um·brage (noun) = offense or annoyance.
“she took umbrage at his remarks”
synonyms: take offense, take exception, be aggrieved, be affronted, be annoyed, be angry, be indignant, be put out, be insulted, be hurt, be piqued, be resentful, be disgruntled, go into a huff, be miffed, have one’s nose put out of joint, chafe
“I would take umbrage at that if I thought you were serious”
Some of you may remember that our health insurance company created a mess by issuing a check to us for a service that had already been paid to the provider. One of the things I tried after receiving a bill the second time (after the matter had already been settled once) was posting a message to their website customer service. I thought it might be a good way to have something in writing. The website responded saying they would ship our question to the appropriate department and we would hear back. That was about a month ago.
We finally heard back Monday, long after the matter was presumably settled the second time. I expected their message to confirm that fact, but instead it said
Hello Andrew,
We do have a copy of the canceled check showing that you signed the check over to the provider; however, in order for us to contact the provider to pursue the refund we need documentation from the provider stating they received payment of $236.85 and the date they received the payment. The area that handles the refund requests and collection of said requests requires this information in order to update our files and pursue the refund from the provider. The information may be sent to the address below.
They included the address where we should send the information they wanted. And as usual, they concluded with
If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact our customer service department at the toll-free number on the back of your … identification card ….
I was tempted to ask them why on earth they thought it was appropriate to expect us to clean up their messes, but instead I just told them the matter has been resolved. If they have any questions just phone the customer service number.
I thought about taking umbrage at their nerve, but decided I have a lot more fun things to do with my time.
Yay, us!
October 8, 2014
I like it!
We had a new Walmart Neighborhood Market open in a town near us. Karen went there yesterday and, when she went to checkout, the cashier smiled hugely and said, “Oh, good! I wondered if you would start coming here.”
We don’t know her other than through our interactions at Walmart. However, apparently being good customers gets noticed by some. She told Karen that she was one of her favorite customers, that Karen never gets mad and never argues.
When things go bonkers in the register or when other customers’ predilections slow things down, it’s usually not the cashiers fault. Even if it is, why get upset? It’s nit worth the stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, all too many people get upset.
Just grin and bear it and go have some fun when it’s over.
I agree about grin and bear it, then go have some fun.
The cashier must have made Karen feel good.
Who should take umbrage at who?
?
Shows you how so much money is wasted on red tape (irritating) issues.
Sometimes you are being kidded & you can tell by the 😀 Smile. Over the phone doesn’t work.
Actually over the phone works best with our insurance company. Some of the reps aren’t that helpful, but then I just call again until I get a good one.
i am finally learning to not take umbrage at this stupid kind of stuff.
and good thing too i guess… doesn’t hurt them at all
and it would raise my bp to stroke level!
and besides … i don’t see it changing anytime soon. the ‘now’ work ethic i mean.
i don’t like incompetence. and after months of this … somebody somewhere should be accountable.
i admit we humans make errors. but for HOW LONG???
you can bet… since this issue has been going on for as long as it has….
there is a human or more than one somewhere… STILL blaming the computer.
… and STILL not “handling it properly.”
customer service? truly a thing of the past.
it’s a lost cause. i guess we might as well smile about it. it’s here to stay! 😀
uh oh.
methinks i just too umbrage! LOLOLOL!!!!
I still remember reading Wayne Dyer’s Your Erroneous Zones years ago. Actually, I remember one main idea. When you start to get upset about something you have no control over, ask yourself, “If I weren’t so busy being upset, I could be doing _____.” Fill in the blanks. 🙂
When I looked at the description prescription of “umbrage” I thought it might be suitable to use in my forthcoming essay where there is a mass of umbrage in that time period… on the other hand it may not fit!
Have basically done all the research or marked certain pages of text…
Next week get it on paper in a formal kind of way that maybe my marker will love 🙂
It sounds as if you’re doing great with your classwork. Yay, Cathy!