First Name Only- Regretable Societal Trend

The BBQ Pit
1

Last Friday my wife calls me at the shop. "Why the hell is there a brand new CIBC Aerogold charge account checkbook on your desk? "

“I don’t know what you are talking about dear”

Then I remembered that I did receive a checkbook in the mail, but not paying much attention I assumed it was a regular chequing account check book from my own bank, and explained that to her, and that it probably was some promotion like we seem to get once every week in the mail

“But it says here that you requested it”

“Okay, I’ll look into it tonight. We’ll call them and straighten this thing out, and you can listen in”

Two years ago we ripped up all our charge cards and vowed never again. We do have one for cases where it is virtually required and pay it up every month. Best decision we ever made. Naturally my wife is worried that I might be reverting to bad financial habits.

It then dawned on me that this unsolicited checkbook could be the result of identity theft. I had to get to the bottom of this.

So that evening we called the CIBC otherwise known as the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. A lady eventually answered the phone and identified herself as Vi. She then explained there was a mix up and that the information on an account that had been closed two years ago was still in system. “Don’t worry, it was just a little screw up”

“Fine” I said, “What was your name again ?”

“Vi”

“Vi Who?”

“just Vi”

I let it go, but it just pisses me off that people don’t want to give their last names. Why do I need to know just your first name? It does not identify you and it doesn’t allow me any opportunity to make you accountable to me . What if Vi was wrong and I end up mired in an identity theft nightmare. I want to be able to say that on January 27, 2006 I placed a call to the CIBC and Vi Whatshername told me I had nothing to worry about.

But this isn’t the first time I’ve come across anonymous corporate munchkins many of them women who won’t allow me to make them accountable for what they tell me. Why do they have to hide? Have they no pride?

Even in my business there are prospective clients who on initial contact volunteer their first name and I have to ask for their last name. I usually get it, but I can’t help notice the hesitation. I won’t do business with anyone who won’t give me their last name.

It wasn’t like this several decades ago. People used to take pride in their name and what it represented, and just giving your first name on introduction was regarded as an indication of poor upbringing.

The social fabric holds together when people take responsibility for what they say. More and more we rely on the written word in e-mail and faxes but that is not always convenient. Oh for the good ole days :smiley:

I’m 55.

2

I have one question: why does the bolded part matter? Is there something about women in business that make them more sneaky than men? I’m pretty sure most of the bullshit I’ve gotten from businesses has come from male execs, but that might be because of my own gender.

FWIW, and maybe I’m in a weird timewarp, but in my area of the country you always introduce yourself with both names–first and last.

3

I get this all the time when I have to call insurance companies.They should at least give you the first initial of their last name.

4

Your’re posting about possible identity theft and you wonder why a person might want to keep their identity private?

Maybe her first name and her extension would’ve been enough.

5

I generally prefer to provide people with my first name, because my last name is rather confusing. It’s long and hyphenated and I often get blank looks when I do provide it. (Unfortunately, people misspell and/or mispronounce my first name a lot, too. Thanks, mom and dad.)

6

That’s not a bad idea, but what I’ve found works well is asking for first name and associate/employee ID number. Only time someone’s refused to give it to me is because (they said) their company used their SocSec number. Which is a very, very good reason not to give it out (oddly enough, they gave me their last name in lieu of an employee number. Go figure.)

7

I don’t like it when, in a professional situation, people call me by my first name without my asking them to. I always say Mr. or Ms., unless they say “Please, call me Vi.”

So I thought I was gonna be mostly on your side here, Dutchman.

Sorry.

Vi should not be required to take personal responsibility. Her employer should take responsibility for her actions. She is not personally responsible to you. Having enough information to identify her to her boss is all you’re entitled to.

8

Do me a favor. Work in a bank’s call center and take nightly calls from desperate raving lunatics whose accounts are overdrawn for the tenth time this year. Be the willing recipient of about one death threat per week. Listen to people slowly and deliberately describe the bomb they are going to fashion and plant in your home because you can’t instantly credit their account for $1200.

Then see how eager you are to give your first and last name.

(Which, incidentally, my employers does require me to do.)

9

So, Dutchman, what’s your full name? First AND last?

10

Actually, you were talking to a Unix bot and her entire name (being utterly evil and corrupt) is Vi.

“Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is VI VI VI.”

11

Word. I have always refused to give my last name to callers, even in those instances when my employer requires it. Maybe in a national call center there’s a greater degree of safety, but I’ve worked in too many local call centers with customers who call in death threats, bomb threats, etc. to make me willing to give out any more identifying information than my first name.

12

Aw, whatsamatter? Your 180GB Emacs build’s vBulletin-coding-spelling-checker-with-combination-psychiatrist-racecar-coffeemaker is on the fritz?

13

I agree. And i agree that giving out full names should not be a requirement, especially considering the type of lunatics that sometimes call in to companies like this, as described by Roland Orzabal.

But…

Many of these call centers are so large that a simple first name is often not “enough information to identify her to her boss.” There could be three Margarets or four Michaels working for a large call center, making it very difficult to trace exactly who is responsible for a problem. I think that call-center folks should each be required, upon request, to give out a unique identifier, some sort of employer-issued code number or ID number, so that true accountability is actually possible.

I’ve called places (banks; airlines) before, and described what “Sally” or “Jim” told me about my problem, only to be told that there’s no Sally or Jim working in this office. That shit is unacceptable.

14

When I worked for at AOL in one of the (national)call centers one of the techs gave out his full name to a member.

The member showed up at the security desk and asked for the employee. The employee went to meet the guy and, as soon as the employee showed his face, the member threw a punch at him.

This, as it turned out, was a bad idea. The tech was highly trained in self defense and laid the customer out. One punch and the customer was on the ground, out cold.

The police showed up and carted the customer off to jail. The tech went home, he did get hit, though he wasn’t hurt badly. The member a) got jail time as all this was on tape and b) got his account canceled forever.

Now, the reason the member through a punch at the tech was simple. The member called because he couldn’t connect. The tech, after troubleshooting, came to the conclusion that the guy had a broken modem. So the guy decided the best course of action would be to beat up the tech who told him that his modem broke.

So, don’t give out your last name. AOL, at the time, had a policy where it was up to the employee whether or not to give out your last name. IIIRC, that change after this little incident.

Slee

15

Bolding mine.

At least the member got some benefit out of the exchange.

:slight_smile:

16

How much do you want to bet the guy still gets free trial offer disks?

17

In my (thankfully) short career at a call center, we were allowed to use a pseudonym if we wanted. It had to be cleared with management first, and you always had to sign your contact notes with your real name. I liked the humor of the guy who used Pablo O’Malley. :smiley:

18

I recently dealt with a rude CSR who would not disclose first name, last name, or anything.

Typically, I’ll ask for an employee or ID number or extension. Extensions can change, however. I will back up the OP on the point that it doesn’t do much good in 3 months if there is a discrepency and all you can say is," I spoke with Mary 3 months ago and was told …"

19

I worked in a call center, and we used pseudonyms, chosen by us, approved by management. It’s really the easiest and safest solution.

That said, whenever I have an actual problem, I immediately ask to speak to a supervisor. Nine times out of ten, you need someone higher up on the food chain than the person who answered the phone to really solve the problem anyway, so why waste the time?

I don’t work in a call center anymore, but I do still answer the phone, and I’m hesitant to give my full name. It’s not a safety thing, it’s more that once someone gets a hold of your name, they call you for everything. There are customers who aren’t my clients, who still consistently call me, solely because I took their call once when *their * client service manager was busy, and now they’ve written my name down, and I’ll never be rid of them. No matter how many times I explain to them that they need to call Jane Doe, they always remember how nice and helpful, and most importantly, available, DianaG was, and call me. It’s bothersome.

20

Nowadays, you can get the shit beat out of you for giving bad customer service. It’s wise to protect your identity.