Upgrades

She just wants to be heard.

The call to Customer Service wouldn’t be a pleasant one for Gladys. If she could’ve solved the problem any other way, she would’ve.

After wading through three layers of the telephone tree, she was connected to Alex, a perky customer service agent. He himself asked her three security questions to verify his identity.

Finally, Alex said, “How may I help you today?”

“Upgrades. I’m tired of ‘em.”

“Okay, ma’am. How can I help with that?”

“Can you stop upgrading your systems?”

“I understand that upgrades are causing you some frustrations,” the agent said. “How specifically can I help to alleviate some of those concerns?”

There was an awkward pause.

“First, the software asks me to upgrade and to put my PIN number in, but I’m 77 and I can’t remember my PIN – or at least the one I put in didn’t work, so I have to get a new one emailed or texted to me. I enter the new PIN and the system says I’ve entered the wrong email address. By the time I figured out which account it is, I have to run an errand. When I get back, the system’s timed out so I have to start all over again. By them, I’ve forgotten why I wanted to go into my profile in the first place. So there you have it.”

Alex paused and said, “Was there anything else I can help you with?”

“Nope, you’ve listened well to my gripes and it’s all out of my system. Thanks for listening.”

Alex chuckled and said, “Anytime, ma’am. Anytime. You aren’t the first and certainly not the last. It’ll always be a pleasure to speak to you, Ma’am.”