want. I have had almost NO trouble. I had 3 overlimit fees adjusted on my capital one card in 3 months. I would go over by accident by 1.00, and they'd slam me with a fee. It p*ssed me off royally, I waited until I calmed down the next day, I called, laughed about it a little bit, explained that it was MY fault, I got closer to the credit line than I thought, I totally screwed up, wont let it happen again, yadda yadda, and they credited it for the 3rd time. Their policy states that they can only credit one, thats their 1 goodwill adjustment. Since I was polite, I acted humanly, and explained that I screwed up, rather than pouncing on them and saying what I really thought, (How dare you put a fee on my acct when I only went 36 cents over) Sure, I thought that, but I acted nice, sincere, and therefore, I got what I wanted. The rep went above and beyond, and didnt just read policy to me like they could have. Plain, human, all common sense. If your companies treat you like crap, dump them. Ive dumped Providian because they treat me that way. They all act very unprofessional, and scripted.
