So a while back, I ordered a Cactus V2s wireless remote flash trigger & two receivers from Midwest Photo Exchange. They were back-ordered. No big deal.
No big deal, that is, before Bank of America got itself on my “List of Companies I Really Have No Reason to Continue Using.”
Today, there was a message on the answering machine stating that that they are in stock but that my card was declined. This is Friday, at about 6:30pm. So that means I have to wait until Monday for them to try the card again … delaying my order a further two days. Threat level: “Green, minor annoyance”.
Fortunately, I can still call Bank of America to find out why they are telling MPEx that my card is declined — I have a very lot more in my checking account than the $57-and-change for the order.
So I call B of A’s toll-free number to find out what’s going on. My guess at this point is that it is because Midwest Photo Exchange is in a different state than me. I’ll find out (eventually) that that’s not the case. Finding the option to actually get through to a real live person on their system inches my threat level towards “Yellow, Major Annoyance”.
I do eventually get to talk to a fellow, who — after I give him my name, last four digits of my card number, and answer my security question — is able to tell me that the reason for my card showing as declined is showing as “PIN not activated.” Mind you, I’ve been using this same card for almost three years now. Other than that, he can’t help me, but he’ll be able to transfer me to someone who, he assures me, can.
So I’m transferred to a woman who asks for my account number, which of course I blank on so I have to look it up. She gives me absolutely no useful information, and is unable to help me, but — get this — she’ll get someone who can. I tell her that that’s what the last guy said. My Threat Level passes Yellow and is on the way to “Orange, Okay — Now I’m Upset.”
So the third person comes on the line, and says he’ll fix the problem (yay!), but first he needs me to answer my security question (yes, the same one I answered before). Then he has the audacity to ask me if I activated my card correctly. I tell him, maybe a little too loudly, that I’ve been using the card for about three years. He tells me that he’ll have the “not activated” code removed, since I have quite obviously been using my card for some time without an issue. My Threat Level is now borderline Orange.
Then he informs me that the change will take a couple of minutes to go through, and that if it doesn’t work – wait for it – he can’t help me, but – ready? – there is another department that can. My threat level pushes past Orange as I write down the number.
Then I ask him, just to be sure, if there are any other transactions that were declined because of the error. Fortunately, there are no others. But I’m still upset at that point, and I’m not going to leave well enough alone. I work in Customer Relations, so I know what to do next: I pull out Tactical Option One: I voice my dissatisfaction with their service and ask for compensation.
I tell him that I now have to wait two days to complete the processing of my order, and that I’ve wasted a half hour of my time dealing with this (and they aren’t even really sure they’ve got it fixed). And I ask him what Bank of America will do to Compensate Me For My Time.
He says, “Well, what do you want?” Wrong answer; go take a customer service class. Customers don’t ask that question to get something specific. Customers ask that question to make sure the company really cares about the customer, to find out how much value the company places on the customer, and to find out if the company is really aware that They Screwed Up.
And, by-the-way, it is not the customer’s job to determine appropriate compensation for the customer’s lost time and grievances. It is the company’s job. A representative from a company with good customer service would have offered automatically.
So I tell him I want a million dollars, but that that’s not going to happen, so I again ask what will they do for me. And then the poor guy says there’s nothing they can do. Which is a) incorrect, b) not something you ever say to a paying customer, c) inconsistent with his previous answer, and d) the last that I’m willing to deal with them over this.
So I tell him that if this issue ever happens again, I will close my accounts on the spot. I tell him to make a note of that in the computer, and then I hang up.
We’ll see what happens on Monday when Midwest Photo Exchange tries to run my card again.
