My credit card got declined at the pharmacy.
Read time: less than a min.
Later that night, I got on the call to close the loop on the declined card.
The voice recognition often fails on me, so I stick to the menu option. After selecting a few options, I was placed on hold for the next available agent. The hold music played for a while, and then the super bouncy recorded voice kept reminding me how valuable I am to them and how sorry they are to make me wait. She also promised that they are doing their best to serve me soon.
I spoke to an actual person for less than 4 minutes. The entire end to end call was for 48 minutes.
By the end of the call, I had memorized the greetings and all their offers on other products. I could play it for them in my voice if asked.
It irked me recalling the message about how important I was to them. If I was so important, why don’t they get more agents to speed up the call queue? And then, I went on rambling (in my mind) about the profit and market share obsessed companies that keep lowering their operating cost. I finally had someone to blame, and I could see my irritation settle down a bit (It’s strange how our mind works).
That feeling was short-lived. I knew whose fault it was.
It’s our fault. You and I are responsible for this. It starts and ends with us. You get what you pay for – it’s true.
It’s a vicious circle. We pay the price one way or the other. The next time when you are looking for the cheapest deal or willing to pay for something more than you should, consider what part of the vicious circle you are feeding.
PS: Just for the record, the card was declined because I used it at a place I don’t shop much.
Thank you for sharing some of your precious time with me each week. Leave a comment if you liked it.
With gratitude, until next week.
Razak
CommonInterest
C o m m o n. I n t e r e s t. 