u/ZoisNBooks16

As the CSR one of my jobs is receiving copies of underwriter memos, via agency email. Some are copies of letters sent by mail to our customers of policy non-renewals. Most non-renewals are for claims history, repairs needing completed, documents that are missing, etc. 99% of the time they are rescinded once we provide what they are asking for. Claims history is the only one we can’t really fight.

A recent one I received is a homeowners policy non-renewing for a house that underwriting believes is vacant. I don’t know how they came to this conclusion. It’s the only house we have insured for this client and it matches their mailing address and garaging address for their cars. But I set a follow up to confirm with the client as opposed to assuming. I never assume anything in this line of work.

We get these memos way out from renewal, like 5+ months. And we get a lot of them. So I usually set the follow-up 30-60 days before the non-renewal. (Right away if it’s something like a house needing extensive repairs.) I am too busy to do everything the split second I get it so I go in order of urgency. A policy being non-renewed in December when I receive it in June is not an emergency. So set a follow up in plenty of time before, but avoid yet another immediate task.

Today, while we were out of the office our boss/the agent wanted us to check voicemails just in case someone had an emergency (pretty much claims). The customer with the possible vacant home left an absolutely hateful voicemail. Letting us know she recieved a non-renewal letter due to her house possibly being vacant and she expects a call back immediately. Proceeded to tell us "you need to fix this right now!" even though we are not in the office. And she added some colorful language for flare.

I don’t blame her for being alarmed. I would be too. Most people ignore these letters which is why I set follow ups. Some people do read them. Like her for example. But most people are far more reasonable about it. The hateful, demanding, yelling, cussing was uncalled for in my opinion. Her home is not set to non-renew for many months from now and it’s over something very easily fixed. Unlike too many claims or a house that needs an entire roof to stay insured. I don’t know why she couldn’t just be like “Hey, this really concerns me. I hope we can fix this very soon. Please call me as soon as you can.” Instead of being a complete menace and demanding we talk to her during a holiday weekend.

At the end of the day it is not our decision to non-renew these people. Yes it is our job to rectify where we can and notify in a timely manner in case they didn’t receive the letter. But I don’t feel we deserved this. This is what I have the biggest issue with when it comes to our current society. Everyone has gotten so accustomed to instant gratification that, if they have to wait a couple days, they get absolutely unhinged. Now I’m sitting here wondering if I need to start offering instant gratification to be considered a good employee and that is just not sustainable. Most situations in this industry aren’t truly urgent. And if I start loosening on that boundary, treating everything like its an immediate priority, then everything will be “urgent” and that is a good way to allow your job to destroy you. And allow clients to get even more entitled. I’m stuck between maintaining boundaries but simultaneously not appearing neglectful. I’m now worried that if she leaves I’ll be blamed because it’s my job to do these follow ups.

For the record, I did not call her. She will be followed up with on Monday.

I don’t mean just expecting guests to bring a side to share, regardless it’s homemade or store bought. That’s fine.

But what about specifically expecting guests to bring something they made? Am I wrong to feel a bit put off by that? You don’t know people’s personal schedules. What if they are completely zapped of time and energy just caring for their family, working full time, etc.? What if they had an extremely difficult week and all they have the time and energy for is to grab a meat and cheese tray with some crackers? Or a pie already made from the bakery?

Why does it matter if what they bring is homemade or not as long as they don’t show up empty handed? I think it’s a bit whack to expect a homemade dish for a cookout. Let people bring what they want. Whether it’s some elaborate, made from scratch dish, or a bag of chips with quac.

Edit: this is specifically for a “casual cookout” as stated in the title. I don’t know where everyone is getting potluck from. Potlucks are different than burgers and hotdogs-on-the-grill cookouts.

In my particular case she was quoting a new insurance policy for a customer with a rather large account. Instead of issuing it while talking to him she pended the quote to have me finish up this week because she was going on vacation.

I called him today to go over the quote and get it issued as I was directed. It ended up being a 20-30 minute conversation with the customer. He was very condescending towards me, kept demanding answers that already gave him. He had me quote 3 different deductibles, which I did, and gave him the price differences. To which he kept demanding I give him the “price difference” over and over. Which was very frustrating. I asked him if he’d be okay writing the price differences down. He snapped “No! I’m driving. You should remember the price differences!” (I somehow was supposed to know he was driving?) So I asked him if he’d be okay calling back while not driving. He refused. I finally told him I’d email him the individual quotes.

I do not get commission because this is just a rewrite.

I am only a CSR.

My boss does this all day. Forwards all customer emails to me for things like premium complaints, billing problems, and changes. Which I’m used to. But then this happens.

I just do not feel this to be an appropriate hand off at all. Boss or not. She started this quote, this was a customer she’s always worked closely with. He also owns a small business in our town. As a fellow business owner in the same town, to a business we insure, my boss should have saw this all the way through. He has a VERY large account. She should have completed all the way through instead of “finish this so I can go play.” She did this because she knows he’s difficult and didn’t want to be bothered with it.

What concerns me is, with how particular this customer is, if I even slightly tip him off (which I’m not comfortable with how the conversation I had with him went) it’s going to be my head. Which is completely unfair when this is something that originally had nothing to do with me.

I’m also kind of pissed that this added undue stress to my day for something I should not have been asked to even so much as look at.

And I’m tired of trying to.

I set boundaries with our customers:

As in if they show up to our office while I’m in my break, the doors are locked because I’m the only one here, they will have to come back when my break is over.

If they continue to complain about an issue I’ve already offered solutions to, and refuse to let me off the phone, I’m telling them to have a nice day and ending the call. I’m not allowing anyone to keep me on the phone to talk in endless circles.

If they directly insult me, I’m ending the call immediately.
I’m not going be an empathetic sounding board, or punching bag, to people who refuse to be respectful. If it’s something that I didn’t directly cause, I am not to blame, and I don’t deserve to be talked to as anything less than human.

If customers will not do what they need to on their end to continue their service with us, I will document my attempts to follow up and then move on. After two attempts, I’m done. I am not a babysitter. They are adults and can show some responsibility on their end.

I set boundaries with my colleagues:

If I am on a vacation, at home after we’ve closed for the day, it’s the weekend, a holiday, etc. I will not answer work texts or phone calls. We will discuss the matter when I’m back on the clock.

I will not even pretend non-urgent matters are urgent. If anyone wants to pass the buck, I will add it to my task list. But I will not prioritize it above what I’m already working on. I don’t care if the customer “wants a call back today.”

My office culture is pretty much the opposite of this. They don’t set firm boundaries with each other or our customers. They will work during vacations. They treat every mundane inquiry, like a billing question, like it’s urgent. They answer work calls and texts while off work. One of them even allows customers to contact her via personal cell. They feel they should help people that call or stop by the office if they are on lunch, instead of just locking the door. Their mentality is “if you’re in the office you are available.”

No. I disagree. A lot of small businesses close during lunch hour. This is not an inappropriate thing for businesses. Everyone is entitled to a full, uninterrupted, break. Regardless if they stay in the building or leave.

I won’t do any of that.

On the contrary with everything else. I will be reliable, showing up to my shifts. I will be as helpful as possible to the people who are being respectful. I will do data entry with precision and detailed note taking. I will work diligently and avoid mistakes as much as humanly possible. I will make clear documentation. I will get my tasks completed in a realistic timely manner. I will communicate well and clear with everyone while I’m here. I just won’t be disrespected or taken advantage of. Even if I work in an office that has lower respect for itself and allows themselves to be both.

You can’t make this up.

Customer; “yes I’d like to speak to_____. It’s about my auto claim.”

Me: “I am sorry but she has left for the day. I can send her a message to call you Monday.”

Customer: “I need to speak with her!”

Me: “I understand that but she is not here. I can have her call you Monday.”

Customer: *sighs really audibly* “That will not work! I need to have the money by Tuesday and claims sent the check to the wrong address!”

Me: “That is frustrating. Have you talked to claims directly about this?”

Customer: “No! I want to talk to______because she has been working to fix this!”

Me: “If she has already been working on this for you, then it’s best to have her be the one to follow up with you on Monday.”

Customer: “That will not work! I need to speak with her!”

Me (finally being fed up): “I can’t exactly go get her for you and bring her back to the office. I will send her a message to call you Monday. That is the best I can….”

That’s when she hangs up on me.

I keep laughing while replaying it in my head. But really. What the hell was she expecting to happen? That I’d call my coworker back to the office just to talk to her (un)happy ass?!

So we can continue working and answering customer calls.

Am I crazy to think this is wildly inappropriate?

We need to leave the building immediately and she’s telling us to go unplug our laptops and take them with us while our building could potentially go “boom” or we are possibly being poisoned by CO…

But...”customer’s calls!” “Laptops!”

Seriously???

Also, I did not grab my laptop. I went clear out to the parking lot and got in my car.

I work as a CSR in small local insurance agency.

Customer canceled his insurance with us because his homeowner’s claim got denied. My coworker in question (we’ll call her Teresa) started yelling up to me (my office is upstairs) that it was basically my fault.

Her reasoning? She found out an adjuster stopped by our office when she was out. I was the one who spoke with him. All he did was introduce himself and talk a little about claims and when they sometimes don’t work out the way the customer wants them to. It was a meet and greet at best.

Teresa threw a fit “Why didn’t you tell me he stopped by? If I had known!” Turns out this adjuster was the one working on the denied claim (again something I had no idea about prior to speaking with him, nor any knowledge Teresa was fighting it.) Anyway, I don’t deny I spoke with him. She keeps shouting up at me, desperate to get some kind of reaction I refused to give her. Guilt? Too bad I didn’t feel an ounce of it.

Let’s say I told her. There would be no saving that client. He left because his claim got denied. As it stands, I had NO idea that she was working with this particular customer prior to the adjuster stopping in. Nothing was ever communicated. How would I know? And what really could have been done?

She finally admits, to our boss not me, that it wasn’t my fault. Yet said to boss “I just don’t understand why she didn’t apologize to me. She barely responded.” Yeah. I “barely responded” because I know she wants a reaction.

(Btw. I went to my boss about the situation, that’s how I know she said this to her.)

Why would you go off on someone for something like that but expect an apology from them? How about apologizing to me for trying to throw me under the bus for something you admitted you knew I wasn’t at fault for? To expect an apology from me??

This is wack, right?

If she had respectfully communicated to me “Hey. Any time an adjuster comes in, regardless of the reason, let me know.” This all would have been avoided. She refuses to communicate in a professional manner. Yet it’s never her fault when results are less than favorable for her.

She wanted an apology from one of my other coworkers recently. Even though *she’s* the one who blew up and slammed doors the rest of the day. Once again over a communication issue on her own behalf.

We are just a small insurance agency btw. I am a CSR.

Anyway, my coworker in question has taken it upon herself to deal with customer claim issues. I.e. the adjuster isn’t responding to the client, they aren’t paying out what the client wants, denying the claim, etc.

It’s not a role formally assigned it’s just something she decided she’s good at and wants to handle. Technically she’s sales.

An adjuster stopped by our office earlier this week when everyone but me was at lunch. He was just introducing himself and letting us know to call him with any questions. He also mentioned a claim with a client in our office. He was simply using him as an example when claims sometimes get denied. And letting us know he will probably be calling our office because he was not happy. But mostly his visit was a meet and greet.

Well today my coworker threw a fit when this customer, the adjuster mentioned to me, ended up canceling all his insurance because of this claim getting denied. She started yelling at me and trying to blame me saying “you should have told me that adjuster came in the office!!! I had no idea. Now this customer is mad and leaving! The adjuster said he talked to you!”

I explained, yes he did talk to me. He mainly came in to introduce himself because he was in the area. He did mentioned this client but as a “heads up he will probably be calling your office mad.” She kept trying to make it out to be my fault because I never told her this adjuster visited. As if it were a communication complaint on my part, and I should have communicated to her the adjuster stopped in.

For one thing, coworker never once communicated to us to let her know if this adjuster happened to visit. The customer is mad because the claim got denied. Even if she had known he’d stopped in, what difference would that have made? How is any of this my fault? And how is it I deserve to be yelled at and thrown under the bus over it?

Let me start out by saying, I make it my life’s mission to fully understand him as best as I can. One of our biggest challenges is him shutting down when I’m not happy about something he’s said/done.

I asked why he shuts completely down when I express simple irritation with him. He says I have a slightly more masculine voice when I am irritated and it’s intimidating because of how he grew up, being yelled at a lot by his dad over little things. I don’t mean for it to be, my voice is naturally strong. I don’t yell. I can’t stand yelling. But I watch how loud and direct I’m being so as not to reopen those wounds. Which is very difficult when it’s your natural voice causing a negative reaction. To him me asking “hey, did you remember to do this?” And then sighing or grumbling when he says “no, I forgot” is intense for him.
Nonetheless I am careful with my reactions. At the same time, I can’t just change the voice I was born with and have had for decades. It’s loud, it demands a room, it carries, it’s powerful. And I can’t always help it. I explained to him it hurts because people have misunderstood my intentions my whole adult life because of my voice. It sounds very direct, even when I’m not meaning to be serious at all.

I try to explain things, like what I go through as a woman, the changes we go through on a monthly basis. Why I might be one person one day, all full of energy, happy, optimistic, affectionate. Then the next my anxiety hits harder, I suddenly worry about everything more, I’m more irritable, and easily overstimulated. And how much it hurts that I don’t get to feel like the real me for a good chunk of my days. I feel like I lose myself on a monthly basis because of hormones. It also hurts when society often makes jokes at our expense. He just says “I’m sorry.” I told him, I don’t need an apology. I don’t want an apology. It’s not his fault. I just want to be understood. Heard. I’m simply sharing something vulnerable. He just says “you bring it up a lot.” My knee jerk reaction was embarrassment. Then I told him, I bring it up a lot because I haven’t felt heard. I sort-of shut down and tell him I won’t bother him with stuff like this anymore.

That’s when he suddenly decides he wants to listen. When I’m already embarrassed and defeated.

And it’s like this nearly every time I try to share who I am with him, the parts of me that I struggle with and want to be seen through. It’s always the same apathetic awkward “I’m sorry.” Or “you bring this up a lot.” I feel as if he is shutting me out. I don’t think it’s intentional, but it’s like a subconscious push away rather than the comforting pulling in, deep connection, that I’m craving.

Yet I so closely pay attention. I listen intently when he shares his moods, his past, what it’s like being a man. And I try to react accordingly once I know certain things about him. For example, how I’m reacting when I get irritated with him. Because I know what he’s been through. I so desperately do not want to resurface old wounds from his past. I feel guiltily a lot. Like I’m not meeting his needs. I’m too much to deal with too often. And it’s somehow my fault he doesn’t know how to respond when I really just want to be understood because I talk about it too much. Yet I don’t tell him he talks about the difficult things in his past too much. Even if it’s a countless number of times he’s told me something he’s gone through, or still going through, I listen as if I’m learning something new about it.

I feel like the only option left for me is to continue my life being the best for myself. Nurturing myself. Protecting myself. Finding my own peace. Being my own sanctuary. The thing I’ve done practically my entire life because people have never fully been there for me. I’ve always had to look out for myself. But this defeats the entire purpose of marriage. I feel selfish resigning to that.

I work in a small local captive insurance agency as a CSR. My job is helping with billing questions, quoting and issuing policy changes, discussing coverages, preventing non-renewals and non-pay cancels, etc. It is NOT tech support.

Yet two of my coworkers (who are in sales) keep sending customers to me that are having issues with their apps.

I have told them numerous times I am not tech support anymore than they are, and they need to give them the company’s 1-800 tech support number, not send them to me. Yet they keep doing it. I keep hearing:

“Oh, I’ll send you to (enter my name here). She’s good at that.”

“Hey, can you call Joe Smith about his app? He’s having issues with it.”

This is incredibly infuriating because I end up having to tell these people “sorry, but I’m not able to help anymore than the person you just spoke with.” And now they’re taking their frustration out on me. Which is incredibly unfair. I just had a guy threatening to leave us over it.

Since they like to ignore me when I clearly tell them I can’t offer up any help that goes beyond their abilities, I’m going to start giving customers they send me, that are having tech issues, the 1-800 number. I’m done.

Customer calls our insurance agency. Not understanding how deductibles on her homeowners insurance works. She had a claim recently and wanted to understand it better.

So I start to explain. First she, very rudely, tells me to talk slower. Which I do get. I could do this in my sleep and forget that some people may not comprehend what I’m saying. So I oblige. I continue on answering her questions, keeping mind of pace.

She starts talking over me.

That’s when I snap. I ask her, “would you like me to answer your question? Or would you like to continue talking?”

She said: “You don’t have to be nasty.”

(It always blows my mind that customers compare setting normal boundaries with being “nasty.” They’ve gotten too used to stepping all over service reps for too long, and lose their minds when they talk to someone won’t put up with it.)

“I’m not being nasty. You asked me questions, and I’m happy to answer them. Every time I try, you interrupt me. If you still have more you’d like to say first, I’m happy to let you continue.”

Her: “No. I’m done. Go ahead.”

That’s what I thought…(I didn’t say this part to her, but I wanted to.)

I’m completely done being interrupted by people when I’m trying to answer THEIR questions. I’m not playing these games anymore.

These are also the first people that will accuse you of interrupting them when there is enough of a pause in their rambling, you think it’s safe to respond, then “ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME TALK?!”

I mean, go ahead. You don’t have to be sorry. You’re not bothering us or anything because we won’t get your message until we get back on Monday.

It’s polite, but at the same time, do they actually believe they are interrupting our free time? “Sorry to bother you during the weekend.” “Sorry text you when you’re closed.”

I’m confused. What would make sense is something like “Hey, I know you guys are closed but I wanted to send this so you see it on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!”

But the texting us when we are closed and apologizing for “bothering” us or whatever is a confusing one. How can you bother someone on their day off if they don’t even see your text until the following business day? Maybe I’m misunderstanding?

(Original post still up.)

She sent a chat she wants me to look for it because; “I have already looked for it! (As well as another one of our coworkers). Someone else needs to!”

Yeah, that is not happening. She has to be out of her damn mind!

We have this wreath for the office that, I agree, is gaudy. But I’m just here to do my job and get paid. I do not care how the office is decorated.

Well one of my coworkers keeps hiding it. Even though it is nowhere near where she has to look at it. Okay…whatever. If she hates it that much I guess. You do you.

I have another coworker that is now throwing an absolute fit that this thing is gone. Ranting and raving non-stop. She corned me while I was in the break room, trying to get it out of me where this damn wreath is. Ma’am? I’m just trying to make coffee so I can get through another day. Leave me alone.

That’s not all. Coworker that hid the wreath also threw away a Glade plug-in that smelled strong. And while I agree with her those things are toxic, I’m not close enough to it for it to be to big an issue. Same person that threw a fit over the wreath disappearing is also throwing a fit over the plug-in.

Same thing. Tried to get some kind of response out of me about this damn plug in.

We are here to do our jobs and go home. I am not an office decoration and fragrance detective. Why the hell am I getting dragged into this shit? Both of you either stop being petty or leave me all the way out.

My boss is the agent of a captive insurance agency. I.e. she owns the office. We work for her. No corporate, no HR.

I am the CSR (licensed), and there are three sales reps.

Normally, I still had some help with CSR work. Sales reps were secondary on phones if I was already with a client. Since January of this year boss decided, so that sales can focus only on sales, I am to handle all CSR work. As well as reception work and retention. (I have backed off retention. If people call to cancel their insurance I do not fight for them to stay.) That means, if I am on the phone and more calls come in, they are not to pick up. They go to voicemail for me to check later.

So there was already that. Well now the stakes have been raised higher because of all the changes in the company. My goals (cross-selling, setting appointments, and getting Google reviews) are now zero tolerance if I don’t meet them. Does not matter if I ask every single person I talk to and they decline. My coworkers also have had the same higher stakes.

Meanwhile this is all while our boss continues to do what she has always done. Not show up. Not work. Her idea of “work” is forwarding customer emails to me and expecting highly successful outbound call sales from terrible leads. All without *her* making any attempt to sell. All while she hangs out at home with her kids (that skip school way too much), shopping with her mom, or to the casino. All while she reaps the benefits of sales and retained revenue our office does make.

Recently she went on a work trip to Vegas and wrote “work hard play hard.” Meanwhile, WE’RE the ones holding *her* office together for her so she can play. The pressure is put on us to keep *her* businesses afloat while she goofs off.

Well I don’t care anymore what happens to this office. I will do my job as best as I can but if the ship sinks it’s on her. Why should I care more about this business than the person who OWNS it but refuses to show up and help?! The fate of her ship is her’s. I’m not carrying that weight anymore.

It’s a discount app, that scores your driving and gives you a discount as long as you don’t drive like a madman/woman. Most insurance companies have their own version. This is State Farm’s.

Anyway. I am not good at helping customers with the app. Nor have I ever claimed to be. I have told her this numerous times yet she KEEPS sending them to me! Had the day of yesterday and came back to her asking me via Teams to help this customer with his Drive Safe app.

At this point I don’t know if she’s deliberately ignoring me or just not hearing me but I’m done. I am not doing it anymore. I’m a CSR I am not IT or tech support. It just really irks me that she completely dodges my *constant* reminders I am not the person to send these people to.

Not because she didn’t understand me. Not because I was talking too fast. Not because I wasn’t listening to her. But because I moved a simple transaction along quickly and efficiently.

Customer called at the end of the day to add a car to her insurance policy. And she wanted a quote on the change. Something I do multiple times a day.

But I apparently did it too fast for her liking. She first made off hand comments about my fast typing. “You’re typing an awful lot over there. And fast. I sure hope I’m not interrupting anything.” (Sarcastic tone inserted here). She made a comment when I had the quote ready for her. “You work way too fast.” When she told me “go ahead and add the car to the policy.” I said “you’re good to go, it’s on your policy.” She made another comment that I did that way too fast. And she laughed at me when I explained I’ve been doing this for years. Which was odd. Not with. At. In a mocking tone. Then back to the criticizing my work speed. Telling me I need to learn to slow my work down.

Would you rather I took 3-5 business days for a 2 minute transaction? I guess quick and efficient is now an issue? What the hell do you people want???

Extremely lazy coworker, who’s been here longer than all of us, has a bad habit of trying to get us to fix her problems. And I’ve had ENOUGH!

Today she asked me to look and see if a customer had a non-pay cancellation because her home was cancelled. (As the CSR non-pays are my area.) I looked at it. Coworker was actually the one who put in a cancel request on the policy. So I sent her back a message letting her know SHE put a cancel request on the policy and that is why it is inactive. She wrote back “can we get it reinstated?” This is how she tries to get us to do something for her. Using “we” on things she alone is responsible for. When you write back things like “yeah we should be able to” she’ll say back “can you look at it?” Can you call and get it reinstated?” Things like that. I did not fall for it.

I wrote back: “You should be able to. You may have to call underwriting.” Insinuating there is no “we” in this. She is going to fix her own problems.

That’s it.

Just “hi (agent’s name) this is Susie Smith.” (I didn’t type real name of course.)

Okay…and?

I didn’t reply. You have to at least try to give some context if you want a response.

They do this on the phone to. I’ll answer, they say their name “Hi, this is John Smith.” Then just sit there.

Okay? Yes. Congratulations on being John Smith. Continue your thought please.

Why has all phone etiquette, whether texting or calling, gone completely into the garbage? If y’all aren’t going to put at least some minimal effort into proper communication, I’m not participating.

This drives me insane when customers do this! They will call our office wanting to quote adding a driver, a car, or both to their auto insurance policy.

I will ask for the information I need. A driver’s license number and at least the year/make/model of vehicle. I don’t have to have a VIN for a roundabout quote.

The amount of people who don’t have any basic info, then put me on hold while I hear them shuffling around, it’s ridiculous.

I just hung up a call of someone doing this. She wanted me to quote adding her daughter as a driver. And her car. The drivers license number popped right up. But this lady didn’t even have the year or make of the car. She starts fumbling around, I hear shuffling, her mumbling to herself. After about 3 minutes I hung up.

Get your shit together before calling! It’s not that difficult.