DeadPresident Financial Fail

Yeah, it's shaping up to be an irritating week for me.

A while back I posted about how new IRS regs were changing how we college types could save for retirement? How 403(b) accounts were becoming much more restricted? And how there are still 457(b) accounts? But that information about them is scarce and hard to understand?

Well, my campus still offers 403(b) accounts, but now only through one financial group. I don't want to name names lest I get nastygram comments as a result of blind searches, but let's just say that since it's named after a long-dead president (or someone with the same last name as him), I'll call it DeadPresident Financial. Or DPF for short.

Okay, so DPF made arrangements to have representatives on campus to talk to us and to set up accounts. You would THINK they would have a representative to answer questions and one to actually set up accounts. Furthermore, since we were closed for a day and a half this week because of bad weather, they'd maybe send an extra person to play catch-up with the missed appointments.

Sadly, you would be wrong.

I had an appointment this afternoon. I stopped in the middle of writing an exam - which always bugs me, it seems that when I stop when an exam's partly finished, that's when errors creep in and I do stupid things like repeating the same question in two slightly different ways. But whatever, I don't like to be late for appointments. So I rushed over there. Walked in 2 minutes early, even.

There was one guy - in this big giant room - and one woman that I presume was a sort of receptionist. But she didn't see me at first because she was either madly text-messaging or playing a game on her cell phone. After I kind of coughed and shuffled around, she called out, "Someone will be with you in a few minutes!"

So, fortunately, I had brought a student thesis I wanted to re-read, as it is up for defense this week. So I started reading.

About 10 minutes elapsed. Remember - I had been 2 minutes early for my appointment, so my appointment was now technically 8 minutes over - out of 15 they had allotted.

The woman stood up and shambled over to me. "We have some stuff you can read" she said, shoving one of the prospectus-packets at me.

I politely declined, and explained I just had some questions, that I was thinking of continuing on with a 457(b) with TIAA-CREF but I wanted to hear what they offered.

Oh, she said. Just oh. No attempt to apologize for my being kept waiting. No explanation as to why she spent the last 10 minutes or so playing with her cell phone while I stood there.

I kind of coughed and remarked that I had places I had to be (it is now past the time my appointment should have concluded).

"Well," she said, "We have appointments tomorrow." No, I explained, I am busy all afternoon tomorrow. "Monday?" she asked, "I don't know when he will be ready to talk to you" she said, indicating the lone representative.

At that point, I was getting irritated - why the hell should I re-make an appointment I probably don't need? Why should I go all the way across campus on yet another day,probably only to find them busy again.

I told her I was going for my allergy shot (so the trip over there was not a TOTAL loss to me) but I'd check back when I got done.

So I did. And there were two more people stacked up waiting - standing, as I said, in this big bare room, with nothing to do but wait for an undefined period of time. And the receptionist was PLAYING HER FREAKING CELL PHONE AGAIN.

I'm sorry but that simply does not favorably dispose me to using the DeadPresident Financial Group - if they care so little about trying to get new business, how will they treat me as an established customer? Worse?

At least TIAA- when I called them - had a cheerful person on the other end who answered all my questions.

I'm sorry but I can't stand bad customer service, especially when it's a company supposedly trying to get my business. There was no explanation offered, no "We're sorry we're backed up but we're trying to get Tuesday's appointments cleared up" (and for that matter, why not just call the people from Tuesday and tell them, "We will be back next Tuesday, come in on your time then." And I think it's especially unconscionable that the person apparently tasked with greeting people and getting them started was sitting there, apparently playing on her cell phone. I know, it's boring doing reception, but criminy - when someone walks in needing help, it's your job.

There really is a giant surplus of STUPID around. I don't know if creatures on the other side of the universe just happened to open up a wormhole and dump all their planet's STUPID into it, and it fell out on our planet or what, but I'm really starting to feel dangerously angry about all the STUPID floating around.