“I don’t remember where I parked my car, Find it for me.”
“I have a flat tire. Get me a new car.”
These are not comments made by actors who assume the roles of black consumers in television comedies.
These are calls received at a call canters of finance companies.
Why they make such calls is anyone’s guess.
According to sources in the finance industry, some 1 billion calls were made to call centers last year.
Of them, those asking for lower interest rates on loans increased by 20-30 percent while tens of thousands demanded that they be excluded from paying extra interest on overdue loans.
But there are other more “intriguing” calls, such as a person who wanted to know if it was okay to eat a wild boar that has been hit by a car.
“I am going on vacation,” one caller said, while another said, “I like your voice. Would you like to go out with me?”
No matter what the contents of the conversation or complaints are, call centers do not make it a practice to report them to the authorities.
N one case, Hyundai Fore and Marin Insurance received a call from a woman who wanted the call center to track down her husband who did not come home the previous night.
“We normally tell these callers to contact the police but they refuse to hang up, and sometimes continue talking for hours.
And we cannot hang up on our customers,” one call receptist said.