For Your Inconvenience...

Early this morning my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, but I know people from that area code...and, well, I'm pretty much incapable of ignoring a phone call unless I'm watching a football game (if I ever do let it go to voice mail, I check it immediately). So I answered it.

BIG mistake.

It was an automated call for "Ron Anderson" about his Citi Card. Wrong number. So just hang up, right? But no, they'd just keep calling and calling if I did that. So I waited through the menu choices:

"If this is Ron Anderson, please press one."

"If Ron Anderson is currently unavailable, please press two."

"If we have reached this number in error, please press three."

I pressed three and was asked to hold for a representative. Then it went on and on about stupid junk I don't remember, and finally someone came on the line.

And that's when my calm got seriously damaged.

"May I please have your 16-digit card number?"

If you're going to dial a wrong number, acknowledge the likelihood of dialing a wrong number, and ask your wrong number dialed recipient to HOLD, then you'd damned well better have a system in place so that representative knows what's going on.

And she sucked, too, because she kept interrupting me, talking over me, and yelling at me for yelling at her. I worked in customer service, and the fastest way to piss off your caller is to ridicule their annoyance. The fastest way to hook a customer for life is to SINCERELY agree with their issue and apologize for it and resolve their problem as soon as possible.

I think I'm going to go cancel my Citi Card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blogging National update:

I'd like to say the Atlanta Marriott Marquis financially rapes their guests, but that's a harsh and offensive way to put it. But that's how I feel about being charged $12.95 for a day of Internet access or 25 cents a minute for the wireless access in public areas. (Full disclosure: The $12.95 provides unlimited free local and long-distance calling, so that's nice for certain travelers, but not most of the RWA crowd who won't be in their rooms very much and probably, like me, have cell phones with free local and long-distance calls. The .25 per minute is after an uncertain amount for the first 15 minutes, quoted as being something like $2.95 or more.)

Why do you care? Because all of you (ha!) waiting at home for my scintillating reports, full of wit and verve and industry info (double ha!) may get less than I originally anticipated. As you may or may not know, I quit my job last month to write full time, and my writing income does not come close to replacing my non-writing income. I have to watch not only my pennies, but my rounded tax percentages, even. So we'll see. If I can't make it online, please do check out Blogging National often for those who have the big bucks and blog every day, and I'll give FULL reports when I return.

UPDATE: I took my own advice and headed over to Blogging National, and HER update days the Mall at Peachtree Center has free access. If so, I'll be over there every day, even if it's MIDNIGHT!