address

Do You Know Your Address?

One of the main things we have problems with at work is customers who don’t know their address. You may think I’m joking but sadly I’m not.

We get a lot of ‘errmm…’ when we ask for the address. We also get ‘the postcode is w2’. Sometimes we get the whole postcode but still have to ask for the rest of the address. We also get given the first line of the address and nothing else, as the customer expects us to know the rest. As must cities and towns have the same street names it’s very likely that we’ll pick the wrong place if we’re not told where it is!

I had a customer like this today. She gave me the first line of the address. When I asked for the rest of the address she repeated the first line. I had to ask five times! I wonder what would happen if she had an emergency at home and needed services? They wouldn’t have any idea of where to go.

There are times when we get lucky – we have a customer who knows where they live. Lovely!

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11.10.14MandeeLeave a Comment

To set up a policy or to check or change existing details we need the address. That includes the postcode. As usual we get greeted with a multitude of answers when we ask for the address.

‘It’s number 5 The Street.’

‘It’s number 10.’

‘It’s London.’

‘I live in Scotland.’

‘It’s CF4 1QQ.’

‘I’m just up the road from you.’

‘I don’t know what the address is.’

The last one is the best. I’ve had that a few times often from landlords who want to insure a property they rent out. Not knowing the address does not bode well for the tenants I’m thinking.

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Questions And Answers

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We have to ask customers a multitude of questions at the call centre, to get the answers we need to set up the policy they require. Here are a few examples of the questions I ask and the answers I get:

ME ‘Can I have your full address please?’
CUSTOMER ‘Errr. Ummmmm. Errr. I think it’s…’

ME ‘Can I have your full address please?’
CUSTOMER ‘It’s sw10.’

ME ‘What’s the model of your boiler?’
CUSTOMER ‘It’s a combi.’

ME ‘What’s the model of your boiler?’
CUSTOMER ‘That’s a good question.’

ME ‘What’s the model of your boiler?’
CUSTOMER ‘It’s one of them on the wall.’

ME ‘Can I have your policy number please?’
CUSTOMER ‘The originators number is…’

ME ‘Can I have your policy number please?’
CUSTOMER ‘My phone number is…’

ME ‘Can I have your policy number please?’
CUSTOMER ‘I phoned your number.’

ME ‘Can I take the reference off the letter? It starts with the letters…’
CUSTOMER ‘There’s a number at the side. It’s 010287…’

The worst one out of all of them? For me it’s the address. There are too many adults in the UK who do not know what their full address is or what the term ‘full address’ means. It’s shocking. But this is what we have to deal with every day.

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Questions

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When a customer calls in to us they hear an IVR recording before they get through to an agent. It tells them the company name and gives a bit of information about the company. After this they get through to an agent who proceeds to answer any queries they may have. Answering questions is an everyday part of the job. There are multitudes of customers calling each and every day with all sorts of questions, from the most technical to the utterly sublime.

Here are a few of the questions we are faced with on a regular basis:

‘Do you know if it’s covered under my home insurance?’
‘I don’t know anything about your home insurance so I can’t possibly answer that question.’

‘£12 for the year? What does that mean?’
‘It means it’s £12 for the year.’ Was my reply.

‘I love the way it says from £2.50 a month. Ha ha..’
‘If you press the button where it says ‘find out more’ you’ll see it’s £2.50 month with an excess or £5 month without an excess. It’s all very clear.’

‘I’m calling about the plumbing cover. Is this building insurance?’
‘No. It’s plumbing cover. Building insurance covers your building. That’s why it’s called building insurance.’

‘I’m looking at the cover that’s £6 a month. Can you tell me the price?’
‘£6 a month just like it says.’

‘Is that the chiropodist?’

‘I’d like to order the next batch of bird seed for my budgie. Has is it come in yet?’

‘I take it you have my details in front of you?’
‘No. You haven’t even told me your name yet, never mind your address.’

‘There’s nothing wrong at the moment. I know it won’t cover pre-existing problems. I have a dripping tap – can you send someone out now?’

‘What do you mean ‘natural gas’?’
‘Is there a gas metre in your home?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. How am I going to know that?’

‘Can you tell me who my water board is?’

‘Can you put me through to an overseas number?’

‘I’m trying to get through to…but they’ve got an 0845 number. Yours is a Freephone number, so can you put me through?’

And I work for an insurance company.

Your Address

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If you phone me up at the call centre one of the things I will ask you for is your address. This is part of the Data Protection which we have to comply with.

About 30% of the answers I get are the actual address. That is the full address. The other 70% is anything but. Here are some of the scenarios:

1)
‘Can I have your address please?’
‘Mr J S…’
‘And the address?’
‘2 Dumb Street.’
‘And…?’

2)
‘Can I have your address please?’
‘2 Dumb Street.’
‘And where is that?’

3)
‘Can I have your FULL address please?’
‘2 Dumb Street.’
‘And…?’

4)
‘Can I have your address please?’
‘London.’
‘And whereabouts in London might that be?’

5)
‘Can I have your full address please?’
‘2 Dumb Street.’
‘And where is that?’
‘2 Dumb Street.’
‘But where is it?’
‘It’s Mr J S… from 2 Dumb Street.’
‘If I put 2 Dumb Street and your name on an envelope I doubt that it will get to you. So what is the rest of the address?’
‘I’ve just told you. I don’t know what you are talking about.’
‘Where is 2 Dumb Street? Is it England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Mars, India, the Moon? Where is it?’
‘Oh.’

The above are based on actual calls. I say based as names and addresses are obviously not included for real!

I think that most people should know their address. The exclusions would be the very young, people with extreme disabilities, or possibly someone that has just moved into the property – but they would more than likely have it written down somewhere, such as on the contracts they have signed when they purchased the property. Basically there is no excuse for the majority of people for not knowing their address. Whether it’s laziness or just plain stupidity I don’t know.

For most occasions the first line of the address and the postcode are sufficient to find the rest of the details. But for security purposes the full address is always better.

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