DISRUPT

This post was written for Five Minute Friday

Word prompt--DISRUPT

Five minutes to free-write about it

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When I look at the word "disrupt," it is more than just a word prompt for this week's challenge. Add an "ions" to the end of it, and it becomes the perfect word to define what my last several days have been like--full of disruptions.

Pressing issues that require immediate attention keep popping up at the most inopportune times, disrupting my schedule and interfering with my ability to get my work done timely, or accomplish other priority items on my to-do list. 

This morning, for instance, I was shocked by an email (a legitimate one) from Amazon notifying me that my account had been blocked because the bank that issued the credit card I had used to purchase my new computer with in July refused to honor the charge. They flagged it as a fraudulent transaction. 

The e-mail went on to inform me that if this was not the case and it had been an authorized purchase, I needed to contact customer service and make a payment using a different card.

Contacting Amazon customer service is always a time-consuming nightmare that also disrupts my day. Trying to get past the robot that answers the phone and refuses to connect me to a live person has to be one of the most frustrating challenges ever. Not until I am shaking and screaming, "live repesentative right now," do I finally  get to speak to one.

The one I spoke to today was not much help and kept telling me I needed to speak to the bank--not Amazon--even though the e-mail clearly said if I had a problem I needed to contact Amazon. He also asked for information I was unable to provide, because my account really was blocked and I could not even access it to look something up. 

Anyway, after I managed to calm down, I did call the bank and explain the situation. Details of why I had used that particular card to make the purchase and why the bank thought someone had used it illegitimately. are too lengthy for a five-minute post, but at the end of the conversation, I was told I needed to go back to Amazon customer service and have them process the purchase again.

Now you may be wondering about the picture I posted, and how this could really have been a good day to have a good day. Well, as it turned out, it was. I asked the bank if they had a customer service number that would enable me to bypass the robot, and they did, and now I will never ever have to deal with that annoying robot when calling Amazon customer service again.