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Post by chang on Jul 28, 2023 19:12:09 GMT
What the hell is going on. *Every* company I call, I get a message saying “waiting times are longer than usual” because “we are experiencing unusual call volumes”.
How can they *always* be experiencing unusual call volumes? Hire more people, for Pete’s sake. This is starting to stink of horse manure.
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Post by acksurf on Jul 28, 2023 19:20:50 GMT
What the hell is going on. *Every* company I call, I get a message saying “waiting times are longer than usual” because “we are experiencing unusual call volumes”. How can they *always* be experiencing unusual call volumes? Hire more people, for Pete’s sake. This is starting to stink of horse manure. LOL, Okay Rip Van Winkle - what rock have you been under the last decade or so?? |
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Post by gman57 on Jul 28, 2023 20:32:57 GMT
What the hell is going on. *Every* company I call, I get a message saying “waiting times are longer than usual” because “we are experiencing unusual call volumes”. How can they *always* be experiencing unusual call volumes? Hire more people, for Pete’s sake. This is starting to stink of horse manure. But...but.... if they hire more people their profits and our stocks will go down!! Care about people and good service ehhh, who cares..., worship the almighty dollar. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2023 20:52:30 GMT
Customer service creatures are at home in their pajamas playing video games. When they do answer they read a script that comes closest to the question. We come from a culture that valued customer satisfaction. The 50 and under folks expect mediocre service since that's what they have always gotten.
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Post by Capital on Jul 28, 2023 23:16:52 GMT
What the hell is going on. *Every* company I call, I get a message saying “waiting times are longer than usual” because “we are experiencing unusual call volumes”. How can they *always* be experiencing unusual call volumes? Hire more people, for Pete’s sake. This is starting to stink of horse manure. , All we need to add is something about Mom, something about a pickup truck and something about a prison and we can write us one real good country song.  |
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Post by anitya on Jul 28, 2023 23:57:32 GMT
Customer service creatures are at home in their pajamas playing video games. When they do answer they read a script that comes closest to the question. We come from a culture that valued customer satisfaction. The 50 and under folks expect mediocre service since that's what they have always gotten. Nailed it. When I retired I had more time to call customer services to take care of things I would have otherwise neglected. I realized how little the staff knew about the company and their products and services compared to what I knew, let alone the issue I was calling them for. I noticed that I was training the people I was seeking service from, not to mention many of them had very poor attitude towards their job. So, I decided to apply for an entry level customer service job in a couple of those places. I did not even get a call from the HR or the relevant department in response to my job application. The offshore customer service personnel are a 1000% better than the entitled employees in the US. Now, I try to call during off hours in the hope either I get a good Rep or have my call routed to an off shore service center. I do not mind if employees do not work their asses off but bad attitude towards their job has no cure. I would rather take the hallucinating generative AI over the hallucinating human beings. |
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Post by chang on Jul 29, 2023 7:27:07 GMT
Customer service creatures are at home in their pajamas playing video games. When they do answer they read a script that comes closest to the question. We come from a culture that valued customer satisfaction. The 50 and under folks expect mediocre service since that's what they have always gotten. Reading from a script ... ugh, I hate that too, it's so obvious. What I really hate is when they answer the call with "Hello, my name is Sean (or Jessica), are you having a wonderful day?" If you're calling a help line, you're obviously not having a wonderful day. Whatever happened to "Hello, how can I help you?" Maybe I'm just becoming an old grouch. |
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Post by chang on Jul 29, 2023 7:31:07 GMT
But...but.... if they hire more people their profits and our stocks will go down!! Care about people and good service ehhh, who cares..., worship the almighty dollar. Customer service and worshipping the almighty dollar are not exclusive. On the contrary, I patronize, and am loyal to, companies that provide good service. Indeed, I will pay more for goods and services when the customer service is superior than the competition's. I think @axe hit a nerve. Perhaps it's a cultural change thing. People just don't seem to care. |
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Post by Capital on Jul 29, 2023 11:36:22 GMT
Bad customer service has been the trend for some time. Seems it started with the farming out of person to person contact to foreign nationals. I remember having tremendous trouble communicating with those reps. Now they have just dialed down the number of reps and phone lines hoping you will send an email or have a chat with the computer person online.
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Post by gman57 on Jul 29, 2023 12:31:50 GMT
But...but.... if they hire more people their profits and our stocks will go down!! Care about people and good service ehhh, who cares..., worship the almighty dollar. Customer service and worshipping the almighty dollar are not exclusive. On the contrary, I patronize, and am loyal to, companies that provide good service. Indeed, I will pay more for goods and services when the customer service is superior than the competition's. I think @axe hit a nerve. Perhaps it's a cultural change thing. People just don't seem to care. Disagree... most people buy by price. They don't know customer service stinks on the initial purchase. Once you're in the door AND have problems then you find out customer service stinks. Why are they reading from scripts? Because they are entry level positions that get minimal pay. The turnover is quite high because they're always dealing with upset customers and an a never ending backlog of calls. That's why wait times are ridiculous. If they are overseas the turnover is even greater because they jump from job to job due to demand and pay increases. Companies aren't going to pay workers to sit around waiting for the next call like an exceptional customer service organization would. If you "hit 1 to for sales" your wait time is minimal or non-existent but if you "hit 2 for service" ... ehh, maybe we'll talk to you in 20 minutes. ADD: I agree it is getting worse, now many companies hide their phone numbers and emails! They want you to figure it out yourself using the internet or their virtual assistants. |
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Post by Chahta on Jul 29, 2023 13:03:37 GMT
Bad customer service has been the trend for some time. Seems it started with the farming out of person to person contact to foreign nationals. I remember having tremendous trouble communicating with those reps. Now they have just dialed down the number of reps and phone lines hoping you will send an email or have a chat with the computer person online. Maybe pray that AI takes over customer service jobs. I hate it when I can’t understand for the accent. |
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Post by johntaylor on Jul 29, 2023 13:33:42 GMT
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Post by Capital on Jul 29, 2023 13:51:52 GMT
Bad customer service has been the trend for some time. Seems it started with the farming out of person to person contact to foreign nationals. I remember having tremendous trouble communicating with those reps. Now they have just dialed down the number of reps and phone lines hoping you will send an email or have a chat with the computer person online. Maybe pray that AI takes over customer service jobs. I hate it when I can’t understand for the accent. , I think I've seen some of that with these computer chat persons. You ask them a question and they give you an answer to a question you did not ask and was too simple to even think to ask. You keep asking and they keep answering other questions that you really don't care to know about. From what I hear if an AI bot can't find an answer to the question it will create one even if it is a lie. I bet that the next thing to come will be AI fact check web sites (oh yes wait for it) ""Run By AI Bots"" -- what a World, Pot and Kettle AI Bots calling each other out. |
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Post by gman57 on Jul 29, 2023 13:54:14 GMT
Bad customer service has been the trend for some time. Seems it started with the farming out of person to person contact to foreign nationals. I remember having tremendous trouble communicating with those reps. Now they have just dialed down the number of reps and phone lines hoping you will send an email or have a chat with the computer person online. Maybe pray that AI takes over customer service jobs. I hate it when I can’t understand for the accent. Actually AI will improve customer service. Right now rep A knows the answer to your question because they've been doing the job longer but rep B and C doesn't. If you luck out and get A on the phone you get your answer but if you get B or C on the phone you won't get your answer. AI will database all these answers from A,B and C and then figure out which one was correct. Future calls will all get the right answer thanks to AI. Hopefully..... |
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Post by mnfish on Jul 29, 2023 15:24:47 GMT
Who/Why are you having to call to begin with? Is this mostly in regard to investment firms? I actually got an unsolicited call from a Wells Fargo rep a couple of months ago wondering if there was anything I needed help with, and he didn't try to sell me anything! I did tell him that they could make buying bonds easier like Fidelity and was told they are working on it.
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Post by anitya on Jul 29, 2023 19:45:50 GMT
70% of our economy is Service and the inflation in Service has been pretty sticky. A principal cause of this sticky inflation is ever decreasing employee productivity which is directly related to attitudes towards jobs / work. Communicating with off shore customer service reps has improved tremendously over the past 10 years. Most of the world now speaks good English. I have had excellent reps from Indonesia and Eastern Europe and I am equally impressed. Even the Chinese dealing with the rest of the world speak decent English. I will take a Rep with a good attitude with poor communication skill over the ones with a poor attitude. My preference is off shore customer service, generative AI, crappy US based customer service, in that order. As chang said, I would rather pay well for good service but I am not the marginal customer setting the price. So, trying to make the most of what is available. |
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Post by archer on Jul 29, 2023 21:22:28 GMT
Bad customer service has been the trend for some time. Seems it started with the farming out of person to person contact to foreign nationals. I remember having tremendous trouble communicating with those reps. Now they have just dialed down the number of reps and phone lines hoping you will send an email or have a chat with the computer person online. Maybe pray that AI takes over customer service jobs. I hate it when I can’t understand for the accent. I have a hard time with that too. Sometimes businesses hire "work from home" staff from anywhere that has a pool of workers who will work for cheap. I was on a call once with someone who I not only really had trouble understanding, but also working from a kitchen with pots and pans clanging, and kids making lots of background noise. Sometimes though it works in my favor and the reps are working from the south east US. I grew up in VA and have lost my accent but sure feel at home hearing it. :-) The southern reps are usually very polite and not rushed. chang, "I think wait times longer than usual" is just a blanket greeting. Another one is when the recording says, "Please listen carefully as our phone options have changed." I hear that from places that haven't changed their phone options for years. Some I even memorize the phone tree so I can skip listening to the instructions. |
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Post by Chahta on Jul 29, 2023 22:44:55 GMT
Maybe pray that AI takes over customer service jobs. I hate it when I can’t understand for the accent. I have a hard time with that too. Sometimes businesses hire "work from home" staff from anywhere that has a pool of workers who will work for cheap. I was on a call once with someone who I not only really had trouble understanding, but also working from a kitchen with pots and pans clanging, and kids making lots of background noise. Sometimes though it works in my favor and the reps are working from the south east US. I grew up in VA and have lost my accent but sure feel at home hearing it. :-) The southern reps are usually very polite and not rushed. chang , "I think wait times longer than usual" is just a blanket greeting. Another one is when the recording says, "Please listen carefully as our phone options have changed." I hear that from places that haven't changed their phone options for years. Some I even memorize the phone tree so I can skip listening to the instructions. Popular countries for call centers are The Philippines, India, Mexico and Columbia. It is hilarious that ALL customer support says the same thing; "we are busier than usual...." The new trick is you will get a call back without losing your place in line. Recently a hospital did that to me. The callback came hours after I took the initial call from them. What a joke. |
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Post by catdog on Jul 30, 2023 1:16:59 GMT
My wife and I both struggle with smart phones. We have used straightalk in the past but it is impossible for us to get help that is usable for us. We switched back to verison even though it is more expensive because we can call and talk to a person. If that fails we can drive to the verison store.
Off shore customer service people seem to try harder than many in the states. As I have gotten older I am experiencing hearing problems. One of the biggest is picking up accents. I used to be much better atit. So weather it is in the states or overseas accents are more of a problem.
Catdog
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Post by catdog on Jul 30, 2023 1:21:56 GMT
My wife and I both struggle with smart phones. We have used straightalk in the past but it is impossible for us to get help that is usable for us. We switched back to verison even though it is more expensive because we can call and talk to a person. If that fails we can drive to the verison store.
Off shore customer service people seem to try harder than many in the states. As I have gotten older I am experiencing hearing problems. One of the biggest is picking up accents. I used to be much better atit. So weather it is in the states or overseas accents are more of a problem.
Catdog
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Post by archer on Jul 30, 2023 5:37:00 GMT
I don't mean to hijack this thread by complaining about something else, but in the past couple years more and more movies and TV shows are shot in a set so dark you can barely see what is going on. I think it is supposed to be some kind of cool effect, creative filming, or some such BS, but I betcha it's so they don't have to go into as much detail getting it right. If this gets any worse I might as well watch TV with the cabinet closed!
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Post by Chahta on Jul 30, 2023 10:52:54 GMT
I don't mean to hijack this thread by complaining about something else, but in the past couple years more and more movies and TV shows are shot in a set so dark you can barely see what is going on. I think it is supposed to be some kind of cool effect, creative filming, or some such BS, but I betcha it's so they don't have to go into as much detail getting it right. If this gets any worse I might as well watch TV with the cabinet closed! I have that same dislike. Don’t get it. |
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Post by anitya on Jul 30, 2023 16:02:54 GMT
As if to give me a renewed taste of what we are discussing here I had an incident last night where Citi processed four credits to my credit card account from my checking account to pay last month balance. After calling them (CC and checking side each) four times to cancel three of those payments for the same amount, I was told nothing can be done over the weekend and I need to call them again on Monday (no tel direct number to a human being given). It did not matter to them that I have been a customer with them for 20+ years, the burden to resolve their screw up is put on me. Their crappy systems and processes are inflexible and we have to adjust to their way. What a waste of time. I will just let it be and use the credit balance over the next few months.
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Post by anitya on Jul 31, 2023 21:04:27 GMT
As if to give me a renewed taste of what we are discussing here I had an incident last night where Citi processed four credits to my credit card account from my checking account to pay last month balance. After calling them (CC and checking side each) four times to cancel three of those payments for the same amount, I was told nothing can be done over the weekend and I need to call them again on Monday (no tel direct number to a human being given). It did not matter to them that I have been a customer with them for 20+ years, the burden to resolve their screw up is put on me. Their crappy systems and processes are inflexible and we have to adjust to their way. What a waste of time. I will just let it be and use the credit balance over the next few months. So, I called Citi today (just now and not first in the morning) as the supervisor suggested. I had to explain the problem to each person I was connected to. They do not make it easy to get to a live person any way. Along the way, one of the reps turned out to be one I spoke with over the weekend and he thought it was odd the supervisor suggested to me to call back and so he connected me to another available supervisor. The new one said I have to call back 2-3 days from now because I have to be present on the phone when they reverse the money the Citi CC erroneously pulled from my Citi checking account. That is when it donned on me that they are just screwing with me and they have no intention of doing anything. If they had any intention of fixing their screw up, like any normal business, they would just take it upon themselves to fix the problem, rather than keep telling me to call them back later. Wow, these guys are far worse than I thought they were. Just to be on the safe side, I initiated last night an ACH transfer from my Fidelity account to my Citi checking so it does not become over drawn. Amazingly, the money from Fidelity is already in the Citi account today. I will use Fidelity brokerage account to do more banking going forward. |
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Post by yogibearbull on Aug 1, 2023 0:58:41 GMT
I use bank/credit union Bill Pay to pay most bills. Some recurring and uniform bills (auto-loans, Medicare premium, etc) are on auto-pay through the Bill Pay.
For only a handful of critical recurring bills, I use direct banking links.
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Post by anitya on Aug 1, 2023 3:37:17 GMT
Today, I had a mutual fund sell order rejected at TD. I entered the order over the weekend and made sure it showed (accepted) in the order status. I did not know the rejection until I saw a notification for the message below which was sent to me after the market close. Going by the date stamp in the order status, it looks like the order was rejected today before the market close.
"From: Message Center Client Services|Date: 07/31/23 4:16 PM Message available until 07/30/25.
Dear Valued TD Ameritrade Client,
This email is to inform you that your mutual fund order redeeming 100,000 shares of XXXXX was rejected as a potential oversell. At this time, I show that your total position in this mutual fund is only 100,810.82 shares. You are welcome to replace your mutual fund order in a more appropriate share amount. If you need assistance in liquidating your shares, please feel free to call and speak with one of our brokers."
I specifically entered the order as shares rather than dollars to make sure it will go through. I read and re-read the message a few times to make sure I am not missing something. Looks like TD has given up on themselves to maintain their systems and processes not to have screw-ups like this. Since the Schwab acquisition, this is not their first screw up in my accounts.
I replied to their incomprehensible message to make sure they do not reject the same order again tomorrow. Now that they are in the shut down mode, I would not bet on them fixing any part of their systems; so, brace yourself.
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Post by racqueteer on Aug 1, 2023 12:01:56 GMT
Just sounds like a case of poor reading. You said shares, s/he read dollars. I would think that a call to a broker would sort it out? They certainly should make good on their error! Shouldn’t be necessary, but I don’t think it reflects a systemic issue. The rep wants to stay in the good graces of Schwab, and it seems as if you have enough invested to have plenty of leverage!
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Post by yogibearbull on Aug 1, 2023 12:21:55 GMT
Looks like TD Ameritrade system issue. The order was clearly for #shares, not $amount.
Typically, Schwab complains too when more that 75-80% of $amount is redeemed, but then, it's OK for #shares. If the online order for #shares was initially accepted, but rejected later, I wonder if the fund had some other hold/sell restrictions.
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Post by fritzo489 on Aug 1, 2023 13:11:14 GMT
anitya, Let us know how it works out,please. Have a good or better day, fritzo489  |
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Post by archer on Aug 1, 2023 14:39:57 GMT
Just sounds like a case of poor reading. You said shares, s/he read dollars. I would think that a call to a broker would sort it out? They certainly should make good on their error! Shouldn’t be necessary, but I don’t think it reflects a systemic issue. The rep wants to stay in the good graces of Schwab, and it seems as if you have enough invested to have plenty of leverage! This seems a likely explanation if there is actually someone reading the order. Based on the speed and volume at which orders are processed, I think buys and sells must be automated. Since the email provided share amounts for both the sale attempt and the total held, it is hard to make a case that it was a simple mistake in reading. My guess is they have a mistake in their trade platform programing. anitya, I look forward to your findings when you make inquiry and hope they can honor your trade prices at the time of your request if beneficial. |
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