I really, really thought I already started this thread several days ago but I have looked and I don’t see it. If I’m just experiencing dementia, kindly point me to it and close this one. Thanks.
Anyway, what I want to know is what kind of retarded system they’ve got set up for credit card activation or just calling for customer service? I call the number and am told to type in my 16 digit card number, which is a pain in the ass especially for me because I easily transpose numbers in my head similar to dyslexia (dyscalculia). I’m then routed to a live operator and what’s the first thing they ask me? “What’s your 16 digit card number?”
What? Why did I just type that in there if you were just going to ask me to rattle it off again? Don’t you have it on the screen in front of you? Did you think that someone may have stolen my phone in the middle of the call and it’s not me anymore and you just have to check and be sure I still know the number? What the hell?
I seem to recall back in the days when I owned a house that I had to type in my loan number and then give it to the person when they answered as well. If they’re trying to verify identity why not just ask me my name. If it matches the stuff on their screen, great! If not, then ask for the number again in case there was a mistake.
Does this happen to other people? Does it annoy you?
I called an airline the other day about possibly upgrading my ticket for a flight I had planned. Their automated system asked me for my reservation number, but said it was fine if I didn’t have it. I didn’t have it handy. By the time I got transferred, I had the number handy. The first question I was asked was for my reservation number.
A couple of days later, I called back. This time, I had the number handy. I entered it in the automated system. When I got transferred…the first question I was asked was for my reservation number.
Just keep punching random numbers or saying “Operator.” Eventually the system gets frustrated and hands you over to a real person.
I assume the reason they ask you for the number at the beginning of the call is to route you to the correct department. But perhaps the info doesn’t get passed on to the agent with some systems.
Also, I’ve found that, given the option, selecting “New customer” vs “current customer” gets you to a human much faster and often times that person can help you anyways.
I’ve had it happen mostly in the US; in Europe, the PITA would be places which ask you for different IDs and you have to chase them all over the bill/contract (extra points when the people on the phone calls it one thing and the page you have calls it something else). So, you call British Telecom, “is this the number you’re calling about?” 1 for yes, then they put you through and the first person wants your contract number, then it turns out to be another department which wants your customer number, and btw they were both my phone company and my ISP and for some reason I had one customer number for the ISP part and one for the line part, and… by the third time I had to contact them, I would just apologize profusely and say “gee, I’m sorry but all I can find is (this piece of data)” and amazingly enough they would be able to pull my goddamn file.
I’ve been back in Spain for half a year now, and this time around they’re just using the first piece of data they ask for (which can be a typed number or something that’s public info if I’m to say it out loud) to pull my file. They may ask me to confirm some data, but it will be on the form of “and the letter in your national ID is?” “Jaime” (the letter is a J); I regularly deal with three phone companies and for all three, the CSR will have my file open by the time I’m put through.
Last time I was in the US I asked my bank how is it supposed to be safe to ask someone who’s likely to be calling from work (as some of their phone services only worked 9-5) to rattle off their SSN three times in the course of a call. I’m still waiting for an answer.
It is mostly to route you to the right place but it is also to weed out some human stupidity before you are tying up a customer service rep. You would not believe how dumb some people are* and how often they make calls to Bank of America when they meant to call Discover. I work in insurance and at least once a week I get calls about people’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan or their Aetna plan even though we are not now nor have we ever been affiliated with BC/BS or Aetna.
*I even once had one of our customers call us because they don’t have an accounting department in their company and wanted to know if our accounting department would crunch some numbers for them. People are so stupid sometimes.
I worked at a call center (not for credit cards) but the CC number does route you to the correct queue. If you hit Zero all you do is get put LAST in the general queue.
Often times you’ll find different systems use different measures, like if you call from your home phone that can match you up with your home number. One credit card, if I call from my home number only asks for my zip code. If I call from any other numbrer it asks me for my full credit card number
Yeah, and it’s not just credit card numbers, either. My ISP wants to know what account I’m calling about, even though I’m dialing from my home landline. I find it hard to believe that the automated help AI is able to determine which account I am, but the humans can’t manage it.
Now, when I call in a prescription refill, the computer does repeat the prescription number back to me, and ask me if it’s correct, but I don’t have to punch the number in twice.
As others have posted, the point of entering it in is to make sure that you’re sent to the right place. And proper routing does make a difference in how quickly you’re helped. While just pressing zero is often a good option, it may or may not get you to the right area. Entering in your information is more likely to get you to someone who can actually help you, even if you have to give it again.
Where I work (not credit cards), we always ask for the account number, even if it comes up on the screen. This is mostly a CYA thing; we can record calls easily, but we can’t easily record a copy of whatever the customer entered into the automated system. If there’s ever a question about the information given on the account, having that account number recorded helps. The industry I work in is highly regulated, and I’ve seen the presence or absence of a recorded, spoken contract number make a difference in official complaints.
It’s sort of vaguely annoying, but, really, in the time you spend arguing about it with a rep about it, you could have given them the number, and they could have started helping you. When it happens to me, it doesn’t really bother me.
Those of you defending the “enter the number” seem to be missing the point of OpalCat’s complaint:
there is nothing wrong with being asked for enough identifying information to have your call routed properly and your file identified.
What’s a pain in the ass is being asked for the exact same information two, three, four… times in a single call. And the amazing thing is, there are some huge companies out there which manage to ask for one piece of data once, and that’s it: the people you speak with later will ask you for some other info to make sure they’re talking to the customer (or a properly appointed representative thereof), but they don’t ask for the same number again. If they transfer you to another person, this other person confirms the initial piece of data and the purpose of your call, but he’s already got your file open and has received a note with the purpose of your call from the first person.
Seriously, if Telefónica can do it, it ain’t 'zactly rocket surgery.