November 3, 2007

• Can you hold please?

  Halloween morning, I spent half an hour on the phone making
  sure all of the paperwork was in order for the closing sale of my mil’s
  condo.  The closing was supposed to be on Oct. 31, and had already been
  postponed a day because of some paperwork snafu. 

  The title company wanted me to call the mortgage company to
  expedite sending the payoff information for the loan. I explained everything to the first representative, and then she transferred me to someone else.  Of course, they didn’t transfer any of my information, so I had to explain myself again. The 2nd mortgage
  customer service person asked me when the title company planned to have the
  check.

  I didn’t know the answer, and she told me I would need to
  call the title company, and call back with the information.  I really didn’t want to have to call back and explain myself yet again.  I asked if I could get her direct number to call her back (though I know that most call centers don’t work that way.) No, if I called back I would just have to start my story all over again.
  

  I quickly said, “Can you hold please?” and
  without waiting for an answer, I called the title company on my cell.  I talked to the customer service rep there
  for a few minutes, and went back to the other line.  I was pretty sure that the mortgage rep would
  have hung up on me. 

  I went back to the other line, and
  politely said “Thank you for holding.” 
  The mortgage rep was still on the line. 
  I’m sure I screwed up her call-talk-time, but then again, maybe she
  enjoyed the break.

  • 9:11 pm
  • 5 Comments