What are your feelings on change? (A bit of a rant)

Carla

Carla

Senior Member
Location
Pa
I know that the only thing that is certain anymore is change. While change can be a good thing, it seems a lot of changes aren't necessarily for the better. Why are we being forced to accept it? Is our society becoming one willing to accept mediocrity?

I envisioned retirement as having lots of time to do the things we want to do. I spend a lot of time making phone calls for a variety of reasons. One of my favorites is notices for unpaid bills that I already have cleared my account. "Oh, just disregard it". No, I want to make certain it was credited to my account. That's after going through the menu and waiting my turn in line. Bills that are impossible to understand. Computer generated statements and glitches, oh how I love that excuse. Does anyone know what's going on there?

One thing I cannot understand is why in the world we changed over our voting machines to electronic without considering the possibility of tampering (hacking)? Here it is, less than two months away and now we talk about it? Why do we need to accept that our election results could be inaccurate? I am not against change. I am against change that complicates and confuses things. I'm against change without forethought.
 

I'll tip my hat and do the fish cheer for all the seniors who have completely embraced the new technology. I envy them, really I do. I remember being handed a smart phone to do inventory. First time I had ever held one and not even a clue how to turn it on. But then again Best Buy is probably one of the last places that should have hired me.

I have no cell phone, just a landline, a lap top and a digital camera, my only personal electronic geegaw is an IPod my son gave me. But sometimes you can find fun ways to embrace the suck. Playing on the demonstration pads I discovered I kick butt playing Fruit Ninja...who knew?;)
 
Oh goodness, you have certainly hit a nerve here! I hate it when you make a call and you get an automated menu of options. For instance..."if you are calling about this..press 1", if you are calling about this..press 2" and after about 10 options I have forgotten or not quite sure which one I should have pressed. Then always the last option is to "press 0 for an operator". Well, why didn't the "operator" answer in the first place?
And "paperless billing" is getting on my last nerve! That's my rant! LOL
 

I like to keep a small amount of it on hand in case I need it for tax or a vending machine, but I try to get rid of the nickels and dimes, while keeping only quarters and a few pennies.

Makes my wallet too heavy.
 
It's un-nerving as to how bla·sé the billing / customer service people are, after all- if your bill in-fact was not credited with your last payment, you could very well be changed late fees, and well as getting a "late pay" ding on your credit.

While we're at it, automated phone menus make me livid, not only for the runaround factor, but just the idea that the company is unwilling to provide human contact customer service.
 
I remember a woman demonstrating a microwave oven years ago in a local retail outlet trying to convince us provincials that this was the way of the future. I was sceptical back then but once I switched over I never used a stove again...
 
Victor Meldrew said:
I like to keep a small amount of it on hand in case I need it for tax or a vending machine, but I try to get rid of the nickels and dimes, while keeping only quarters and a few pennies.


Makes my wallet too heavy.[/QUOTE


Oh my gosh, Victor, that went right over my head! Good Falcon pointed it out--good one!
Click to expand...
 
Sorry folks, but I like push button phone menus.

Seriously, has no one ever had an experience like this...

--------------
Hello, I'm Sara how may I help you?

You: TELL YOUR STORY

Sara: "Oh you need to talk to Cindy in Dept X. Do you want me to give you her number, or would you like me to transfer you?"

You: Transfer

You hear it ringing, but then the phone line goes dead.

START OVER

This time Fred answers (not Sara). Hello, I'm Fred, how may I help you?

TELL YOU STORY again.

Fred: "Oh you need to talk to Cindy in Dept X."

Ask for the number this time

Call number. Cindy goes to voice mail. Never calls back.

START OVER

Sara answers but has forgot who you were by now.

TELL YOUR STORY

Ask for transfer to Cindy.

This time Cindy answers. "Oh you need to talk to John in Dept Y.

If you are lucky, John is the right guy, and you only have to tell your story one more time.

ALSO, you can repeat the menu as many times as you want without annoying anyone, or using the excuse that you're old and hard of hearing, to keep from insulting them.
 
NancyNGA said:
Sorry folks, but I like push button phone menus.

Seriously, has no one ever had an experience like this...

--------------
Hello, I'm Sara how may I help you?

You: TELL YOUR STORY

Sara: "Oh you need to talk to Cindy in Dept X. Do you want me to give you her number, or would you like me to transfer you?"

You: Transfer

You hear it ringing, but then the phone line goes dead.

START OVER

This time Fred answers (not Sara). Hello, I'm Fred, how may I help you?

TELL YOU STORY again.

Fred: "Oh you need to talk to Cindy in Dept X."

Ask for the number this time

Call number. Cindy goes to voice mail. Never calls back.

START OVER

Sara answers but has forgot who you were by now.

TELL YOUR STORY

Ask for transfer to Cindy.

This time Cindy answers. "Oh you need to talk to John in Dept Y.

If you are lucky, John is the right guy, and you only have to tell your story one more time.

ALSO, you can repeat the menu as many times as you want without annoying anyone, or using the excuse that you're old and hard of hearing, to keep from insulting them.
Click to expand...

Sounds VERY familiar to experiences I've had, too!

My all time biggest complaint, though, is when I FINALLY get through to the proper person, only to find out he is in Rangoon or someplace and, though he believes he is speaking English, I can't understand a word he says.
 
maggiemae said:
Oh goodness, you have certainly hit a nerve here! I hate it when you make a call and you get an automated menu of options. For instance..."if you are calling about this..press 1", if you are calling about this..press 2" and after about 10 options I have forgotten or not quite sure which one I should have pressed. Then always the last option is to "press 0 for an operator". Well, why didn't the "operator" answer in the first place?
And "paperless billing" is getting on my last nerve! That's my rant! LOL
Click to expand...

I agree. It's an insult to our intelligence when they give us an options menu ut refuse to just let you speak to a human which would, in most cases fix the problem pretty quickly.
 
Or, if you DO get a human, he/she can only stick to the script like a single-minded parrot.

Once I called to get a payment for a service switched from my late husband's charge card (which I was going to cancel) to one of mine.

"I'm sorry, only the primary account holder can change that."

"Well, the primary account holder is dead."

"I'm sorry, but our policy is that only the primary account holder can make changes."

"But he's dead."

"I'm sorry......(repeat and rinse)...."

"Well, then, cancel the account. I can send you a death certificate."

"I'm sorry.....(again)."

"OK, the charge card is going to be cancelled on Monday. When your invoice goes to the charge card company to be paid, it'll be rejected because that charge card will be cancelled. What will happen then?"

"The account will be cancelled."

"OK, good, problem solved!"

"One moment please, let me get a supervisor on the line."

Funny thing.....the account suddenly got changed over to my name and my charge card without a call from "the beyond" from the primary account holder. Goes to show......money talks and bulls**t walks.
 
I ran into the same problem with a credit card. Even though my name was on it, I could not use it or have it transferred to my name. I just never used it again. I opened up another credit card with my credit union. I kept getting information sent to my husband even though I told them he was deceased. It's nuts. I had several other similar problems so I understand what you're saying.
 
Sometimes if you're lucky you can find the right operator willing to go off script. Especially with government agencies, for profit places not so much. But just reaching one person that can actually straighten out your problem can be amazing.
 
I had an amazing experience the other day. My wireless modem stopped working for some reason, and I couldn't get on the Internet or get any streaming programs sent to my TV. I called Comcast, I did have to press a few buttons at the beginning, but got connected to a tech expert located in the Chicago area (I asked) who was smart, knowledgeable, friendly, and had a great sense of humor. He got everything up and running for me. And I have to say, it was so nice speaking to an American voice for once!

Probably happens once in a lifetime.
 
Whenever I have a learning curve and things aren't the way they used to be and I want to scream, I remember how I got so tired of my mother complaining, co-workers complaining, seemed like everyone complaining! I don't always like change, but I dislike the possibility of becoming cynical and negative more. I don't want to do that to my kids or grandkids. So, I suck it up, figure out that it isn't worse, it is all just different. That doesn't mean that adjusting isn't a pain!
 
I found out that if you establish a "personal" relationship with the employee who answers the phone, you can get quite a bit further. When I was trying to straighten out my survivor benefits after my husband died, it seemed that even thought there were thousands and thousands of state employees, apparently my husband was the first one who had ever died. Bored and completely disinterested state employees would answer my questions with "I guess you can" and "maybe that document will be enough" and "I suppose you'll get that form eventually". I didn't want "guess" and "maybe" and"suppose" ...... I wanted "yes" and "no" and "definitely".

After pounding my head against the brick wall repeatedly, I tried a new tactic. The next one answered, "This is Matthew" and I exclaimed, "Oh how wonderful! I love that name. My favorite uncle was named Matthew and he was always so helpful and efficient I just KNOW you're going to be able to help me! This is my lucky day!" and you know? it worked. He tracked down the answers and the procedures and somehow was able to actually answer my questions.....I believe because we had a "personal" connection.

If the guy's name had been Zebediah or Abdulla or Ramesh, I would have had an uncle named Zebediah or Abdulla or Ramesh. I'm such a liar when it's expedient.
 
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