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It’s not exactly a call center but I onboard files that are related to claims from insurance companies all over and we work with a network of contractors to provide services and then simplify the claim experience for the customer – we handle the paperwork and payment and connecting people together.
Despite every claim getting a call to the customer to explain the process (we send it to the contractor, contractor estimates, you need to sign work authorization to approve (or not, they can choose to decline), and then work is scheduled) there are ALWAYS people who just expect everything to fall into their laps and just have it all done without their lifting a finger.
Woman calls me today asking if I’m Allstate. No, ma’am, we work with Allstate but are not employees of Allstate. “What the hell does that mean?!” \*It means if you’re trying to reach Allstate you dialed the wrong number.\* Anyways, despite her not having a claim number (“I shouldn’t have to do this, this is too many buttons and numbers”) I find her file and let her know that we’ve already sent a contractor who’s estimated the work and they’re just waiting on her approval. She cuts me off and demands to know when the tree will be removed from her house. I glance at the photos and see….one lonely branch on the ground. (This is not uncommon. People call us for the silliest things like branches from a windstorm in their yard. Newsflash: we aren’t a landscaping clean-up company. We’re here for big stuff like trees inside your living room.)
I sigh internally and know where this is headed. I let her know that she will need to contact the contractor directly as we do not schedule their work and she immediately launches into how she’s had to make too many calls and Allstate would NEVER and she’s EIGHTY-TWO YEARS OLD and SHOULD NOT have to deal with this!!
Ma’am, you do realize that we exist to simplify this whole process? If we weren’t here you’d have to make the calls yourself, scan your estimate/invoice to Allstate (which she probably can’t figure out), and also pay the contractor directly up front?
It’s just incredible how millennials (me) are accused of being lazy and not wanting to do anything and expecting results to fall into our laps and then….I get these customers who just don’t want to lift a finger to move things along. All it takes is a phone call and a signature.
Ultimately, I let her know I’d be reaching out to the contractor and have them reach out to her (which isn’t usual, the homeowners really need to be proactive in these cases because how else do we know they want to have \*us\* do the work?) and she muttered something about how she’ll never hear back from us and made me confirm her number and concluded “y’all will never call me anyways” and then hung up.
I love my job, I really do. I help people in stressful situations like a tree through their roof and help get people out to fix it. I ease their mind in helping find solutions to scary situations and reassure them that we will handle everything, they just need to be there and sign the paperwork when needed. That’s it. 99% of our customers are perfect, no hassle.
It’s the 1% that makes me drink.
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