(no subject)
Jul. 21st, 2006 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gothams3rdrobinPre-emptively lj-cutting this for length.
You know, I'm all for helping out our fellow brands but it's getting quite ridiculous now....
We have something called a 'New Business Chase-up Cycle' (NBCC for short), where we monitor for the return of any necessary paperwork like 'proof of no claims bonus', direct debit mandates etc. Depending on what is still outstanding, we can either cancel the policy or charge additional premiums.
The particular brand we were helping out was over a fortnight behind on this report! So, naturally it was up to us to sail to their rescue yesterday and do it for them. When I left for the day they were only a week behind - which is pretty impressive if you consider how many policyholders that one brand has.
It was uncomfortable work as it involved diary codes and system-generated letters we're not familiar with. And you just know if we get it wrong they'll come down on us like the proverbial tonne of bricks, even though it's their fault for being so lazy!
So now we're having to rush to get ourselves up to date again ready for the weekend, since we have a skeleton team here for half a day on Saturdays and no cover on Sundays.
It's been a chaotic week personally too - though unusually productive! I had a talk with a financial advisor/debt management-type person on Sunday afternoon, who's sorting out my debts for me. As part of the arrangement I needed to open a new bank account, which I did as soon as I got off work on Monday. I then gave it a day for the bank's systems to fully open the account, and spent Tuesday night ringing around my utility providers to change the bank my
direct debits go out of. Managed to get most of them done that same night, and some of those I didn't get hold of I spoke to on Wednesday. Also managed to get the details to Payroll in the nick of time ready for next week's payday *wipes brow in relief*
I have had a few hassles though. The Inland Revenue were unable to process it in time to prevent this week's Tax Credits going into my old account. So I had to take the nursery fees out of my old bank account, which was already incredibly overdrawn. That should be the last time I need to access that
account though, so the Agency can take it from here. I've also not been able to get hold of the Child Benefit Agency, to get that monthly payment changed over, but I keep trying and I have a week or so before that's due.
The biggest problem has been my monthly bus ticket. I went into the ticket office yesterday evening to give them my new details, but was told I had to give them three weeks notice. That payment's due on the first, and there's no way they'll be able to get the money out of my old account, so it'll automatically default. Unfortunately, if you default on this particular direct debit they permanently exclude you from the scheme and you have to pay the full ticket price from there on out. As you can imagine I was pretty
upset, but managed not to get nasty with the cashier. This morning I sent a polite email to the company to plead for help, and you know what? It worked! They're gonna let me pay over the counter next week, and there's a new mandate in the post ready for the month after.
Goes to show that staying civil with the poor souls who have to work front-of-house pays off in the end. I wish our customers realised that....
You know, I'm all for helping out our fellow brands but it's getting quite ridiculous now....
We have something called a 'New Business Chase-up Cycle' (NBCC for short), where we monitor for the return of any necessary paperwork like 'proof of no claims bonus', direct debit mandates etc. Depending on what is still outstanding, we can either cancel the policy or charge additional premiums.
The particular brand we were helping out was over a fortnight behind on this report! So, naturally it was up to us to sail to their rescue yesterday and do it for them. When I left for the day they were only a week behind - which is pretty impressive if you consider how many policyholders that one brand has.
It was uncomfortable work as it involved diary codes and system-generated letters we're not familiar with. And you just know if we get it wrong they'll come down on us like the proverbial tonne of bricks, even though it's their fault for being so lazy!
So now we're having to rush to get ourselves up to date again ready for the weekend, since we have a skeleton team here for half a day on Saturdays and no cover on Sundays.
It's been a chaotic week personally too - though unusually productive! I had a talk with a financial advisor/debt management-type person on Sunday afternoon, who's sorting out my debts for me. As part of the arrangement I needed to open a new bank account, which I did as soon as I got off work on Monday. I then gave it a day for the bank's systems to fully open the account, and spent Tuesday night ringing around my utility providers to change the bank my
direct debits go out of. Managed to get most of them done that same night, and some of those I didn't get hold of I spoke to on Wednesday. Also managed to get the details to Payroll in the nick of time ready for next week's payday *wipes brow in relief*
I have had a few hassles though. The Inland Revenue were unable to process it in time to prevent this week's Tax Credits going into my old account. So I had to take the nursery fees out of my old bank account, which was already incredibly overdrawn. That should be the last time I need to access that
account though, so the Agency can take it from here. I've also not been able to get hold of the Child Benefit Agency, to get that monthly payment changed over, but I keep trying and I have a week or so before that's due.
The biggest problem has been my monthly bus ticket. I went into the ticket office yesterday evening to give them my new details, but was told I had to give them three weeks notice. That payment's due on the first, and there's no way they'll be able to get the money out of my old account, so it'll automatically default. Unfortunately, if you default on this particular direct debit they permanently exclude you from the scheme and you have to pay the full ticket price from there on out. As you can imagine I was pretty
upset, but managed not to get nasty with the cashier. This morning I sent a polite email to the company to plead for help, and you know what? It worked! They're gonna let me pay over the counter next week, and there's a new mandate in the post ready for the month after.
Goes to show that staying civil with the poor souls who have to work front-of-house pays off in the end. I wish our customers realised that....
no subject
Date: 2006-07-21 01:44 pm (UTC)As for the other stuff - that's really good. I've had a couple of problems with deliveries lately and have done my level best not to get upset with the wrong people. They work much harder for you if you're nice, don't they?
no subject
Date: 2006-07-21 04:52 pm (UTC)And yeah. Politeness pays off eventually.