I like it when we live in a society where we have become used to receiving scam phone calls, that the local government themselves, have a legitimate service that sounds so scammish. Over the past couple of years, we have all become accustomed to, although we keep complaining about the scam vehicle warranty calls that we receive, or the phishing calls, which are nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to obtain your banking information, credit card number or your social security or social insurance number.
Today I receive a call with the pre-recorded message saying “This is the revenue services of BC, we have recently sent you mail regarding your MSP (medical services plan) account. Please call us at 877-455-9566) urgently” (I may have paraphrased slightly – but that is the gist of the message).
My immediate reaction – let me checkup the MSP’s toll-free number on their website. Turns out it is something completely different. Whats more, this number is not listed on Revenue Services BC’s website either, nor does the first few digits even resemble their toll-free numbers. At this point, I have virtually every scam alert in my mind triggering, so I call the listed MSP number on their website.
Low and behold, the person who answers the phone at MSP has no record of any problem with my account, or any letter. She does however say that the number does start with the same 7 first digits as the BC Government’s accounting section. She gives me a different number for them (with the same 7 first digits – and suggests I call them).
After I get through, it turns out that it is indeed the billing section, and that these calls are auto-generated when your account shows an arrear amount. The polite, but clearly frustrated call center operator explains to me that even though I am on pre-authorised payments, if the government makes a change to my plan (such as adding a dependent), and they setup this change in a month after the pre-authorized payment instruction has been sent to the bank, the billing system, will automatically think your account is more than 30 days in arrear the next month, and generate one of these calls.
Personally, I find this more than a little offensive, as they are effective sending you collections calls for money that they have not even asked you for, and for which they have a standing order to take off my bank account – in the future!.
They need to fix their algorithm, first, and second make sure that the calls actually originate from a number that is listed on their website, so people don’t just ignore it, and end up having their case handed to some collections person for a few dollars.
Eish!
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Do you get paid to lament about this?
If so, what are the qualifications and where can I send my resume?
Thanks for the comment, the more comments I have on posts, the more popular the blog entries and the more money I get paid from my lament. You too can make money this way, working from home, and no resume required…
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