1 post tagged “tips”

I  have recently resigned from my job as a customer service representative at a major mid-west utility company.  I would like to pass along a couple of tips that will make everyone's life easier, when they call any company for help.  First, thing is before you call for help, be prepare to take down information, have a pen or pencil and paper in front of you.  If you do everything on a computer then have the appropriate note taking tool open.  Secound,  have your account number available or some other identifying number.  When you open a service up, ask the representative, what information they need to identify you, usually they will tell you  they accept your account number or phone number or social security number.   Try to remember, that they are asking for that information to protect you, not to irritate you.  With identify theft an on going problem, it is important to make sure that information is being given to the right people.  This brings up another thing, do not give out your account numbers on any service, willy nilly, once someone has that information they have a key to your finances.  I am always amazed who people will give their information to,  I had one call, where the caller who had all the proper information to access the account, was  the Mother of his  girlfriend, my first thought is that the account holder was asking for his identity to be stolen. Third be ready to identify yourself, especially if you are not the account holder.  Again, this is done to protect the account holder,   Besides its just common courtesy, if someone called you and wouldn't tell you who they are, would you want to give them information.  Fourth, turn the TV and radio down, their is nothing more irratating then to try to talk to someone with the TV or radio blasting in the background.  Fifth, if you need more time to pay a bill, ask what options are available most companies are willing to set up payment plans, as long as you have kept previous ones.   In most cases, the reason you need more time doesn't matter, there are policies set up that the representative has to follow, so whether you can't pay because you just brought a new car or you had to have your gall bladder removed is irrelavant.  If you are denied an agreement and there is a medical condition at home, you may ask if there are any medical exceptions available, depending on the state you live in this maybe an option.   The final thing is if you are calling because your power is out, have your physical 911 address available, if you live in a rural area and don't have a physical 911 address, then have either your account number or meter number available.  Remember, the person you are talking to is trying to find your account on their computer, so they can forward your outage to the local office.   Finally, if your power has been out for less then an hour, there is a good chance that the representative doesn't know why the power is out, despite what some people believe some one actually has to be at the site to determine the problem.  Remote diagnosis maybe coming, but its not here yet.