August 16, 2007
Credit Cards after Death
This came to me from my good friend, Tina in an e-mail this morning. Simply had to pass it on to all of you for two reasons. First, I think it is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time and secondly, Kristi and the babies are coming for a visit on Saturday. I plan to spend to day in the kitchen preparing meals that can be frozen and then microwaved when needed. This leaves little time to write a post, but will enable me to have her favorite family meals and still find time to spend with the twins.
Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die. This is so priceless, and so so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today.
A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to Citibank. Here is the exchange:
Family Member: “I am calling to tell you she died in January.”
Citibank: “The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.”
Family Member: “Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.”
Citibank: “Since it is two months past due, it already has been.”
Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?”
Citibank: “Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!”
Family Member: “Do you think God will be mad at her? (I really liked this part!!!!)
Citibank: “Excuse me?”
Family Member: “Do you understand what I am telling you - the part about her being dead?”
Citibank: “Sir, you’ll have to speak to my supervisor.” (Duh!) Supervisor gets on the phone:
Family Member: “I’m calling to tell you, she died in January.”
Citibank: “The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.”
(This must be a phrase taught by the bank!)
Family Member: “You mean you want to collect from her estate?”
Citibank: (Stammer) “Are you her lawyer?”
Family Member: “No, I’m her great nephew.” (Lawyer info given)
Citibank: “Could you fax us a certificate of death?”
Family Member: “Sure.” (Fax number is given)
After they get the fax:
Citibank: “Our system just isn’t setup for death. I don’t know what more I can do to help.”
Family Member: “Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don’t think she will care.”
Citibank: “Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.”
(What is wrong with these people?!?)
Family Member: “Would you like her new billing address?”
Citibank: “That might help.”
Family Member: ” Odessa Memorial Cemetery , Highway 129, Plot Number 69.” ;
Citibank: “Sir, that’s a cemetery!”
Family Member: “What do you do with dead people on your planet?
PRICELESS!!
(Visited 6160 times)
Just love it Maria.
August 16, 2007 @ 6:47 pmBTW. I somehow missed your previous post, hope you got your bear… or at the very least your beer.
Oh my God…this would be the most hysterical conversation…if it weren’t so sad and scary Maria. WHAT REALLY IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE??? Someone needs to make some changes….fast.
August 16, 2007 @ 7:13 pmPeople will laugh, but there is more truth in this that it appears! LOL
August 16, 2007 @ 7:33 pmThanks Peter, Joy, and Judy,
All of the canned conversations lately drive me crazy. I had one close enough to this one to make me shudder. It was with an employee of AFLAC and I wish I had recorded it.
Of course, even worse is the canned conversation with someone whose first language is not English.
And Peter, I haven’t gotten either the bear or the beer. I think it is an even race between the two.
August 17, 2007 @ 7:34 amMaria, This is priceless. What is wrong with these credit card “help” lines that they just don’t understand plain English.
Have fun with the twins.
August 17, 2007 @ 10:15 amHow true that conversation is….all thanks primarily to Out sourcing…..each week I talk to more people in India, the Philippines etc in the course of my job(medical billing) and get canned responses. One morning I called about our Direct TV account and spent 2 hours on the phone, talked to 5 people in India before I actually got contacted to someone in the US…such is the wave of the future I guess!!And the terrible part is the loss of jobs here in America and the risk of stolen personal information and privacy.
August 18, 2007 @ 8:28 amCircular conversations with customer service seem to happen to me all the time. When did companies decide they don’t want their employees to think, or have compassion for others, or to offer solutions to customers to make them happy? When you run into a small company that gets it, you’ll never forget it. I just had to share this post at Real Sage Advice today. Thank you for turning a maddening situation into one we can giggle about!
August 18, 2007 @ 8:37 amMichaele,
You know what frightens me even more is that some companies use prisioners to do their pnone solicitations. I think this is particularly true in the travel industry, but not limited to that.
Also for folks with even the slightest hearing difficulties, a person whose first language is not English is very difficult to hear and understand.
August 18, 2007 @ 9:18 amLisa,
August 18, 2007 @ 9:20 amGlad you could use my post over at Real Sage Advice.
When my husband died, I faced this sort of story in several occasions. French red tape isn’t any better.
August 18, 2007 @ 11:10 pmI like the punchline of your story
That really IS funny!
August 22, 2007 @ 9:27 amHow ridiculous to say they are not prepared to deal with death.
My parents kept receiving letters to my dead grandparents for a long, long time. They even received those credit cards that said my grandparents were pre-approved. My mom was always tempted to charge them to the max, then claim it was the ghost of her dead mother-in-law who went shopping.
I hope you enjoyed your visit with your daughter and the babies!!!!