Central Credit Services/Sallie Mae Mona Davis and her supervisor are ridiculously rude, BUT there was an upside to the convo Jacksonville Florida

 I have had it with this collection agency! Let me first say that I worked in collections for a few years and although good at my job, I hated it. Hated asking people for their money and hated making them feel bad when they were unable to pay due to the economy, financial situations or whatever the case was. I hated my job so much that I sought other employment and I am now working in my field, making more money and am happier than ever!

Why the preface? Because I believe in customer service. The employees at Central Credit Services surely lack this important business component. After getting fed up with this company taking my money out of my checking account days earlier than they said they would, I called them in May. I talked with a nice enough rep who assured me that all my payments would be moved to the end of the month (the last day of every month specifically) as I requested. I noticed that the next  payment came out on the 29th of the month...that is clearly not the last day of the month, but because it was June and June only has 30 days, I figured it was just an error on the computer's end. Besides, I had already gotten my direct deposit so the payment was available.

Something told me to call this month just to see what date my payment was set for. I was informed by Mona Davis that the  payment ran today....the 29th. Last time I checked, July has 31 days. If i was told by a company that my payments would be debited on the end of every month, I expect that to be true. I explained my concerns to Ms. Davis, who was nice enough at first, but the more I expressed my concern, she began to get aggitated because she did not have a reason as to why it came out today. She did apologize which was unexpected, but she would not let me get out my next question: how do i avoid this happening in the future? She had mentioned that they do prefer the paymemts to Sallie Mae to be on the 29th of every month so that may be why it was set up in the system that way, but again, she could not confirm this. I asked again how I could keep this from happening. She told me I was being redundant and promptly put me on hold to transfer me to a supervisor. Mona, if you don't like your job, then quit! You aren't that great at it anyway. And a word of advice, slow down when you speak to customers and move your mouthpiece away from your mouth a little more. If your customers could understand you, you may not have as many complaints about the lack of service you provide.

After I was transferred, I talked with Mr. Blair (i think that was his name). I could tell by his tone that my conversation with him wouldn't be pleasant, but I tried to keep my composure long enough to at least explain why I had been transferred to him since Mona Davis didn't. His attitude was horrible! I did interrupt him at some points in the conversation because he was trying to deflect the problem by interrupting me and telling me we needed to move on in the convo. Um...if I'm correct, when calls are escalated, it's because the previous rep could not correct the issue. How can you correct it Mr. Blair if you won't even let me tell you what the issue is? He was more concerned with making sure his "authority" was exuded over the phone. He did this by telling me I was rude and telling me to let him speak, let him finish his sentence and then blurting out that he had changed the payments in the system so "do you want me to get you over to the verification department or to my supervisor so you can complain on me?" I almost opted just to be sent to the verification department, but I'm glad I chose to speak with his supervisor because that is where the resolution finally came in. Mr. Blair, if you don't like your job, QUIT! You clearly don't like speaking to customers and you are in no way trained to take escalated calls by any means. I too have been in your position and the key to a successful, escalated call is to maintain your professionalism and your tone at all times. You get what you give. I have been called out of my name and been called racial slurs over things far less important than bounced checks, but still managed to give my customers a resolution. You'd do well to follow suit.

I was then transferred to Mr. Keith Brong who claims to be Mr. Blair's supervisor. He was very pleasant and when I got him to actually listen to my concerns, he had all the answers I needed. I am not a customer who will keep asking to speak to supervisors until I get what I want. Benig in call centers for over 5 years has taught me NOT to be that person. But to just have someone listen to me and actually answer my question instead of giving me some scripted or memorized response was wonderful. I told him that Ms. Davis had told me there was no way for me to call my payments in every month and that they had to remain on draft. I askd Mr. Brong and he advised me that is not the case. He said it's easier to have the payments on draft, but I could call in with my routing and account number every month or even call in with a card and pay (with a small fee of $7.50). Why did it take me talking to three people before I got this information??? I applaud you, Mr. Brong for being professional and listening to your customer. I hope someone sees this and will share this with him so that he can inform his employees on what it is most of the customers need. LISTEN first....then respond. I know call centers are focused on call reports, aux codes, hold times, and collectios departments especially are concerned with meeting monthly, quarterly and annual numbers as well as bonus checks. It's hard to balance all of that and still have supuerb customer service. But it IS possible. Every day is not easy and you don't always want to sit at a small desk with a headset attached to your ear for 8 hours per day. I get it. Trust me, I do! But still, don't jump from one bad call to another right away if you can help it. Take a quick break to get yourself together then come back to your desk with a fresh attitude. Realize that the person you are talking to isn't mad at YOU or the company necessarily. They are upset at the situation and they just want to get some type of resolution. I cannot stress enough to LISTEN to those on the other end of your phone. They are people just like you. When you answer the phone and give your qa statement, you put yourself in a position of authority. Don't abuse it. Those who are not able to do that balancing act are advised to seek other employment.