This Call May Be Recorded for Quality Assurance
"Hello. Thank you for calling the Mail Order Pharmacy.
Someone will be with you shortly, if you wait patiently.
If you want someone who speaks Spanish, please press two.
Or stay on the line, if an English operator will do."
I miss the days when a real person answered the phone.
Now it's always a machine... I feel so alone.
I just want to refill my prescription. It's NOT complicated.
My blood pressure is high. I must be medicated.
"First we need the numbers for your ten-digit member ID."
I scramble to find the numbers then say slowly "5..5..2..3..."
"I'm sorry I didn't get that," the machine interrupts me.
"Please try again. Speak slowly and clearly."
I try again. Saying the numbers, getting it right.
"Thank you," the machine answers--oh so polite.
"Now I need your birthday. Month first, then date, then year."
The machine goes on and on with more questions and options for me to hear.
I go through the motions, respond to each cue.
I'm losing my patience, but what else can I do?
Address, phone number, doctor's name; I provide them all.
All I want to do is finish, so I can end this call.
Suddenly the machine hangs up without saying goodbye.
"NO WAIT! We're not done!" I sputter and mutter, swear and sigh.
Resigned to my fate, I dial again...trying not to cry.
I know ONE reason why my blood pressure's so high!
I will hate making calls to customer service until the day I die!
Cute poem, but yes! It's a real problem. And very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI can so relate to this!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a nice Sunday.
I get highly frustrated with machines answering the phone, I don't mind ones that say I am the next caller in line, I don't like the ones that want all kinds of info before you speak with someone... sometimes you don't even get to speak to someone...
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of ordering on line? I might go that way, I miss the days an actual person answered the phone...
Launna, I have to order them from a certain place in order for my insurance to pay for them, so I can't order them from anywhere else without additional cost.
DeleteYou sure hit the nail on the head with this one. Love it. I hate those automated machines. I wish they'd bring back the old ways of doing things and make it better for people.
ReplyDeleteI hope the CEO of AT&T reads your post!! So true!! Have a nice Sunday.
ReplyDeleteway too true. And, not to brag, but I have very clear diction. However, the machine never understands what I say. I've used a fake accent and bingo - clear as a bell with a response. Very frustrating.
ReplyDeleteAMEN... I totally agree... We can NEVER talk to a person anymore...SO frustrating --and the questions they ask just go on and on and on.... Gads!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother sad thing is when you finally get to talk to a person, most of the time I cannot understand them... Another GADS.... ha
Signs of the times for SURE.
Hugs,
Betsy
It can be so frustrating these days having to speak to machines ...
ReplyDeleteI liked the poem, nicely done, Daisy ... boy, I can so relate ...
I also don't like the automated answering machines. Not only does it take forever, but then you have to start waiting all over again to speak to a live person. This was timely, and something we could all relate to. Very entertaining too!
ReplyDeleteJulie
Thank you, everyone. Talking to machines on the phone is one of my pet peeves. Apparently, I'm not the only one who feels this way! :) Hope you all have a good week.
ReplyDelete"Aqueles que passam por nós, não vão sós,
ReplyDeletenão nos deixam sós.
Deixam um pouco de si, levam um pouco de nós." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
Uma linda e abençoada semana.
Beijos Marie.
I miss the live person as well. :-(
ReplyDeleteWas on the phone with Verizon the other day, though, and have to admit that I talked with two people -- for over an hour! -- as they gave it their all in trying to figure out what was wrong with my phone. Net result: New phone received in three days. They did a great job...
Pearl
Pearl, it's nice to hear you got a good outcome from a customer service call! It seems they are hard to come by! :D
DeleteThis is sooo true! Also, we get a lot of calls from "Unknown Name", which if answered would usually be someone from outside the U.S. with a dialect we can barely understand. Even though these calls are supposed to be blocked, some get through anyway. They usually come at meal time too!
ReplyDeleteHow clever to put this in the form of a poem!
This is funny and a little sad too! I am always kind of shocked when I do get a real person on the line these days!
ReplyDeleteBetty, getting a live person on the line surprises me too!
DeleteI know exactly what you mean. The very same thing happened to me. I usually press the zero to get a real person, but it doesn't always work. Very frustrating indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting it into words!!!
ReplyDeleteBetsy and Charlotte, yes, I often get someone who is difficult to understand too, which is also very frustrating!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to everyone for the comments. Phone woes are apparently common to many.
Amen, sister. I'm with you. It takes great restraint and lots of chocolate for me to maintain a healthy blood pressure when on a call like this. The other day, the automated voice didn't hear my request and kept asking me to restate it, no matter how hard I yelled. It finally hung up on me. How rude!
ReplyDeletePS Great poem. If you couldn't tell, it resonated for me. Smiles.
Thank you, Robyn! I should have had some chocolate nearby when I made this last call! :D Thank you for the kind words.
DeleteOh..i like this - and so true!! You captured the frustration very well.
ReplyDeleteVery true. One of the reasons I hate ringing up the "call centres" But one thing I learned, you play along with some numbers, and in the end one of their "executives" come on line - in real flesh and blood, to talk to you !!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandy! :)
ReplyDeleteJoe, that's true some of the time for me, if I can be patient enough! :)