Months and months ago, we went through an upgrade campaign for one of the credit cards we service for another bank. Letters were mailed out back in January to let customers know that the upgrade would happen automatically unless they called in to opt out. It detailed the changes to the rewards program, additional benefits that would be received, and the fact that card numbers would change and replacement cards mailed. Automatically on such-and-such date. Unless you call in to opt out.Fast forward to yesterday, November 4th. A man calls in for one of those cards but gives me the old account number. When I advise him that his account was converted due to the upgrade and that the old credit card number was no longer valid, and asked him if he had the new card, he flipped out."I never gave you permission to upgrade my account! I never gave you permission to change my account number!" and so on. He claimed he never received any replacement card and wanted to keep the old one. When I explained the details of the upgrade and that it was an opt-out campaign, he just kept going on about how he never gave us permission to change his account and wants to know how this happened without his knowledge.So I'm looking at the comments on his account and his wife called in to activate the new cards back in September and there has been activity from that card number several times since then. When I tell him this, he insists that only his wife got a card, not him. This is not possible, since he is the primary cardholder. I really wanted to ask him, where did they think this extra credit card came from? He only has one credit card with this bank. They didn't think it was a little odd that they suddenly have two different credit cards with two different account numbers, but haven't received a billing statement with the old account number on it in months? I also noticed system-generated comments documenting every letter that was mailed out in reference to this upgrade. There were five letters between January and September: notification about the upgrade, reminders about the opt-out deadline, a conversion notification, and a welcome package that was sent out around the same time as the new cards. But somehow this guy had no idea that his card was changing. He starts up again about not giving us permission and I explain to him, again, how an opt-out campaign works. "There were several letters mailed out prior to the conversion. The upgrade was processed automatically because you didn't call in to opt out."His response? "That's just a childish response!" 
No sir, what's childish is the belief that if you just ignore official notices that the changes won't take place!
Yet another incident involving our online banking "tech support".
Very similar to the linked thread: customer calls in to make sure that a balance transfer he set up online is pending. Once again, there is no transaction pending on the credit card but there is a system-generated comment on the account that the customer made the request online. No confirmation that it is processing, and no rate information.
I put the customer on hold and call over to online banking and was yet again stunned by the complete lack of professionalism. I must be more gullible than I thought; I don't know why these people surprise me any more. The rep finally got around to asking me for the account number of the credit card or debit card for the account. Keep in mind that I just told her that I was calling from Card Services for a customer who had requested a balance transfer...
She seemed very confused and asked me if this was a credit card, which I confirmed...multiple times. Then she advised me to call the credit card department...
"That is the department from which I am calling, and what I need is for someone in online banking to verify if this balance transfer was set up correctly online and at what rate. Once again, it is not showing as a pending transaction on his credit card but I understand that this may be because he just requested it earlier today."
Cue more hemming and hawing, so many "um"s and "uh"s, followed by the rep informing me that she does not have access to the customer's credit card information, only his deposit accounts (never mentioned previously when she was verifying whether this was a credit card or a debit card!), and that she does not have access to his online banking profile at all. When I asked her who I might call who would have access to his profile, she was absolutely clueless and again recommended that I call my own department for information on balance transfers. 
Let's just make a long story a little bit shorter and concede that we round in circles a bit more with her unable to provide me with any information leading to a department with access to actual online banking support and me getting more terse in my replies...ending with the customer hanging up because he had been on hold for far too long. 
The kicker? Just as I realized that the customer had disconnected, the other rep said, "I'm sorry, but I will not be able to assist you with that information today."
Even though I have been doing a lot better with my sales performance, there's still room for improvement. This is 100% due to my anxiety and confidence issues, which I am working on in therapy, but of course I'm not going to tell this to my manager. So he set me up for some additional "coaching" today by having one of our top performers sit with me and listen to my calls for 30 minutes.
A customer called in to close his account. When I asked him why, he said that they were consolidating and no longer using this card, so they need to get rid of it. This man has been a customer since 1998. His credit line was $30,000 with a $0 balance, and his APR was 7.24%V. Basically an awesome customer that we do not want to lose.
I showed appreciation for his business and flat out told him I didn't want to lose his business. If he's looking to consolidate his debt and pay off balances, I can help him do that by using this account. He had an excellent promotion for 0% interest on balance transfers until February 2015. The transaction fee, which is normally 4% of the total, would be capped at $199. He politely declined.
I checked under the new promotions window. "What if I could extend that 0% out until May 2015?" He was really nice, but he declined again. I thanked him for his time, told him I would need to transfer him to an account manager to handle the account closure, and transferred him to retention.
So what did our top performer have to say about all this? "I never would have thought to transfer him to retention. After he turned down those offers, I would have just gone ahead and closed the account." 
Believe me when I tell you that he learned more from me today than I could ever learn from him. If a customer is "retention eligible" and wants to close the account,especially for a customer with this status, you always transfer to retention. That is the whole purpose of the retention department: to retain the customer's business!
So what did I learn from this experience? If that jackass can be a top performer, then so can I! The only thing this idiot does better than me is be persistent and consistent in his offers to the customers.
Why can't people pay attention to the words that are coming out of my mouth?
Every day, I have customers who answer the question, "May I have the last four digits of the card you're calling about?" with the last 4 digits of their SSN. Sometimes I have to ask, "What is your credit card number?" and they give me just the last 4 digits of the card; then they get upset when I have to repeat myself and specify that I need the full account number.
I just had a call that I answered with the usual, "Thank you for calling card services! This is Headset. May I have your full name please?" The caller gave me his name and I said, "Thank you, Mr. Customer, and what is your credit card number?"
"My credit card number?!"
"Yes, sir; I need your full account number, please."
"I'm not calling about no credit card!"
"I apologize, sir; it appears that you've been routed through to the wrong department. What type of account are you calling about?"
"I'm calling about my truck!" Okaaay...maybe he has an auto loan with us?
Nope. When I asked him which department he was trying to reach so that I could transfer him, he answered, "The Department of Motor Vehicles!" His tone of voice implied that I was a complete idiot and he just could not believe how stupid I was. I was too happy to inform him that he had dialed the wrong number and reached Big Bank by mistake.
Call me crazy, but the last time I called the DMV, I'm pretty sure that the greeting did not include the words, "card services." I've also never waited on hold to speak with someone at the DMV and listened to messages advertising banking services the entire time, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. 
I recently passed my one year anniversary at the bank, and no one was more surprised than me.
Back in July, I was placed on a written warning. Even though my numbers had shown improvement, I was still not meeting expectations. I was extremely discouraged and started feeling really sorry for myself, like I just could not do this, I'm not good enough, I'm never going to "get it," and so on. I was crying at work over stupid shit and my anxiety was getting out of control. It was not cool.
I sat in a closed office with my team manager and our department head, where they asked me, "What do we need to do to help you succeed?" My answer was that maybe I'm not cut out for this type of work. My department head looked me in the eye and told me I was wrong, that he and my manager really believed in me and my potential. That they had spoken with other managers who had overheard me on the phone and were impressed by my skills.
Well damn.
So I had to admit that as far as training and assistance was concerned, that my manager had already gone above and beyond what could be expected to help me succeed. My manager is fucking awesome; he is hands down one of the best people I have ever worked for. I cannot blame him or the company for my failures. My biggest barrier at this job is my own anxiety and that is something that I need to work on myself.
It was not easy to say that out loud in front of two people for whom I have a great deal of respect. I don't want to be seen as the office nutcase.
After signing the written warning, I did get some additional coaching and picked up some great techniques from one of my co-workers. Nothing drastic, just a slight change in tone of voice. I had been trying to speak in a very upbeat, cheerful voice. It's hard to explain, but for some reason I've found customers to be more receptive when I speak in sort of a soft, soothing voice instead. Silly, but it's working pretty well so far. Mostly, though, I've been making a huge effort to slow down, swallow my anxiety, and just...talk to the customers.
Speaking of my anxiety, I started seeing a therapist once a week. This was a huge deal for me. I've had some very negative experiences with mental health "professionals" in the past. We're still in the "getting to know you" stage, but so far it's going really well. I think I can trust this guy, and I feel like he understands me. It's been very helpful; I feel a lot more positive in general lately!
I've also been taking St. John's Wort daily for about a month now, along with some vitamin supplements. While I'm not noticing a huge difference, I am feeling a little better. It's definitely not making things any worse, so I'm going to keep taking it. My only complaint about the St. John's Wort is that is smells fucking gross. Like moldy dirt or something. Even though it's in gel caps, I end up tasting it later. Nasty.
Aaanyway, by the end of July...I was a "meets expectations" for performance! Just barely, but who cares! At least I wasn't getting fired, right? I started to relax a little and feel a little bit better about my abilities at work. Then, I made expectations for August, too.
Maybe I can do this shit, after all.
If we change a customer's credit card number because someone stole their card and racked up a bunch of fraudulent charges...and that customer calls back to ask how much longer it's going to be until they should get that new card in the mail...you don't activate that fucking card! But hey, at least you didn't fuck up as badly as the next rep this customer spoke with...
If the customer calls back a week later to say, "Hey, I still haven't received that card in the mail. What gives?" and you simply mail out an additional copy of the same card...you are a dumbass and you suck!
WTF! Seriously?! The icing on the cake is the fact that the rep actually typed in the comment, "never received card," as the reason for mailing a new one. With the same exact account number. For a customer who has already experienced fraud on their account!
Do you know how easy it is to report a card as lost or stolen, have the number changed and simultaneously mail out a new one? It takes, literally, two seconds. That's it! You click two buttons in total. It does not require any comments to be entered. Zero keystrokes. Two seconds!
I had a woman call today asking to lower her interest rate on her credit card. She had an outstanding balance close to $5000, with an APR of 17.99%...slightly above average. Because of the high balance, I had to request a rate review from a manager, but in the meantime would she mind if I discussed some other opportunities on her account?
You see, I'm looking at the big picture here, and there's more than one way to save money.
She had some 0% balance transfer offers that would save her interest on other accounts, but claimed she didn't have any other credit cards that she was paying interest on...okay, scratch that, moving on...
I could see that not only is she paying off a high balance, she's continuing to use the card, charging several hundred dollars each month. She pays the minimum due or slightly over; even if I can lower her rate, she's still digging herself into a hole. So I offer her this:
I can take the remaining available credit on this account and use it to open up a new card. You still have the same amount of total credit with this bank; it's just split between two cards. You stop using card A and begin paying down the balance without being charged any additional interest.
Because card B is a new account, I can offer you the promotional rate of 0% (ZERO!) interest on all purchases for the first 15 (FIFTEEN!) months. Therefore, you have a credit card to use for your daily needs...without being charged any additional interest. After the promotion has expired, the APR will be 14.99%, which is considerably lower than your current rate.
She completely flipped her shit.
Apparently this was a terrible idea because then she would have two separate payments and that is just ridiculous. Even though those two payments combined would be much less that what she's paying now. My manager was able to lower her rate to 13.99%, which is great, but let me just recap real quick what she turned down:
I gave her an opportunity to use that credit with NO INTEREST for fifteen months. By the way, I also explained that the existing balance would still be lowered to 13.99%...I was simply offering her an additional opportunity that would allow her to make new purchases for zero interest.
She would rather pay the 13.99% than have a second bill.
I don't even know what to say. I'm just going to leave it at that.
