Ever get the feeling that our whole society is rapidly evolving into one giant mass of passwords, codes and pin numbers? That there's almost nobody left out there, especially in the business world, with faces, voices and the usual trappings we associate with being human?
I never make New Year's resolutions because I know I'd be doomed for failure, but I think if I were making one these days, it would go something like this: I will do my business in 2018 only with companies that provide living, breathing persons to comfort me when I have a problem with a transaction.
0nly a day after I had spent 40 minutes on the phone playing scooch-tag with recorded corporate voices switching me hither, thither and yon and urging me to press one number after another while assaulting my sensitive ears with music from the nether regions, I got a letter from Paul Daley, with whom I had worked years ago at this newspaper. Here's what he told me:
"I received a letter from Bank of America the other day stating I was in default of $24. First of all, the last four digits they gave me from my Mastercard were incorrect. As an old-school person, I always pay my bills within two days after I receive them, and had just written a check for $1,800 to them on Dec. 18.
"I called them and was told that it was because my savings account had not been used in two months. I don't have a savings account with them. So, after being transferred to four different people, each of whom I had to tell the same story, they checked my account and it showed no activity for the last two years, which is all they could access. No wonder, because I never had a savings account."
"Finally, they waived the $24 and closed the account that was never opened. But, having to be passed from one department to another, retelling the same story, was irritating, to say the least.
"Also, about two weeks ago, my car wouldn't start and I had to call AAA. When I did, I wasn't able to talk to a live person, only to a recording that led me through several prompts, including my 16-digit account number. Imagine banging that into your land-line phone. AAA did show up and the situation was rectified, but it was extremely frustrating not to be able to talk to a living, breathing person when in need. Later in the day, a live voice did call me, asking how the service was. I told her the service on site was fine, but I would have preferred to talk to a human being. She said she would look into it. We'll see how that goes."
Indeed.
Most big companies have what they refer to as human relations departments. These have to do almost wholly with the treatment of their employees. What we sorely need are departments that also treat their customers like fellow humans.
And thank you, Paul, old friend, for reminding me I'm not alone.