Rules Are Rules, Regardless Of Your Reasons

CONTENT WARNING: Terminal Cancer
I have a call transferred to me by another agent. I am warned that the client is absolutely livid and coming in hot. I’ve had about four hours of geriatric abuse by this point, including being screamed at by a retired CPA who just found out his employer changed the investments without their permission, a schmuck of a financial advisor trying to have his cake and eat it, too, with a retired teacher that can’t add two and two to save her life, and other bulls*** throughout the day.

This one takes the cake.

I immediately start by telling the client that I can be content with her being angry as long as she is civil.

The client has a legacy plan with a legacy product. She demands a lump sum withdrawal, which is not permitted under her employer plan. I immediately ask her how much money she needs in the event that it’s something small like a few thousand dollars. She says she’s relieved to hear that until I tell her the same thing the other agent told her. It goes downhill from there.

Customer: “What do you mean you [have these rules]? Are you saying it’s not my money?”

Me: “No, I’m not saying it’s not your money. It’s just that there are rules we have to follow.”

Customer: “I don’t understand. Why can’t I take my money out?”

Me: “Well… we have rules, ma’am. This has been in place to prevent bank runs since the inception of this company.”

Customer: “I don’t care. I want to speak to your supervisor.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but they will say the same exact thing that I’m telling you now. If it were up to me, I would just let you have it, but the liquidation rules indicate that you have to take it out over time.”

Customer: “Well, I’ll be dead by then!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but those are the rules.”

Customer: “Young man, the last thing I want to hear from your mouth is ‘sorry’. When you say ‘sorry’, it cheapens the meaning of the word, so I don’t want you to ever say you’re sorry again. Do I make myself clear? Now put me through with a supervisor.”

Me: “I will not do any such thing now. The only way you’ll be able to get your money is to initiate the liquidation procedure or to annuitize. I’ll be more than happy to get my system ready, but a lump sum is not an option.”

Customer: “I’m only going to take the lump sum option.”

Me: “In that case, I can see this conversation is going nowhere. I’m going to help others, so thank you for calling in, ma’am. Have a nice day.”

Customer: “IF YOU HANG UP THIS PHONE RIGHT NOW, I WILL REPORT YOU!”

Me: *Click*

Supervisor calls aren’t available for immediate transfer; otherwise, I would not have received the call from my peer in the first place. There is a team I can reach out to if it’s blatantly obvious there was a f***-up on my company’s part, but this situation doesn’t fall into that category. I do also have the right to end a call provided that I give a warning (which I gave in the beginning) and a proper send-off, which was also given. When the woman did not heed the warning and took everything out on me personally, I made the executive decision to end the call.

I immediately told my manager about the call (he was kind of thrust into this role, so he’s pretty chill for the most part) and explained the situation to him. I’m not worried about it affecting my licensing at all. I looked at the customer’s profile later on, and she called back to the call center demanding her money. The next agent told her the same thing (based on the notes he left behind), but said agent also documented her sob story about being in her eighties with terminal cancer and “needing it now”.

I’d feel sorry for her, but given how she treated me (and how she never disclosed her medical condition until she got the hang-up treatment), that would only cheapen the meaning of the word.