4.23.2008

to speak to a representative, press nothing, we will not speak to you

Yesterday I had a problem with my US credit card company, Capital One. It wasn't a big deal, but it required a phone call. After several minutes in their automated phone maze, I was able to "press zero to speak to a representative". If I pressed 0 before hearing this option, it was an "invalid entry".

I haven't needed to call Capital One in a long time. The last time I did, you could opt-out of the automated system by pressing 0 immediately. That option no longer exists.

When a rep answered the call - clearly from a South Asian call centre, of course - she was unable to help me. After some frustration, I asked to speak to a supervisor. She told me she had already handled my call satisfactorily, and hung up.

She hung up.

I was amazed. And not too happy.

When I called back, the option to press 0 to reach a representative was no longer there. I thought, is this me? Am I missing something? I asked Allan to try. Nope, it wasn't me. It wasn't there.

Do you only get that option once? And if you have to call back after a unsatisfactory call, does your phone number receive a different menu?

I called from my cell phone, et voilĂ , the press-zero option was back.

Does anyone know anything about this?

About the call itself, the next representative also couldn't help me, but she did let me speak to a supervisor, who of course assured me that you are always entitled to speak to a supervisor, and no representative is ever instructed otherwise. The supervisor worked with me and resolved the issue.

Once upon a time, Capital One had excellent customer service and actually treated me like they valued my business. This experience galled me. I'd love to ditch cancel the card altogether, but as we're still building our credit history in Canada, I need my low-interest, high-credit US Visa card for emergencies or large expenditures that we need to pay off. So I'm stuck just writing a letter of complaint.

But what's the deal with the changing menu on a second call?

No comments: