Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Company You Keep

That's the slogan of New York Life, a company that offers life insurance, investment accounts, etc.

My late husband had a small IRA with New York Life. For two months I've been battling with them to get the funds. I need them to pay his debts - notably to pay for his cremation.

What's taking so long? Well, for starters, lousy customer service. New York Life probably assigns an actual human to big dollar accounts, but for the smaller ones, you get to speak to a different person every time. I've sent in the paperwork they asked for, to receive a letter 2 weeks later, informing me that they only got one of the forms (even though both were in the envelope.) Then the paperwork was filled out incorrectly. The woman I spoke with was quite annoyed that I didn't do what they'd told me to do, after all they made it quite CLEAR. Perhaps if this is the kind of thing you do all the time, it is clear. No one has been willing to help talk me through this - or give instructions that might actually BE helpful.

I'm on the 4th round of "you haven't sent us the correct information." The final paragraph reads: "When we receive these requirements, we will be able to consider the claim, or advise you if additional information is needed." That tells me that they have every intention of continuing to jerk me around.

If New York Life is the company YOU keep, you're in bad company. Their brand of customer service is so poor, I'm embarrassed for them.

UPDATE!

It seems I finally found a customer service person who was interested in providing actual customer service! The check is reported to be in the mail. If that is so, I'll be showering accolades upon her.

1 comment:

DissedBelief said...

How awful. I'm terrible sorry Susan that after suffering such a loss you are now subjected to the whims and incompetence of those only too willing to take our money very quickly but not to return it!! This appears to be the way all business is conducted. We too are experiencing horrendous customer service across the board and I don't think it has anything to do with the economy. for example just today I went to Walmart Pharmacy to request the re-fill of a prescription and it was incorrectly filled by a very young man who looked either exhausted or wasted. Someone else took over to correct the error, but it seems nothing can get done easily and correctly. Continued strength to you and yours, dee.