3DR Maps

Phone Call to Credit Union for Checking Account Balance Inquiry

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Fairin Woods

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Author: 

A Walker/Hiker, Photographer of Flowers, Lover of Education, Female
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I was in a remote location with minimal cell signal and needed to know my account balance. I wanted to get that balance information with the least possible use of my weak and variable signal. I called the credit union generic help line. The woman on the phone first took all my information to prove my identity via multiple questions. Next she informed me there would be a $5.00 charge deducted from my account to give me the balance!

I was shocked. I felt frustrated, betrayed, and disrespected. It added to my sense of being overwhelmed and feelings of  hopelessness about having to rely on using the internet via a computer or smartphone. Hopelessness especially for the social injustice of making it very hard for many segments of the population to live their lives because of restrictions and fees wastefully using our time, emotional resources, financial resources and cognitive resources.,  

I have called for my balance before, even in the last few weeks. I was not informed of a charge!  I declined the service, after sensing that to be my optimal response in this instance.

Rating the emotions using a 1-10 scale. 1 = slight impact and 10 = highly intense

Shocked  4
Frustrated 6
Betrayed 8
Disrespected 6
Hopelessness 4

Thoughts

  1. Fairin Woods Avatar
    Fairin Woods

    I had a much better customer service experience with the company that does the payroll for 3D R.

    The difference in cognitive load, stress, frustration and other negative emotions was dramatically less in this than the credit union interaction.

    I’d like to contrast the things that made this call for assistance so much better.

    Nothing had changed in the payroll company’s procedures. I’ll bullet point the important positive things.

    • They gave me the same greetings and process to get started as they always.
    • They were respectful and patient as always.
    • They gave me assistance with no extra fee or surprise changes.
    • They understood the problem and immediately emailed the info for the next step to take.

    Here’s where my emotions are on the ratings scale for this interaction

    Rating the emotions using a 1-10 scale. 1 = slight impact and 10 = highly intense

    Shocked 0
    Frustrated 1
    Betrayed 0
    Disrespected 0
    Hopelessness 0

    Confident 6
    Satisfied 6
    Burdened 4

    The context of the call was different. I want to acknowledge that as a factor. I was using a computer with good WIFI. I wasn’t alone with this call. There as a team mate sitting next to me and active with this process.

    It’s seems this kind of good happens less often with customer service than the one that are exhausting, insulting or a complete waste of time, or you name the many different versions of awful customer service experiences.

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