Do Customer Service AI BOTS Make You Mental Too?

                                                                                       

 Princess T's subsequent Day at Work went well and another Guy she knew from School works there and takes Break and Lunch with her.   So, she's feeling more comfortable about Co-Workers and says the Woman Training her is so Nice too.   One of the Managers Laughed and asked me if it seemed Weird that our Grandkid works there now, I said No, we're really happy they're giving her this opportunity after Graduation.  She will actually get a big Discount on Product, but, she has to Buy it.  I already get Senior, Military, Frequent Shopper and Donation Discounts and show up on Half Price Day anyway.   But it's nice she'll get 50% Off since she Buys a lot of her Wardrobe there and that will be Helpful.  I'm glad she's settling in well now and likes going in to work now her Nerves are eased.

The Man and I did Environmental Cleanup since it was a balmy Day in the low 80's all Morning.  We went to the Nature Preserve and one of the Paramedic and Fire Departments was doing their Training down there.  They Thanked us for what we Volunteer to do, the Sheriff's Department always Thanks us too for our Environmental Volunteer Cleanup Work, random Citizens do also, so it's appreciated.  The Man found a Ten Dollar Bill shortly after we arrived, it was folded up like Origami and sitting on the Path leading to the Fishing spots on the River... booyah!   He also found some Fishing Gear and we pulled a whole bunch of Cans out of the area, about 30 lbs. worth.   It was so lovely along the River, so, it's not like Work at all, it's very relaxing and good exercise.

We had Taco Tuesday at Home, always a favorite Meal.   I found a Kroger Brand Taco Seasoning that is very cheap and quite good at FRY'S Grocer, Kroger is their Generic Brand.   No sense buying a more expensive Brand Name when a Generic is that good, everyone agreed it was tasty and we should now Season our Tacos with it.   We're trying to reduce our Essentials Costs by finding ways to trim the Budget for it all like that on what we used most often.  With a Three Generation Household it's a lot of Mouths to Feed and right now The Son is the only one with a Job.   Princess T just started hers so it will be a couple Weeks before she gets any Paycheck and The Daughter received her last Paycheck now she's Laid Off.  Sales at the Antique Mall have been way down, so don't supplement our Pension and The Man's Disability Pension much now.

We do Sell the Aluminum we Collect doing Environmental Cleanup and Recycling at Home.  But the price of Aluminum is down to only 70 Cents a Pound, which is much higher than during Pandemic when it was at an all time low of 30 Cents a Pound.   We didn't even bother turning it in during Pandemic until the price was decent and worthwhile.   We still did the Volunteer Work and just Hoarded the Aluminum until it Paid better.  Now we use a completely different Recycle Company than we have for Years, since the Old one got picky about flat Cans and wouldn't take Cans that were crushed.  When we do Cleanup we pick them up in whatever condition the Aluminum is in, it's still Aluminum and Recyclable.  The New Recycle Center doesn't care and pays us for all of it, crushed or whole.

We'll be heading to the Recycle Center Tomorrow Morning coz we have a Pickup Bed full of Aluminum Cans now.   I think I still have to work Tomorrow, Management never called to say they filled Wednesday Nights with a permanent Key Dealer and haven't gotten back to me yet either about my request to take that Shift permanently and give up Sunday Nights instead.   I'm waiting on Management to inform me and they were supposed to get back to me by Today, nobody has, so, I'm making Assumptions right now that they expect me, for now, to still pull both Shifts?   Communication could be better and why a lot of Vendors no longer want to be Key Dealers.   My Friend Deb said she's been trying to get off Sunday Afternoons for Two Years now and got upset when they let our Friend David get off Sunday Afternoon Shift and swap Shifts, coz he's a very New Key Dealer.

If they were gonna allow a swap, it should have gone to the Senior Worker whose worked way longer and has Seniority and a request in for that long that hasn't been considered or honored.   We really like David, but, he's New and they considered and honored his request right away.  I don't know how they thought that wouldn't cause problems with someone whose waited Two Years for the same consideration?   I told Deb if they don't honor or consider my request for the Swap, I probably Plan to work neither Shift then and they can find someone else and I'll quit even doing the favor of Filling In for unreliable Co-Workers.  There has to be some reciprocity.   Well, Rachel, my Friend and the Asst. Manager just PM'd me that Steven gave Wed. Night to someone else, but wanted me to Work Tomorrow Night.

I declined saying that since he filled it, THAT person can cover it.   And BTW, go ahead then and fill Sunday Night with someone else too, since my Family want the Weekends freed up for the Holidays anyway.  So, they can just forget about me covering for anyone they're giving preferential Treatment to, don't wanna.   If my Shifts are no longer working for me, then I'd rather not have to go in at all.  They don't Comp us enuf in Rent to jump thru Hoops for any Shifts and I know they're hurting for reliable people to fill all Shifts.   I'm not mad, I just really now have a handy excuse to free up my Holiday Season and they made their Choices, now they'll have to live with them.   The New Workers and Young Workers aren't very reliable, most long time and Older Workers have been.  They've been losing a lot of good Workers.

Anyway, now I have more Free Time and during the Holidays that's important to me.  We're having Guests from out of State, Invitations to Events and Parties, so, I don't want to have obligations at Work to ruin our Family time and Holiday Activities.  Freeing up our Weekends means we can now Calendar other things we'd rather be doing on the Weekend.  Since the Niece is arriving from Oklahoma this Week and is staying with us, now I won't have to leave for Work and miss spending time with her, so it works out fine for us.   My Family is Happy, I'm Happy, so it worked out in our favor, the Mall will just have to figure it out on their end now... not my problem.   If they want to rely on unpaid Labor from Vendors they need to accommodate us better IMO.  If not, more of us will decide not to Work the Shifts and just Sell exclusively. 

If Sales slump to where nobody can make Rent, we have no Lease, so it's as simple as folding up and just leaving.   I've never had problem making Rent or Profits, it's just they aren't what it used to be.  The Good Ole' Days of good Paychecks there are sparser.   Most Vendors do it as a Hobby anyway and to Downsize Possessions, so, it matters not whether we do it or don't do it.   I could Sell directly to Industry Friends and have Monthly Tag Sales and make just as much, if not more, so I only do it so long as it's a Happy Space and pleasant Hobby for me.  I do have a lot of Friends there and enjoy the Social aspect of it too and I don't mind the Work when I have Shifts, it just has to be mindful of my Life and Schedule for me to be able to do it.  They know this.   So, this shouldn't be any Surprise to them, I made it clear what wasn't working for me at the moment.  They couldn't accommodate, so, it is what it just is.

I had been furiously Pricing Inventory but now have no urgency to bring it in since I don't have any obligation to go in now.   So, that freed up some Time too, I was only trying to ready it to bring in on Wednesday Night, now I don't have to.   And right now I'm mad at Nissan, the Truck is financed thru the Dealer, great rates and I've financed several Vehicles over the Years with them.   But, the last payment I sent in, their Clearinghouse damaged the Check to where it couldn't be processed.  So, they just now sent it back asking for a replacement, but, hitting me with a Late Charge for their damage of the Check which arrived on time, but they waited until after the Late Charge Assessment Date to even inform me there was a problem!!!  WTF?!  

 I'll call in the Morning and ask to pay by Phone for this payment they damaged the Check of, but, I will contest the Late Charge Assessment since I wasn't Late on paying, it arrived on Time, they damaged my Payment, not my fault.  They also took Weeks to send it back explaining the damage caused, which is what has made the Payment delayed.   Had they called me to notify me of the damage to the Check I could have still made Payment before the Late Charge Assessment Date, but, since they delayed informing me the Payment couldn't clear becoz of their damage to the Check, I had no idea and thought I was current.   I get so fed up with how big Companies are handling issues, mostly caused by them, and penalizing Customers for the Company's Mistakes or Errors.  It's Bad Business.   I'm a Retired Bank Executive, so I know how the Industry SHOULD Work on Lending, Financing, and Collections, if done properly. 

Nobody wants complications, errors and malfunctions happen, especially with such reliance on Machinery handling so much of the processes.  I just don't want to be penalized for the errors my Creditors, their Machinery, or their Staff make.  And their delays in notification when they have created a problem.  I think that's a reasonable request and I'm hopeful they do too since I've been a loyal and good Customer for several Vehicles and several Paid Off Loans they Financed in the Past.   I don't like having Vehicle Payments, but, it's hard these days to Pay Off or Pay Cash for a Vehicle, they're as much as Houses used to cost.    This Truck cost me more than our Historic Home had Cost me Years ago!   And the Payments on it are Twice what that Mortgage Payment was and I Paid the Home Off quicker and easier.  *LOL* 

Princess T was throwing up all Night again, no idea why, I think it's her Nerves or Anxiety and a Mental Health Day, not sure there's anything like an Illness going on.   I think she's still going to try to go in to Work so she doesn't lose the new Job, she has no Sick time Earned, it's only Day No. Four, so she's only Worked Three Half Days so far and Today is her first Full Day.  *Le Sigh*   When you have Loved Ones with Emotional Issues it can manifest Physically, plus, she is also Physically Medically Fragile, so, if this continues we will have to get it checked out.  As far as I know her Healthcare was Reinstated by AHCCS via United Healthcare even tho' Benefits via the Adoption ceased after Graduation.  I had called United Healthcare to verify that after I got the Adoption Board Letter that their Benefits ended.

I may need to take her in to DES for additional Qualifications if it turns out she's Unemployable due to the extent of her Disabling Factors.   But, most Single Adults with no Children only Qualify for 90 Days now even if they have extreme barriers to Employment and verified Lifelong Disabilities.   I've still not convinced The Daughter to go back in to DES, she hasn't gotten thru the Mountain of Paperwork they gave her and they keep referring us to Social Security for Benefits and Qualification to receive Services.   DES doesn't want to cover what they feel Social Security Disability should cover and vice versa.  Two dueling Bureaucratic Agencies trying to pass the Buck to one another as to who should Fund a Recipients Services!

Now when you go in to DES you don't even get a Face To Face, you're sent to a Kiosk and they Process you by Phone.  Mostly they want people doing applications via Computer or an App, when the majority of Clients don't even have Jobs or the latest Tech Gadgets coz they require help there for basic Essentials like Food and Shelter!   So to expect them to all have Computers and Smart Phones is more than a bit of a stretch.  They tell them to go to a Public Library and use those Computers!   So picture a Homeless Person with serious Food Insecurities or Health/Mental Health Crisis, probably no Transportation, or Income, trying to get thru that Process!!!   It won't be long I think before some BOT or AI is doing it and making the determinations.   And for the Developmentally Disabled or Seriously Mentally Ill, they can barely handle Paperwork, let alone NOT be Tech Challenged and unable to use a PC or App!

Every time I've ever taken The Daughter or The Young Prince in, they can barely hold or keep it together and not be Triggered into a serious Mental Health Episode right then and there.   So, it makes me Anxious to have to expose them to a Process I know they can't handle and might cause a Mental Meltdown I can't manage or mitigate!   I don't worry about that with Princess T, she is more likely to have an Emotional Meltdown or start Physically being ill from the stress and strain of it, also NOT good to put her thru.   Especially to try to receive just a 3 Month extension and then 9 Months of no Services before you can apply for another 3 Months!   And Social Security is worse with their backlogs and processing of Applicants.  

 They will backpay you if you are Approved, but, it can be delayed for Months or even Years.  That's not tenable.  And if you Hire a Social Security Attorney they generally only take on Clients for SSN, not SSI.  The difference being SSN is paid out if you were Insured and worked long enough and Paid Social Security Taxes.   While SSI is a Needs based Public Assistance Program not based on your prior Work or a Family's Prior Work.   A Means Tested Program {SSI} opposed to a Social Insurance Program {SSN}.   Means Tested Programs are available only to Persons with very few Resources in the form of Income or Assets.  Most SSI recipients damned near must be indigent and totally unable to be Employable to receive Approval and Services or Benefits.  Oh, and the amount received is cut in Half if an Applicant becomes Homeless, go figure!  That surely means they will stay Homeless.

I know this becoz the last time The Daughter did Qualify and receive SSI, they would discontinue her Services and Payment whenever she was Institutionalized for her Mental Illness, whether Mental or Penal Institution.  And reduce her SSI to just over $300 Monthly when she was released and Homeless... and just over $600 if she was Housed!!!   Neither was enuf to actually live on, but barely $300 was going to definitely keep her on the Streets... oh, and to receive the Checks they required a Mailing Address too... so... work that one out!    Oh, and they'd also evaluate whether she was "Well" Enough that she no longer needed me as her Trustee to Manage those Payments and her Affairs or was "Mentally Restored" after exiting a State Mental Hospital.  So, once they deemed her "Fit" to, and she couldn't, at all, when it went completely Sideways and they fucked it all up, Social Security then wanted ME to run the damage control!  *Resting Bitch Face* 

See, she was Institutionalized off and on a LOT during that period of time with no Trustee.  She was supposed to Notify them, she wasn't lucid or Well enuf to abide by procedures required, and Mental Institutions or Jails don't notify them FOR the Recipient either or assign them an Advocate to get thru The System if they can't on their own.   So they kept depositing checks and when she'd be released, she's spend all the Money they'd Paid Out and then they wanted it all back after realizing they fucked up royally!!!  Plus, if she had Bank Checks she assumed she had Money to cover them!  *Yep, Eye Roll*  Since, most Social Workers weren't handling Clients very effectively either and barely ever could keep track of where they were if they were, and mostly are, Transients/Vagrants/Homeless.   Uh, she was Non Compos Mentis you Morons, and so you clean up the Mess you Created by releasing me as her Trustee!   They were not Happy.  *Bwahahaha*

She'll tell them anything during Interviews, becoz she may or may not be tethered to Reality and her responses are what she Believes at the time.  If they ask her if she's Well enuf to Work, she always tells them and Believes she is.   And they think that's Splendid.  Then I had to remind them to ask her some of her "Work History", which included, but wasn't limited to: Her THINKING she Worked for SUBWAY, putting on a Uniform and showing up to Work, when she'd never even been Hired by the Company and the Manager found out and had to put a Restraining Order on her to keep her away!!!   Working for ARBY'S and having to be restrained from putting the Asst. Manager in the Deep Fryer, becoz he was Sexually Harassing her and she finally flipped out on his Perv Ass of inappropriately talking to or touching Young Female Employees!  He dropped Charges coz he knew he was a Sexual Predator.  Oh, and another time when she Assaulted a Customer with a Mop who traipsed into an Establishment she'd just mopped the Floors of with Muddy Feet!  

Yeah, we got some Stories of her "Employment", even tho' she works hard and in some rare instances like Cleaning Homes or Businesses, she's done quite well.   But even those have had some outrageously unbelievable Stories go along with her tenure.   There is a very wealthy Jeffe in Mexico who Hired her to Clean his Home, he's not a Man to trifle with, let us just say.   Well, he forgot to give her access once and so she broke into the House thru his Chimney and Cleaned his House, then left him a Note and was he Surprised, yeah!!!   Yep, like fucking Santa Clause, and he said since clearly she's so Mental, he just felt it easier to give her a Key, since, he couldn't keep her out anyway!   This is a fella folks are legit Scared of, but not her, and he thought it was hilarious how she broke in and cleaned his Home, was fearless about doing so, even tho' he's himself. 

 Plus, she cleans better than anyone and can be 100% Trusted.  So many of her Clients were Top Dogs and High Up the Food Chains, who Hired her to Clean or Cook for them or Care for their Infirm, Aged or Disabled Associates who were still Top Dogs or Shot Callers.   You can't make Stories like that up, which is why I'd rather her get SSI than a Job.  *LOL*   Everybody that knows her Loves her, but they all know she's Bat Shit Crazy too.  Even the Mexican Police and their Jails quit arresting her, becoz they didn't wanna have to Deal with the Loca Weta, so they'd take up Collections to send her to a Psychiatrist rather than Lock her Up!   Sometimes she wouldn't leave if she did get Locked Up or would beat the shit out of herself and say they did it.  So, they just didn't want the Liability anymore and also, took pity on her.   She was treated with more Compassion and Humanity South of the Border than she is here in America actually.   And, Ironically, she was an Illegal Alien in Mexico for almost 20 Years!  *LMAO*

Anyway, I dropped Princess T off at Work, we'd given her some of her Stomach Medicine before she went in.   She claimed she'd be okay.  Traffic was so heavy at 6:45 that it took the whole 15 Minutes damned near to drive her the Half a City Block to Work!   The Traffic situation now they're overbuilding the area is ridiculous now.   It's another reason I'd reconsidered keeping my Shifts too, we're close to my Work but it was taking me sometimes almost 45 Minutes to get there and it's only a few City Blocks away!  It should take about 10-15 Minutes under Normal Circumstances.   This Morning the Temps had dipped into the 60's so it was Cooler outside than inside for a change, very nice.  I might even be able to get some work done in the RV Garage before it heats back up!

I've been trying for the past 45+ Min. to make that replacement payment to Nissan!   It seems Agents are all based in India, barely English proficient, and with American sounding Names that I'm sure are just Scripted and not their actual Names.   They did waive the Late Charge they assessed due to their Machinery chewing up and destroying my August Check Payment.  I got transferred to Six different Agents, the same one only Once, Elena, and one that refused to give me his Name and hung up on me!  They do charge a Processing Fee for Phone Payments, but it was far less than a Late Fee so I Paid it.  Then their System screwed up Twice on the BOT getting your Debit Info... finally on try No. 3 it went thru and gave me Confirmation of being made.  *Whew*  I was exhausted from the Dog and Pony Show it became.  That's damned near an Hour of my Life I'll never get back!

The Saving Grace being, the last Agent, allegedly Named Dante, which sounds very East Indian, No?  *LOL*   Well, Dante's English was understandable and fluent, he could actually understand me too, unlike several of the others, and he was adept at ensuring the Payment went thru and was up to his Job, I Thanked him profusely.  Of coarse these Outsourced to 3rd World Country Agents are likely making a Dollar and Ninety-Eight Cents an Hour, which is why American Companies Outsource to them.  So it's not as if I have high expectations they know what they're doing very well or have a grasp of handling transactions, they're clearly all reading off a Script, which is why you're transferred so often if what Customer Service you require isn't Basic.  Their Script is so Robotic, so not much better than a BOT helping you, which I abhor the AI shit, I really already do. 

I have learned that the BOTS seem programmed to fast track you to a Human if you drop the F-Bomb.   Otherwise they do everything to NOT transfer you to a Human and work my last Raw Nerve, so I say Fuck almost right away when a BOT argues with me that they'll be quicker and more efficient than an Agent.  *LOL*   As soon as the BOT hears you use that Word, well, now they know you're probably an Upset Human and they better fast track you thru to another Human to provide the Customer Service.  *LOL*   And then you get John or Mark from India and the whole language barrier and cluster fuck of poor Customer Service then ensues.  *Eye Roll*   I try to remain patient and kind towards the Humans, they're just trying to make a Living and I don't blame them for American Companies Cheaping Out by not Hiring American Workers Sourced in our own Country.

We just ended our Historic Record of 113 Consecutive Days of Triple Digit Temps... the old Record was 76 Days, we blasted past it and most Days were over 110!!!   Today was balmy in the 60's early on and I did indeed get work done in The RV Garage Mahal before it heated up.  Then I took a Nap there with the Big Door Open, which we Open Manually now, on the Foldup Bed I have right at the Door now in an area we've completed.  It was so bucolic and so relaxing, a very nice Nap and like Sleeping Outside with all of Nature's Sounds lulling you to Sleep.  Here in the Mini Farms most Neighbors have Farm Animals and Exotic Pets, so the sounds don't sound Urban and it gives the illusion of being in the Country or out in Nature.

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Happy Autumn my Friend... Dawn... The Bohemian