Here is my public service announcement for the day....

I just had to call Citibank because when online I saw that there was a consumer fraud alert on my account. So I called the 1-800 number and was immediately connected to a call center. Now please understand I totally get the rationale of call centers. I know that economically for companies it is much less expense to open up and utilize the lower economy requirements in India. Usually I don't have any problems having someone with an accent trying their hardest to help me, but seriously "Beth" this afternoon was unbelievably hard to understand. Then on top of it I was FREAKING out because there could be fraud on my account and didn't want to play the "I don't understand what you are asking me" game. I asked for a supervisor or "not to be rude" someone that spoke a little more clearly. After being on hold for 10 minutes "Joseph" got on the phone. Honestly he was worse. Then I hear an announcement overhead and applause, I am talking "boilerroom" style "glen gary glenn ross" "closer" deal thing that literally scared the crap out of my ass. I hung up. I called back and got a call center guy who was a little more clear but still asked to speak with someone either in the United States or speaks English. I waited for about 10 minutes and finally got some guy named Scott, who said he had been to Boulder. He explained that on the weekends most of the calls go to India, but they do have people in the US that will take calls and all one has to do is ask.

I am glad that I did. I really was wiggin' and this guy made me happy to have done so.

He calmed me down. Explained that what happened was the dumb ass swipers at Safeway the other day that didn't work when I was getting gas that didn't work processed five (count them five) transactions for a total of $180 in a matter of five seconds. So they put a hold on my account to make sure what was going on. Its all cleared up now but what a frustrating 45 minutes.

The point? If you need customer service on a weekend with Citibank, expect to get an Indian call center, and if this frustrates you, ask for a transfer to Customer Service in the US or Canada, I got Scott in South Dakota. Its worth it.