customer service

have you ever requested the last name of a customer service representative only to be told that they can't give it to you "for safety reasons?" as a consumer, i want something to differentiate between the reps i talk to at a company ... especially when i have had a problem. usually if pressed, the rep will give you an id number or their extension in lieu of their surname.

until today, i was okay with this. there are a lot of psychos out there. however, one of my esteemed friends commented that they SHOULD give you their last name, they have yours (and the rest of your personal information for that matter) after all.

interesting. i'd never thought of it that way.

it's kind of like when seinfeld proposed asking telemarketers for their phone numbers so he could call them during dinner. very profound.