Trust Me—Low Cost Has a High Price In Time and Sanity

We all like to get a bargain. Get it cheap. Discounts. Getting that low-cost alternative. But is it really a deal? Did you ever think there might be a cost to low-cost?

Let me give you some observations from just the last few days.

My wife has ongoing payment issues with our health insurance. We estimate that she spends at least 10 hours per week on the phone or on hold trying to straighten out provider bills. There is a separate line for the insurance... a separate line for the flex account.... a separate line for vision... a separate line for dental.... etc., etc., etc. This year they gave us a "streamlined" process by giving us a Visa card to handle our flex transactions. Except it doesn't work at the provider offices because it always has to wait for the insurance to complete the explanation of benefits. We have not been able to use it yet.

Yesterday I had a question about my bank account. It was a simple question about a fee that I had not seen before. I called the number on my statement and got into a long-winded voice mail. Finally got to a number that seemed close to what I needed and was promptly told, by the automated voice, that it would be a 4.5-minute wait. A lot of times I just hang up and do without but I waited this time. It was actually 5.5 minutes and when I talked to a live voice we worked our way to my question. One thing I should note: When I get to these voice mail phone banks, I always ask (the live person) where they are located (just out of curiosity). This person was working in Portland, Oregon. My bank is about three-quarters of a mile from my house, but my question has to go to Portland, Oregon. 

I have a nephew who works for McDonalds. He handles communications for several states from Fargo, North Dakota. On other voice mail services, I have gotten people who work in India, Hawaii, Canada and half the states in the union. When I call for my local cable services, I get routed to Rochester, Minnesota. When I need to pick up something locally, they call the office that is half a mile away from me and tell them I am coming. The last time I did that the local office had no idea what the Rochester people were talking about.

Once I tried to get some information on my Paypal account. Ever try to find a telephone number for online services?  They want everything done by email, and the time lag is atrocious. I got determined once and finally found a number. The person was nice enough about the situation, but the information she was going to give me was to be sent my email. I never got it. But I did get a request to fill out a satisfaction survey about the call!

A lot of the current generation of 20- and 30-somethings probably have no idea that customer service and questions used to be answered by real live people, from the local businesses, that were accountable to customers directly.

But those days had more labor expense. More people employed. And more accountability to the customer. That is not efficient. At least not to the bean counters that make up corporate America.

All of that is supposed to keep the cost of goods down, but when I think about it seriously, maybe I would be willing to pay a few pennies more for a simple answer to a simple question.

-Dave Mindeman, mnpACT!