Passing The Buck

Me: “Thank you for calling. How can I help you?”

Customer: “Yes, I have a problem with you guys! You are trying to screw me!”

Me: “Okay, what seems to be the problem?”

Customer: “I am trying to buy a house. Your company is showing an unpaid bill for $5000, and my bank has denied my loan because of this.”

Me: “Well, according to our records you purchased an air conditioner two years ago for $3500. You made two payments of $150 and never made another payment.”

Customer: “Yes, so?”

Me: “Well, you never paid for the item so we reported it as such.”

Customer: “But I sold that house a year and a half ago!”

Me: “But you never paid for the air conditioner.”

Customer: “I KNOW THAT! WHY WOULD I PAY FOR SOMETHING I DON’T OWN?! CALL THE NEW OWNERS AND GET YOUR MONEY, AND GET THIS OFF MY CREDIT REPORT!”

Me: “I am sorry, but we agreed to extend credit to you, not the new owners of the house. You signed the agreement, not them.”

Customer: “Where am I supposed to get $5000?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but all I can think of is when you got the money for selling the home with the air conditioner, you should have paid the account balance off.”

Customer: “I TOLD YOU, I AM NOT GOING TO PAY FOR SOMETHING I DON’T HAVE!”

Me: “Okay, then I guess this call is over and I hope you get your bank to loan you the money.”

Customer: “So you fixed it?”

Me: “I sure did. Have a great day.”

(All I did was update her account with her new address and phone number. The legal dept had noted on the account that they had been unable to locate her after she sold the home… They’ll definitely find her now.)