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CALL CENTER OP-ED

“For billing, press 1, for technical problems, press 2, if you want to talk to a customer representative, press 0.”

Californians are used to this or a similar greeting each time we call our phone company, our utilities, and our banks, among others.  Many of us simply press 0 for the operator.  We want a live person to talk to and have the ability to get our questions answered.  Most of us want to talk to a real person-- to get right to solving whatever problem we called about.

People are calling because they are juggling their mortgages and their bills.  Many families are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to balance between making minimum payments and reducing their debts.  At the same time, more and more Californians are unemployed, with extremely limited money and continuing obligations.    

Calls are being made to retailers, banks, cable companies and others.  Pleading calls are made every day, every hour, every minute.  Calls from desperate people are multiplying in these difficult times.

The one common factor is the phone calls.  Each time a California resident is seeking assistance, they are paying for phone service.

During each call consumers reveal sensitive and private information.  Social Security numbers, account numbers, date of birth – all information that can easily lead to identity theft.  While we have strong identity theft laws here in California, what protections do consumers have abroad.

Currently, there are no systems in place to stop a person in a foreign country from taking our financial data and releasing it to others for abuse?  If a call center is based here in California, all call center employees can easily be held responsible for any fraud or identity theft.  What recourse is available to California residents when they are dealing with an operator in a foreign country?

We must take action to maintain California protections for California consumers. With time, our telephone companies will realize that we want our dollars invested back here at home, in our state.

I have introduced a very simple bill that will take a small step toward hiring more Californians.  I have introduced Assembly Bill 2690 that will require phone companies to tell consumers where the call center they connected to is located.  Simple enough.  It will provide an option to the consumer to keep holding and be transferred to a California call center, if available.

Who knows, maybe then the friendly operator will be our neighbor.