As the clock ticked toward our new loan being signed (which will pay off the old one, thus probably wiping out any trace of the botch they’ve made with our old loan), Margie’s on the phone once more.<\/p>\n
“After we’d closed it out, incompletely, an additional amount was deposited the next week, but that didn’t close it, either, and I’m afraid there’s been fraud<\/i>.”<\/p>\n
You would think this would raise some attention. That would imply silly Earth logic, however.<\/p>\n
The response? Our systems are down right now. We can’t help you. Call back some other time when the system is up. Tomorrow, perhaps. Or maybe not.<\/i><\/p>\n
As to her allegation that this got sent off to Research on 8 May? Her file (on a different system, obviously) shows it went off to Research two weeks later, on the 20th.<\/p>\n
“How about this — I called a supervisor yesterday and was told someone would call me back today, and nobody did — is that in my file?”<\/p>\n
Evidently not. Well, the system is still down …<\/i><\/p>\n
“I’ve been dealing with this for a month. If it depends on the system being up, I’d think it would be solved by now.”<\/p>\n
Well, how about we send it to Research …<\/i><\/p>\n
Margie is adamant. That is not an acceptible course of action (again).<\/p>\n
In a huff, the CS rep says (I kid you not), “Let me get my manager, so she can tell you the exact same thing I told you.” Click-onto-Hold.<\/p>\n
So Margie is getting fairly frustrated. The assistant CS manager on duty (“Alison”) comes on — and needs, of course, the whole story told to her, again, from scratch.
\n
\nWell, perhaps we can send this to Research …<\/i><\/p>\n
Margie, going on the frustrated scale from fairly to utterly, gives voice to same, noting that she’s been dealing with people telling her it’s going to Research for a month now. It sounds rather upset to me, but clearly I don’t have the keen ears of a CS manager.<\/p>\n
“Ma’am, there’s no need to get hostile with me. You haven’t dealt with me before. Please hold.”<\/i> Click-onto-Hold.<\/p>\n
Margie says something very sarcastic to the muzak.<\/p>\n
“Tired mommy,” quoth Katherine.<\/p>\n
Amazingly enough, things go upwards from there. “Alison” asks her for the names of folks that she’s been dealing with. Margie has no names for some of them, only first names of the rest. “Nobody gives me last names.”<\/p>\n
The CS manager provides her last name. Add another point in the positive column.<\/p>\n
Margie provides names. This has been problematic in the past. When she called back, for example, asking for “Christie” (one of the CS managers who had said she would call back the next day), nobody in Customer Service knew of a manager named Christie. <\/p>\n
Margie has to get off the phone, so we can go sign our new, non-U.S. Bank mortgage<\/i>. The CS manager says she will research it herself, and call back tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Amazingly enough …<\/p>\n
… when we get home from dinner (Pasquini’s Pizza Kitchen on 17th. Very fine.), there’s a message from her. She’s managed to dig up the old loan information (obviously she can run the Old Loan System) and reads it back to us, to verify that it’s correct before she “opens a can of worms.” <\/p>\n
It matches the fax we were sent (which is, as such print-outs from decades-old finanicial systems tend to be, nearly impossible to understand), and Margie calls back and leaves a message to go can-opening.<\/p>\n
So we’ll see. The U.S. Bank loan will be actually paid off by the mortgage company on Wednesday. Actually, it will be more than paid off, which will probably churn the bottom mud enough that we’ll be stuck trying to track “Christie” down again.<\/p>\n
We drank some champagne. Margie’s great.<\/p>\n