Busted

The other day we received a bill for $77 from the company through which we purchased our trial timeshare in Mexico. The bill didn't indicate what we were being charged for but kindly suggested that we contact them if we had any questions. Their hours were from noon to 8:00 pm and since it was about 7:00, I thought I'd give them a ringy-ding right away to get the whole matter cleared up.

First, I heard the official automated voicemail, "We are experiencing high call volume...please hold for the next available agent." Then, without asking me, it transferred me directly into some one's voicemail. "This is Brenda, I'm not available to take your call..."

I'm skeptical when this happens, especially with a large company, because I believe that pretty much anyone can help me, and if I leave a message on one person's voicemail, I am putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. Plus, I really really wanted to know what this company was trying to charge me for.

So, I hung up and called back. I experienced different automated greetings, hold music, and menu selections than the first time, but I ended up in Brenda's voicemail again.

I wasn't really irritated, I just wanted to take care of it while it was convenient for me, and the convenient time for me was RIGHT NOW.

So, I called back. And I called back. And I called back. And back. And back. And back and back and back and back and back. I must have called 40 times in the space of 10 minutes.

What do you know? It worked. I reached the lovely and talented Brenda in person. She was very professional and very nice. She asked for my name and membership number.

"Just one moment while my system retrieves your file. Okay, thanks for holding... Oh I see you've called a couple of times this evening..."

A couple of times. She even managed to say it without a hint of irony in her voice.

Busted. Go ahead and say it Brenda, "You're a freak." I know.