It was seriously hard to believe it while it was happening.
The letter I just wrote to send to Bank of America Regional Headquarters:
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to report the worst customer service experience I have ever had, with any company. I eagerly await some indication that appropriate steps will be taken so that my reports of the experience on Twitter may end on a happier note.
This morning I received notification from your company that my existing credit card account “may have been compromised at an undisclosed third-party location” and was therefore being closed and replaced with a new card, which arrived at the same time. As the letter noted, this means that I will now need to change credit card information for all recurring and pending payments, which represents a considerable inconvenience for me, especially since I am in the process of planning a wedding, many of the deposits for which I have been using this account.
I contacted customer service at 800-732-9194 and explained this situation to a customer service representative, who identified herself only as “Angela.” I told her that I was unhappy with the situation and that I was hoping to speak to someone about some possible compensation for the inconvenience. Angela informed me that it was not your company's fault that my information had been compromised, but could not provide me with any specific details when I asked her how this had occurred. I explained that the phrasing of the letter left me in doubt that Bank of America had been blameless, and that I just wanted to talk to someone who might have more familiarity with the situation and authority for possible recourse.
At this point, Angela became extremely belligerent, informing me that “[I] might wish it was the case that [she] was not a manager, but in fact [she] had a supervisory position and had all necessary authority to handle this case.” Her voice rose considerably in pitch and volume as she informed me that I should be grateful my account number had been changed, and that “millions of other accounts had also been compomised and [I] was nobody special.” I told her that I was sorry she was angry that I was exploring possible options for compensation, but that I would prefer to speak to someone with some authority who could discuss the issue with me in a more objective tone. Angela cut me off at this point to tell me that she was “not angry, but [she] did not appreciate [my] failure to recognize the importance of [her] job position.”
Feeling that it was no longer productive to continue the conversation, I asked Angela for her last name or for an employee ID number, both of which she refused to provide. She then informed me that “if [I] preferred, [she] could make a note in the file that when my account was compromised in the future, [I] would prefer that Bank of America allow fraudulent charges to be made.” I told Angela that I did not appreciate her sarcasm, and that I hoped it was not representative of the company's attitude toward customer service, an issue that I would be pursuing. Angela informed me that if I wanted to report her, then I could just contact the complaints department and they would be able to tell who I had been speaking with from the time of call. For reference, the call was place at 4:09pm CST on Saturday, February, 13th; it lasted only 6 minutes and 46 seconds, which I feel makes the level of hostility I experienced from your customer service representative particularly offensive and shocking.
While I am still unhappy with the apparent mishandling of my personal financial information that led to the closing and replacement of my original account with Bank of America, my negative associations with your company have been exponentially magnified by this horrible experience with your customer service center. I certainly hope that this is not representative of company policy towards customers, but I have no experience to the contrary. I may be contacted via email at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com or by phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss this further.
PLEASE feel free to link this (or RT my tweet on the subject). It's funny, because I really just wanted, like, I don't know, some extra reward points on my card or something to make up for causing me a lot of hassle. Now I want someone fired at the very least.
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to report the worst customer service experience I have ever had, with any company. I eagerly await some indication that appropriate steps will be taken so that my reports of the experience on Twitter may end on a happier note.
This morning I received notification from your company that my existing credit card account “may have been compromised at an undisclosed third-party location” and was therefore being closed and replaced with a new card, which arrived at the same time. As the letter noted, this means that I will now need to change credit card information for all recurring and pending payments, which represents a considerable inconvenience for me, especially since I am in the process of planning a wedding, many of the deposits for which I have been using this account.
I contacted customer service at 800-732-9194 and explained this situation to a customer service representative, who identified herself only as “Angela.” I told her that I was unhappy with the situation and that I was hoping to speak to someone about some possible compensation for the inconvenience. Angela informed me that it was not your company's fault that my information had been compromised, but could not provide me with any specific details when I asked her how this had occurred. I explained that the phrasing of the letter left me in doubt that Bank of America had been blameless, and that I just wanted to talk to someone who might have more familiarity with the situation and authority for possible recourse.
At this point, Angela became extremely belligerent, informing me that “[I] might wish it was the case that [she] was not a manager, but in fact [she] had a supervisory position and had all necessary authority to handle this case.” Her voice rose considerably in pitch and volume as she informed me that I should be grateful my account number had been changed, and that “millions of other accounts had also been compomised and [I] was nobody special.” I told her that I was sorry she was angry that I was exploring possible options for compensation, but that I would prefer to speak to someone with some authority who could discuss the issue with me in a more objective tone. Angela cut me off at this point to tell me that she was “not angry, but [she] did not appreciate [my] failure to recognize the importance of [her] job position.”
Feeling that it was no longer productive to continue the conversation, I asked Angela for her last name or for an employee ID number, both of which she refused to provide. She then informed me that “if [I] preferred, [she] could make a note in the file that when my account was compromised in the future, [I] would prefer that Bank of America allow fraudulent charges to be made.” I told Angela that I did not appreciate her sarcasm, and that I hoped it was not representative of the company's attitude toward customer service, an issue that I would be pursuing. Angela informed me that if I wanted to report her, then I could just contact the complaints department and they would be able to tell who I had been speaking with from the time of call. For reference, the call was place at 4:09pm CST on Saturday, February, 13th; it lasted only 6 minutes and 46 seconds, which I feel makes the level of hostility I experienced from your customer service representative particularly offensive and shocking.
While I am still unhappy with the apparent mishandling of my personal financial information that led to the closing and replacement of my original account with Bank of America, my negative associations with your company have been exponentially magnified by this horrible experience with your customer service center. I certainly hope that this is not representative of company policy towards customers, but I have no experience to the contrary. I may be contacted via email at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com or by phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss this further.
PLEASE feel free to link this (or RT my tweet on the subject). It's funny, because I really just wanted, like, I don't know, some extra reward points on my card or something to make up for causing me a lot of hassle. Now I want someone fired at the very least.