I have written a series of writing lessons and published them on Amazon–Writing Lessons from the Front. There are 12 books now, and I keep adding to them as I think of topics. But I’m not writing today about the books. I’m writing about telephone support people, God love ’em.
The other day I went into the inner workings of Amazon’s program and changed the categories of those writing books–because Amazon changed their categories. Everything went fine, so I clicked the button that sends my changes to Amazon for review.
Then I got several emails from their reviewer saying, “Amazon only publishes paperbacks and hardbacks. We do not publish calendars, spiral notebooks, etc., etc. Therefore we will not publish your book.” I got this letter for six of the 12 books.
What? They already HAD published my 12 books–in fact, they were live on Amazon at that moment. So I called the helpline. Amazon is really good about having people call you.
So this woman answers, gives me the usual spiel about how it’s a recorded line, etc., and then asks how she can help. I tell her that I think they think this is a spiral notebook (because the back cover shows the spiral of the notebook on the cover), but it’s not, it’s a paperback. In fact, it’s an existing paperback.
“We won’t publish it,” she said. “It’s a spiral notebook.”
“It’s not,” I insisted. “It’s a paperback. I have 12 of these paperbacks–they have a picture of a spiral on the back cover. And you’ve already published it.”
“The customer will think it’s a spiral.”
“No, because the customer will only see the front cover, where there’s no spiral thingy.”
“But then they’ll see the back and have a negative customer experience. You’ll have to remove the spiral.”
“What about the six books you approved? They have the same spiral.”
“We don’t want anyone to have a negative customer experience.”
Sigh. So I hung up, then went online and vented to some friends. “Call again,” someone urged. “Don’t give up.”
So I called again and tried a different tack. This time I talked to a nice young man who was apparently in India.
“Hello,” I said, after giving him my log in information so he could see my books. “I received an email saying that you only publish hardbacks and paperbacks, so you couldn’t publish my book. But you already have published my book, I just wanted to change the categories. Can you see all those paperbacks?”
“Yes,” he said. “I see that it is a paperback.”
“Wonderful! So can you please approve this paperback? I don’t want to have a negative customer experience.”
He hesitated. “I’ll have to speak to my supervisor. I will send you an email.”
Update: I waited three days, then I called again. I kept submitting those six books, and then four of them were approved. Only two remained, and one day one of those was approved. But I kept getting emails about the last book being a spiral bound.
Finally–finally, it was approved. And I don’t know how many hours I spent writing emails or on the phone.
And then . . . oy, what a day . . . Somehow a lot of doctors think my insurance was Florida Blue when it was really Medicare. So I’ve been getting all these bills that Florida Blue didn’t pay (because I don’t have it any more) and one office actually sent me to a collection agency! So I called the collection agency, explained that the bills should have been submitted to medicare, and that my insurance was Medicare with a secondary policy of something I’ll call “United We Stand.” (Not the real name–I feel weird putting this stuff out there).
Anyway–so the guy says, “So you’re now with Florida Blue and a secondary of United Healthcare.”
“No, that’s Medicare and United We Stand.”
“So it’s Medicare and Standard Insurance.”
“No, it’s Medicare and United We Stand.”
“Okay–well, you’ll have to call the doctor’s office and tell them that.”
“Fine. Can you give me the number of their billing department?”
“We’re not allowed to give out numbers.”
“Then can YOU call them and explain all this?”
“Not allowed to do that, either.”
“Then I’ll try to find them.”
“But let me warn you, lady–this will hurt your credit record if you don’t pay up.”
“Look here,” I said, going into Mature Woman mode, “Collection agencies are notorious for threatening people, and I will not be threatened. This had better NOT hurt my credit score because this is not my fault. Have a good day.”
Sigh. So I hung up and googled the doctor’s office and the woman looked for my name, my account number, my date of birth–couldn’t find me. Probably because my file was at the collection agency.
So I ended up writing an email, I explained everything, included every account number, and then let it go. I am praying there is a Mature Woman in that office who can straighten this mess out. If not, I’ll probably have to tell them that I’m having a negative customer experience.
Have you ever experienced this kind of nightmare? How did you maintain your sanity . . . and your patience?
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Oh, Angie! I feel for you. There is NOTHING in this world that gets my temper flaring like frustrating customer service, especially when it’s over the phone! If anything could make me lose my Christianity, that would be it! My blood is boiling a little bit just reading your account. 😉
I know! I try to be pleasant, because I know they’re just trying to do their jobs (and sometimes they’re reading from a script), but illogic drives me CRAZY (It’s the Spock in me). The “spiral” issue is solved, but I’m still dealing with the insurance issue. Praying for patience, and still doing a lot of calling . . .
Insurance customer service is awful. My husband has spent hours on the phone when we’ve had issues. He always asks for the name of the person he is speaking with so he can refer to them next time he calls. He always has to call more than once and always gets different feedback each time. I don’t know if they just have that many incompetent people, or if they’re just so big “the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing.”
I’m not an author on Amazon, so I have not had experiences there. But I’ll be communicating with them today. We sent a package via Amazon to my son in another state. I paid $5.99 for the gift to be wrapped. He FaceTimed us so we could seen him open his present. When he opened the outer box, the gift bag was folded and lying ACROSS the present. No one had taken the time to put the present IN the gift bag. Grr!
Barbara, the gift bag on top of the present, at the price of $5.99, is both painful and funny. See me with a speech bubble above my head with a huge question mark in it. Really? I mean, really???? I hope your son liked the gift away, but I also hope you get your $5.99 back.
I can relate! Just pray you never have to call the IRS. Now there’s a case of different folks, different advice . . .
UUGHHHHH. I am frustrated for you! That is so hard! Yes. I know this from personal experience. I don’t know any way around it. If you find one, let us know!
Happy to! Now the only way around it I can see is if Jesus comes . . . 😉
Like Deb said, a bad customer service experience can really mess with peace and patience, et al. Gets the old blood pressure rising. I find myself saying something like, “I know you are just the unlucky person to answer the phone but I need you to know how unhappy I am right now.”
Yes! I usually end up saying something like, “I know this is not your fault, but please tell your supervisor that this policy (whatever it is) is not working.” I do feel sorry for the people who have to deal with frustrated customers–it must take a special gift to be good at that job! On the other hand, when you encounter a really good customer service rep, it’s like a breath of fresh air!
It takes a lot of prayer!! My daughter has been going round and round with the Social Security office about disability status. She has Epilepsy (has since she was 15) on a regular basis. She is 46 now and has finally gotten proof that she has them and has an area of her brain that has DEAD cells. Well, you get what we’re dealing with. I wish we could use the unfavorable customer experience defense. I don’t rely on agencies for provision, because God HAS provided. Money or reduction in cost for the astronomical medications, excellent doctors and nurses, answered many prayers and just kept us calm and sane. GOD is good!
Amen! God bless you!
Oh my word! Bless you heart! Reading your travails had me hopping mad too! And you were much more patient and persistent than I would have been. I think I would’ve caved and changed the cover, but no, that would be giving in to idiocracy. And sometimes there is NO person to talk to, like on Google, who won’t let me change my account. So today I went through the drive-thru at Taco Bell and when I got my order asked for taco sauce, since the last time they didn’t put it in. The guy at the window said, “What’s that?” The guy next to him pointed it out and asked me if I wanted mild or hot. The guy at the window said, “I’m sorry, but no one has ever asked for taco sauce before.” I said, “What do they ask for?” He said “Hot or mild.” To which I replied. “It’s taco sauce. That’s what it is.” There’s a line in an old movie my husband likes to quote, “What we have here is a failure to communicate!”
And then there was the time I was on the phone with my former cable company trying to explain that I had indeed terminated my cable service when I moved out of state, but they continued to bill me anyway. I was so frustrated, my voice might have raised a bit. My Siamese cat had jumped up on the table (which he never did) and was observing me. All of a sudden he pounced on my arm holding the phone as if to say, “Let it go! It’s hurting you!” His action surprised me so much, I had to laugh.
I love that your cat jumped to your defense. And I’m horrified that that Taco guy didn’t know what sauce was. Hot or mild? Hot or mild WHAT? Shaking my head here . . .
Trying times with customer service lines seem to be far-too-common, and it’s sad. Because I worked in customer service in another lifetime, I try to be patient with these people, but my goodness! I always took responsibility and followed through! and no call should EVER eat up your day. (Insurance and/or cell phone providers are the WORST.) When I do get someone who actually does what they are paid to do, I thank them profusely or complete the survey. When things aren’t going well, I pause the conversation and insist on speaking to a supervisor. Take notes and ask for a emailed, print transcript of a conversation. Because I am hearing-impaired, sometimes I have to ask for someone who speaks English as their first language because accents are so very hard for me. You do have the right to do that if you cannot understand the representative.
Good to know! Thanks for the tips! Whenever I get lost in a phone maze, I automatically press zero. Sometimes–usually–that connects me to a live person. 🙂
I feel your pain. Customer Service is not what it used to be.
At least it’s not AI–yet. 🙂
Yes, I have had this kind of experience. No, I did not maintain my sanity. I’m sorry that you are going through this. It seems that it is getting more common these days….
I believe you are right, Virginia. We are fortunate if we can talk to a real person, and even more fortunate if we can talk to a real person who can help us. Sigh. The way of the world . . .
I feel your pain! I work in the billing department at our local hospital. We bill for any outpatient and PCP services, but we contract out to a third-party billing company for our hospitalists and ER doctors. The girls in our office try to help patients as much as possible, because we live in this community and these patients are our friends, family, etc. But we have problems with our third-party billing company; sometimes they won’t even discuss patient accounts with us, even though the patient was seen in our facility! We have also been given the line that their employees are not allowed to call patients, so if the insurance denies, they drop the balance to patient responsibility. That then leaves it up to the patient to follow through on contacting the billing agency (or contacting us, then we contact the agency) to make sure the insurance on file is correct and is billed correctly. Unfortunately, many larger hospitals do contract out their billing to larger companies, and sometimes those companies contract their billing out to yet another company. I would definitely ask for a supervisor if the person you are speaking with doesn’t seem to be helping. You could also contact the doctor’s office again and see if they actually do the billing or if they contract it out (if that wasn’t clarified). Even if your account was sent to collections, she should still be able to see it as an historical account. I know we can! But just be grateful that your secondary insurance isn’t Blue Cross Empire (a NY plan). It’s a split policy, so certain services are billed to UnitedHealthcare while others are billed to Blue Cross. The insurance reps for each of those insurances sometimes don’t even know what services their insurance is supposed to pay for. Our biller has to tell THEM whether or not they should be paying!