The other morning before my wife Pat headed off to work, she asked me if I would have time to go over to her mom’s house.
She explained her mom needed my assistance in canceling out a credit card she no longer uses nor needs.
I of course replied that I’d be more than glad to handle that. Besides, I needed to go over there and check on something else as well.
So, that afternoon I made the short trek over there. Once done with what else I needed to do first, I addressed the credit card issue.
My mother-in-law, who is 95, hadn’t used that card in more than a couple of years and like she told me had no further use for it anyway. It had a zero balance so just leaving it like that and doing nothing would have probably sufficed.
Leaving it like that, though, she still may have received unneeded letters from the company for no telling how long.
Proceeding, I dialed the number. I’m well aware that a real person isn’t going to answer on the other end. That would be asking way too much.
A recording starts though, instructing me which numbers on my cell phone to push for what I’m trying to get done. I push the numbers.
Then, I’m instructed to push in the numbers of her account which I correctly do. But, it tells me to try again, that I didn’t push the right numbers, so I do it a second time.
Keep in mind I did put the numbers in accurately. Their hearing wasn’t good that day.
I finally get to proceed further, then I get to wait before being able to let it know what I need.
I push in the number I need, then it tells me to wait. Still patient at this point, I wait, but it cuts me off.
I try two more times and on the fourth attempt and about 30 minutes later, I finally get to cancel out the card.
In comparison, it took me only a couple of minutes recently to get in touch with a person in Washington D.C. to gain information for a story I was writing.
Pat and I talk about this all the time. How is someone like my mother-in-law expected to handle this by herself?
She and people like her can’t.
There needs to be more consideration for people in like situations.