I had a good beginning to the day, but it got crap after lunch. Some lady phoned to ask what she had to do to get her insurance in place and I was doing my best to patiently explain it to her. She just wasn't getting it and kept referring to previous policies. I tried SO hard to explain that it was a new policy and the old ones had no bearing and that we would not bend our membership requirement - that she WOULD have to become a member to take insurance with us. I spent 25 minutes on the phone with her and she kept interrupting me and going over and over the same thing. I even offered to call her daughter and talk to her about it all because she mentioned that her daughter normally handles it all for her. But she said in the end that she thought she had it ok now.
So I take a few more calls and about 40 minutes later, the lady's daughter rings me. I had authority to speak with her, so I explained the situation. She kept referring to the old policies too so I calmly explained that it was a new policy and that her Mother would definitely have to become a member if she wanted to use our insurance. I told her that I had tried very hard to explain it all to her Mum but that her Mum was somewhat confused about it and I wanted to clarify it all. So then the daughter goes off at me, starts yelling at me that I am "bloody rude" and "obviously don't know how to deal with older people" and that my "attitude" was awful.
I should have just let it go but I told her that I had spent 25 minutes trying to calmly explain the situation to her Mum, that I do nothing but deal with older people all day and that I had even offered to call her to help her Mum understand it all. And I told her that her's was the first complaint I'd ever had. She just kept going off saying she was in "PR" too and that my attitude was terrible and blah, blah, blah.
Basically, she went off at me because she couldn't get what she wanted - and that was to not have to pay the membership fee because "we never have before". The reason they'd never payed it before was because they had indicated that they were going to become members and never followed through...hmm...
Then she tells me that her Mum has written the wrong birth year on her application and she is actually 90, not 85. I look at another policy and the date is different again.
So obviously, there are some issues there. I'm used to angry customers who don't like the policy guidelines, but to have it turned into a personal attack just because they couldn't get their way, was not much fun :(
Then later the Mum phones back and says that she's sorry a young girl like me has to deal with a stupid old woman like her. I told her she was not stupid, and that it is a complex thing to understand and I really was trying to do my best to help her. My workmates were telling me to hang up because I had gone way above and beyond the call of duty. But I really did want to help her - as frustrating as it was. So now, she is going to become a member...but we still need to deal with that 'wrong birth year' thing because it could be considered a fraudulent application...I'm so handing that off to one of the guys! LOL!
But anyways...it put a damper on my day and I'm just feeling rather down right now...
