HOOMAN AGENTS

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 122

Day 122 — can you believe it? We’ve reached the four-month mark, one-third of the way through our journey together. And ya know, I don’t know if I could have come this far without you. Tonight I’d like to say, “Many thanks” or as my mother often said in her best ‘wegian, “MANGE TAKK.”

Anyway, right now, I’m trying to get this finished, but I’ve been fighting Microsoft’s AI customer service. Oh my gracious, y’all, if this AI is any prediction of our future, we’re all DOOMED. What has ever happened to good hooman-to-hooman customer service? Just give me someone with a pulse already! Right? (And not one overseas). Sorry, I’m venting.

Let’s back up the truck a bit.

So after getting home from a long day at the office—a great one at that—my wife had supper ready. Thank you, sweetie. Loves me some jambalaya. But then, just as we finished, she asked, “Saw a bank charge for Microsoft G… blah blah blah. What’s that for?”

Well, super long story and TONS of frustration later, I realized it was for a Microsoft 365 business account we tried to create last year for the church. The tech giant gladly took my cha-ching; yet, we couldn’t ever get the system to log us in or anything. Tech support was no better. I opened a support ticket, but that didn’t help much. It took Microsoft over a month to get back to me. And the one who did was some non-English speaker halfway across the world. My dogs listen better. (That’s not saying much; they’re boxers). Then, because she just did, she abruptly cancelled our ticket without resolve.

Fast forward to a few days ago, with still no ability to use the product for over a year, Microsoft auto-renewed the account. BUT, how could this be, I wondered. The card I used last year was cancelled due to a faulty chip. Confused, I called the bank.

And holy moly Batman, I was able to talk to a super-nice, real Hooman, one with blood flowing in her veins and compassion in her heart. She was able to put in a dispute-the-charge thing-a-ma-bob and requested a stop payment too.

Come to find out, VISA authorized the charge because… that’s what they do. They just gave Microsoft my new card number without authorization. (I guess Visa is the only card issuer to do that. Buyer beware). I’m glad I called.

Okay, that part giving my heart a bit of pause, I figured I should probably try to reach Microsoft again. Well, I did, and, “Father forgive me, for I have sinned.” Where’s the Terminator to go all Arnold on Microsoft’s AI center when you need him? You can use your imagination how well THAT went.

Anyway, tonight I’m UBER THANKFUL for real people, the true-blooded hooman agents who provide heartfelt customer service. Thank you USAA for having call centers in America, staffed with compassionate human beings who care enough to care. If only Microsoft took a page from their playbook, this whole blog might not have ever taken place.

Thank you again, my friends, for reading. And thank you for letting me vent a bit tonight. Much love!!