I missed paying two credit card bills issued here in the US that were due last April 7 and one on April 17.
I called their customer service and using the automated payment system saved me money. They have a fee of $10 if I wanted to speak to a customer representative, a real person with flesh and blood, most likely based in Cebu. How did I know that? Because the last two times I spoke to their reps, I noticed that after their second American-sounding sentence, their true regional accent became obvious. Yis Mam. They were hesistant at first to divulge their true nationality but when I made a guess “nasa Bohol ka?”, I received an outright correction “Sibu mam”. One was in Pasay but still had a regional accent.
I am more comfortable speaking to a real person because they can understand my accent better. The robots or machines have difficulty understanding my words, even mere numbers.
I pronounce the number two as tu. The machine pronounces it ttooh. My five is a simple payb. The machine says fffayvv. It’s so frustrating talking to a machine. I get stressed out trying to guess what did I say wrong.
Machine—-“Tell me why you are calling. To make a payment, to report a lost or stolen card….”
Me———“Make a payment”
Machine——“Sorry I didn’t get that. Let’s try it again, tell me why you are calling, to make a payment, to report a lost or stolen card….”
Me—–“Make a payment”
Machine…….”Sorry I didn’t get that. Let’s try a different way. Tell me why you are calling…. If you want to make a payment press one…..”
I pressed one.
Machine—— “So you want to make a payment, is that right?”
Me————“Yes”
Machine——–“Say that again?”
Me—–“YESS!”
Machine——–“So you want to make a payment, Let’s proceed. How much do you want to pay, your statement balance, you current balance, a minimum balance..”
Me————“Current balance”.
Machine——-“Sorry I didn’t understand that. Let’s try it again. How much do you want to pay, your statement balance, your current balance, or minimum balance?”
Me——“Current balance”.
Machine——–“Sorry I didn’t get that. Do you want to pay your statement balance, current balance, or make a minimum payment?”
Me———“Kerent belens”
Machine—–“Current Balance. Your current balance is one hundred eight and ten cents….”
