Positive lesson from a horrible experience

Last month my Visa debit card was hacked.

It was a week of ... oh I so want to type the word but I don't swear, at least not usually.  But you can insert the word that you think is coming out of my mouth.

I won't go into details, but all is now resolved and I have my money back.  But that is not the horrible part of the whole situation.

The horrible part was the lack of communication with my banking institution.  There was only one person everyone said I had to speak to, the person who pretty much never returned any of the messages I left (many of which were how to fill out their forms!).  I would have to call and complain to customer service to get a return call.  After 2 days of leaving messages I finally reached this person on day 3 - to find out that my fraud report hadn't even been looked at.  I was stressed, and freaking out.  This began at 8am on Monday and by Friday I had reached my breaking point.  I was so frustrated I thought I would cry.  Long story short - I have switched financial institutions.

But out of a horrible week I realized something really important.  Most of my frustration was because they did not return any of my messages - or when I called no one could help me.  It got me thinking about the calls I receive for my business.  I don't answer my phone when I'm teaching or working.  How quickly do I return calls when people call about my classes?  How quickly do I respond to email inquiries?  Sadly there are some times that I do take a few days to return a call.  Then I got thinking that if I was out of work because my CPR card had lapsed and I called someone who took days to call me back - how stressed would I be?  Probably as stressed as I was with my former banking institution.

Lesson learned from a horrible experience:  I need to make sure I follow up with voice mail and email in a timely fashion.  The perception someone has of me as an instructor or business depends on it.


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