Ugh. I am one to never answer a phone call if I don’t know who is calling, letting it go to voicemail. But last week I received a letter from the state tax office, telling me that I owe $26 in tax plus a few bucks (like $2.50) in penalties and interest. But I sent in a payment of $27 when I filed, and that check was cashed. So I call, and after being on hold for thirty minutes the system registers my number for a callback within three days. The call never came, so I went through the process again yesterday. So now I have to answer unknown phone numbers just in case they call. I’m betting they won’t, and I will have to schedule an in person meeting at the local office to get this minor issue resolved. All over a piddling amount, but I need to know what the problem is so I don’t repeat it next year. I’m betting they rounded down to $26 while I rounded up to $27. Just take the extra buck and call it good.
And if by some chance they do call back, I’ll probably be away from the house and my tax return information when they call.
Yeah. The important callback from an unknowable number at an unknown time is a PITA. And triggers frantically dashing to answer every crank or legit telemarketing or scam call until your get your business done. Hope they don’t call while you’re in the shower, driving, f***ing, etc.
I’m in the middle of applying for Social Security survivor’s benefits. That process cannot be completed online, nor does my local SS office do any in-person work.
When I started the process 3 weeks ago with their central 800- call center I had to make a phone appointment for a local worker to call me (not me call them) at a particular time and date. At that time the earliest available appointment was 6 weeks in the future. So now about 3 weeks in the future.
I had to build my entire August work schedule around being available at home with my phone on and my records available at that particular date/time. At least I have the flexibility to do that. Somebody else might have a real problem busting out of the middle of their shift for 30-60 minutes.
The person who made the appointment was at pains to emphasize that they will call exactly once. If no answer they’ll leave voicemail. Telling you to call the master 800 number and set a new appointment for however far in the future that might be. So be damned sure to remember this call is coming, disable any/all automated call screening you may have, etc., and ANSWER THE DAMNED PHONE WHEN IT RINGS!!1! And no, there is no way to know what the calling number might appear as on your phone.
Oh yeah, just one more thing … If they’re running behind that day your call might be a couple hours later than your appointment time.
Overall the call center worker I dealt with was wonderful: friendly, highly knowledgeable, and effective. But the process she was forced to implement was stupid; very stupid.
Our clinic (in fact the whole hospital network) has started coming up on my phone as unnamed, random numbers. So I have to answer all calls if I’m expecting a doctor or scheduling call. If I’m not expecting one, and get a call, I have to hope they left a voicemail and call back the “unknown number”.
For a lot of those big facilities, calling back the number you got as caller ID either doesn’t work at all, or just dumps you at their main call center / automated response system.
It’s not like it gets you back to the desk or phone of the person you really need to talk to.
You should really write your congressperson about this. The problem is clearly that they have insufficient staff to deal with the workload, which is the sort of thing that Congress could easily solve. Except, of course, if they did, more people would claim benefits, so it’s a cost to staff + a cost to provide services—MUCH cheaper to only provide services to those willing and able to jump through all the hoops.
Tmi warning.
For over a year I’ve had a problem with…leakage. Finally, my dr. referred me to what may be the only gastroenerology in Lake county. I go, early. Appointments at 12. I get there at 11, theres about 9 people there. I wait. At 12:15, I am the only one left in the waiting room. People who arrived after me have been called in. At 12.30 I leave as I have to take the bus to get groceries. They call, leaving a message that I can call back to have a phone visit.
I think I need to be looked at! No prob, I’ll just keep taking otc anti diahreal pills all the time. Assholes! Heh
Unfortunately, you’re not being seen was your own fault for leaving 1/2 an hour after your scheduled appointment time. You said your appointment was at 12 and you got there at 11. Just because you are there early doesn’t mean you get to be seen ahead of your scheduled time. Just because you are there early doesn’t mean you get to be seen ahead of your scheduled time. All those people seen before you had appointments set between 11 and 12. An extra 1/2 hour in the waiting room is pretty much to be counted on, and usually longer - all facets of medicine are incredibly understaffed and overworked.
Had you been seen at your scheduled time of 12, you would have missed your bus anyway, more than likely, because 1st time appointments take longer than subsequent visits.
I’m really sorry for your discomfort, but I’m afraid you did yourself no favors here
I disagree. An appointment is a verbal contract. If I’m still waiting 30 minutes after my appointment time I leave, and I bitch about it on Yelp & Google Maps.
The heating element in our oven went out the other day. So this morning I call around to several local appliance repair companies to see if they have the part I need to replace it. But nobody’s answering the phone, they all want you to leave a message to schedule a service appointment. I guess I’ll just have to order one online and wait a few days since I apparently can’t just go pick one up and fix it today. Argh…
I had a frustrating experience yesterday. I have big issues with my blood sugar, and one of the devices meant to help me manage the situation was acting up. I called the manufacturer and got a representative with what seemed to be a good command of English but an extremely thick accent I wasn’t familiar with. I had terrible trouble making out what he was saying. I finally got that he was asking me for my name, which I gave him, and my address, which I gave him as well, but he was also trying to ask for something else, and I could not for the life of me understand what it was. I asked him–politely–to repeat, several times, and still couldn’t make head or tail of it.
I just couldn’t see going through this rather technical conversation constantly having to ask for repetition, so I asked whether it might be possible to speak to someone else. I apologized about six times, but…I didn’t know what else to do. I was transferred over to someone who spoke using standard American English, and I got the answers I needed relatively quickly and easily.
But it felt bad. It felt bad that I couldn’t understand him, and it felt bad that I felt I had to ask for someone else. It’s just that when we’re talking medical stuff…well, I could just see myself misunderstanding a direction, with potential difficult consequences. The woman I wound up talking to assured me that this wasn’t a problem, but still!
Turns out, by the way, that the missing piece of information he was asking for was “date of birth.” I should probably have guessed from the context (what else do medical people need besides name and address?), but I had no idea. Yeeks.
I had a similar problem, but with the property tax office. She was telling me to go to a website, and I could NOT understand her. I work with many different walks of life with many different accents, including Vietnamese (which she was) so i am somewhat familiar. But not this time. And she was rude when I finally had to ask her to spell what she was saying! I hung up confused, and called back a few days later and got someone else, who was very helpful and walked me through all the websites and told me what to write.
We had a lady call my job one time and tell my co-worker she had a B-cup. Co-worker was like, “…congratulations?” The lady got quite irritable and kept repeating that she had a B-cup until some bright spark realized she was trying to ask us for a courier pickup.
I was not that bright spark. I’m terrible with accents.
My neck is pretty screwed up–“severe bilateral stenosis of C5-C7.” Fusion is recommended. I’m trying to kick this down the road with steroid injections. I had one in the right side a week ago, and it seems to be working a bit and I get one in the left next Friday. However, I have had to be off all NSAIDs for a month because of the injections, and my left side is Hurtin’. Definitely giving me a bad attitude. Hands were numb all night, so lack of sleep isn’t helping.