A conversation with the Southern California Edison “Service Rep” (and I use the term very loosely), after navigating their automated “service” menu for 10 minutes, after paying my very past due bill on their website after taking 20 minutes to get through the registration and payment setup (although the web experience was the best of the bunch).
(deep male voice) “This is XXX. How may I help you?”
“I just paid the bill that was due yesterday on the website and it said I needed to call you to confirm payment so that you wouldn’t disconnect me.”
(Oh, I forgot to mention that somewhere in the navigation of the phone menu I did hear confirmation that my payment had been recorded)
“Well, there’s nothing I can do for you until the payment is posted, and that doesn’t happen until tomorrow morning if you paid before 5PM”
“Yes, I paid before 5PM, and it’s in your system because I just got a confirm. I have a confirmation number and isn’t there some way to annotate the account so that your guy doesn’t come to turn off the power when I’ve actually paid the bill?”
“I can note the account but it won’t mean anything because the orders are issued and they’ve all gone home for the day.”
“What does that mean exactly? Will any order to disconnect me be trashed before tomorrow when they all come back?”
“No, there are no guarantees that your service will not be disconnected.”
“Well, hey…that’s why I’m on the phone here. To keep me from getting disconnected, to confirm my payment, and to not waste their time with a call to turn me off.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t waste their time..that’s what they’re paid for.”
[aside: At this point I am beyond furious and frustrated. I can't tell you exactly what I am. The combination of his barely disguised disgust at my irresponsibility along with his absolute refusal to move the ball down the field was almost more than I could stand]
“Okay, let’s try this again. What exactly needs to be done so that YOU know I’ve paid and THEY don’t shut me off.”
“Pay your bill on time.”
[aside #2: I lost it -- my temper, my control, and any semblance of adult behavior]
“WELL DUH. I get that; I know that; and obviously I missed the date and am trying to rectify THAT. On the other hand, it seriously appears that what you’re trying to do is slap me down. So let’s do this one more time: What procedure do I follow to ensure that my payment is credited and my service is NOT disconnected?”
“There is no such procedure. The best you can hope for is that your payment will be recorded before they leave to do disconnections tomorrow morning.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“Thank YOU for calling Edison.”
Um….this conversation actually made me cry after I hung up. I am in the middle of a horrible money crunch and trying to figure out how to juggle it. I don’t use credit cards, so it’s really a cash flow issue, but the cash needs to flow out a lot faster than it’s coming in and it all has to be done by tomorrow. So I really didn’t need this smarmy $10/hour so-called-service-goon to take a dump on me in the name of ‘customer service’.
Am I pissed? You betcha. But Edison is a monopoly, so I’m not only pissed, I’m screwed. I guess that means I’ll have to stay here and wait for the guy to disconnect me so I can wave the web confirm in his face before he pulls the plug.
Pay the bill on time. Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Why didn’t I think of that? Because I didn’t pay attention. As usual.
Technorati Tags: Southern California Edison, Edison, bad customer service
