Want To Know How To Piss Me Off On A Saturday Morning?
Simply do the following:
[Phone rings. Not recognizing the number, I still answer thinking it might be the Publishers Clearinghouse Prize Patrol or something of that nature]
Me: Hello.
Other Line (OL): Please hold as an available operator assists you.
Me: [Thinking WTF? Someplace calls me and puts me on hold? This had better be good.]
OT: Is this Sam-well Gomez? (Spanish pronunciation.)
Me: [still asleep] Yes. Yes, it is.
OT: This is so-and-so company. You owe xxx on your VISA card.
Me: (Confused and still asleep.) Oh? I - I do?
OT: (Very abrasively.) This account is over due and my client would like to know your intentions.
Me: (Pleading.) I paid my VISA card bill over the phone. I have a confirmation number.
OT: When did you make this payment?
Me: (Hopping out of the bed in a panic to check my files.) I paid this… [When did I pay this? I know it was recently.] I paid this on… (Panic slowly turning to anger.) I paid this last Sunday.
OT: I see. We have no record of this.
Me: (Interrupting and getting angry.) What is the account number you have for this person?
OT: Wha-what? The account number is xxxxxxxxxx.
Me: (Sternly.) That is not my account number. What is the social security number you have for this account?
OT: Are you Sam-well Gomez?
Me: (Interrupting again and beginning to scream.) Yes. What is the social security number you have for the account?!?!
OT: What are the last 4 digits of YOUR social security number?
Me: I do not have to tell you that! What is the birth date of this person???
OT: So-and-so 1965. (Screaming back.) What are the last 4 digits of YOUR social security number?
Me: This is not me! Please remove me from your database and do not call my home again. (OT still asking for my SSN and telling me I owe money.) You called me. I am not going to tell you my social security number. It is your job to verify you have the correct person! I was not born in 1965!
OT: (Still screaming, demands) Give me your social security number!
Me: Do not call me again! You have the wrong person! It is your company’s liability! I do not owe you money! I cannot believe you call here and accuse me of not paying my bills…. [Eventually after I wake everyone up in my apt building with my screaming, I hang up.]
Moral of the story? There are several. First, no one I know (other than my mom) calls my home phone (which is for another post completely.) Next, I should know better than to answer the phone when I don’t recognize the number. Next, Jaesan and I found out a long time ago, Spanish pronunciation of my name by unknown callers was not a good sign. Generally, is was not some hot Latina with a Sam-well fetish. It was most often a non-permissible cold call. In this case, it was worse.
So, I am not sure which pissed me off more: 1.) Getting waken up on an otherwise calm Saturday morning or 2.) getting accused of being a delinquent bill payer. (Mind you, it could happen, but I make every best effort so that it does not.)
This same thing happen a year or two ago, but that time the call started with the guy yelling at me for being late with my payment. Again shocked by the initial accusation, I eventually figured out that he had the wrong person. He continued to yell so much and piss me off that I actually called back and asked for his supervisor. Of course, they didn’t patch me thru to his supervisor. They patched me thru to him, so I used it as an opportunity to yell at him some more. If hadn’t been so angry, I would have probably started laughing at some of the things I said…
“I want to speak with your manager. I can’t believe this is the way you do business. Without verifying my identity, you called me at my home and made threatening remarks. You said you were going to sue me! I have high blood pressure. You’ve caused me severe distress. I want to speak to your manager. This can’t be right. My roommate lawyer. No - I want to speak with your legal department. I want written documentation that you have removed me from your records. I never want you to call my home again. I cannot believe you deal with the public in this manner. You don’t do something as simple as confirm SSN or date of birth? Actually, I want written documentation of your policy. How did you find me? This has to be a liability on your end! You cannot just call random individuals and make threatening remarks. As an informed consumer, I want written documentation as to how you find individuals and how you deal with them!”
Perhaps, even funnier is that I have a vague memory of then giving them my address and demanding they send me such documentation. I think I even asked them to repeat my info so that I knew they had it right. Of course, it never came. Somehow I think my insanity proved my point.
Mr.Mrs. Debt Collector, did you ever stop to think that there might be more than one Samuel Gomez in the City of New York?
July 24th, 2005 at 12:06 pm
Maybe you should check your credit report to make sure you identity hasn’t been stolen.. Or it could be a scam to get your personal info. I bet some people are freaked out enough to give that information when someone is accusing them of having a deliquent account.