Personal Finance Advice

You probably already know that you should contact your lender if you have a question regarding your billing statement or if you anticipate problems with paying your bill on time.  What happens if you can’t seem to get into contact with your lender? After all, financial institutions are notorious for having complicated phone systems that make it nearly impossible to reach a customer service representative, and since there are some issues that just can’t be handled by an automated system it can be incredibly frustrating when you just can’t seem to find the right button to actually talk to someone.

Why do lenders make it so hard to get in touch with an actual person? A lot of it has to do with the cost of manning a call center.  The fewer employees a lender has to have on staff to answer phones, the less they need to pay out for the payroll.  Even though this may not make sense for a company that is trying to assist customers, sometimes the bottom line is that the cost of employees dictates the manning capability of a company.  

Nonetheless, getting in touch with an actual human at a financial institution shouldn’t be impossible.  Here are some things you can do when you need to talk to someone:

In person:  If the financial institution you’re trying to reach has a local branch, it’s worth it to take a trip to talk to a representative face-to-face.  This is especially true if your matter is complicated or if you need to make a plea for a due date extension.

Via the Internet:  Don’t rely on e-mail communications with your lender if you have an urgent issue unless you have used this method in the past with this financial institution and you have met with success.  Unfortunately, answering e-mails is a pretty low priority among many lenders.  Instead, look for a live chat with a representative on their official website.  It may take some time to get connected, but once you do this can be an effective way of getting your questions answered.

Over the phone:  While some lenders have great phone systems that make it very clear how to reach a representative, others make it almost impossible.  If you’re dealing with an automated system, listen to all the options to find out how to talk to someone.  If it isn’t clear, listen for prompts for “other” questions.  If this prompt isn’t given, try pressing “0″ or if the system is voice-activated say, “Representative” or “Customer Service.”  More often than not, this will eventually get you to a representative.

By mail:  This is the method you should use when you have a serious issue.  Send a certified letter - return receipt requested - with your inquiry and be sure to provide several ways the lender can reach you in reply.  If you’re contacting your lender because of an error on your billing statement then this should be the method you use because it retains your rights.

Time is on your side if you start trying to contact your lender as early as possible.  In other words, contact your lender once you know that you need some assistance.  You’ll have more luck calmly finding out how to reach someone as opposed to frantically scrambling to get in contact with a representative for something that should have been handled weeks ago.