No, your name! No, yours!

[Skandranon]

Warning, long.

For reference, I work as a Jack-of-all-trades for a chain of veterinary hospitals. Mostly bookkeeping, not on site. I only deal with customers when they've exhausted the managers and the owner doesn't want to deal with them. I'm not even supposed to be involved with customers, but the bossman hates dealing with people, and the managers have found I can get away with saying "No, go 'way now" with impunity, so they take advantage sometimes. When it comes to dealing with said customers, the manager is supposed to call me on the work line for a decision, or pull me aside when I'm at the hospital.

So it was puzzling that my cell went off yesterday with a stranger's number on it. Thinking it was a friend who'd gotten a new number, I answered.

Me : Hello?
Him : Who's this?
Me : This is Skan, who are you?
Him : What's your full name?
Me : Do what now?
Him : Don't you talk to me like that! I want your full name!
Me : Why?
Him : So I can report you to your manager!
Me : Wait, wait... are you calling about Vet Hospital T'is Us?
Him : Well duh!
Me : No well duh, this is my private number. Did you want one of the locations?
Him : No, the manager at the hospital gave me this number. You're the call center.
Me : *snickering, didn't bother to hide it* Am I now.
Him : Yes! You're supposed to help me. I need help.
Me : You'd be much better off calling the hospital. I can give you their number.
Him : No, YOU'RE supposed to help me! I won't call the hospital. You help me.
Me : Okay, I'm game. What do you need help with?
Him : You overcharged me.
Me : Could I have your name please?
Him : Not until you give me your name. Your full name!
Me : Trust me, go to anyone in Vet Hospital T'is Us and say "Skan", and they'll know who you're talking about. But I can't pull up your financial stuffswhatsit without your name.
Him : I'm not giving you my name without your full name!
Me : Okay, I'm Skan Philibuster.
Him : That's not your real last name!
Me : That's as close as you're getting. You're not the one pulling up financial records here.
Him : You can't talk to me like that!
Me : I'm not supposed to talk to you at all. I'm not customer service. But since you called, I figured I'd see if I knew anything.
Him : I want to speak to your manager.
Me : Okay, listen carefully 'cuz this one's the solid truth. I have no manager. This is the top of the line. The only one higher is the bossman-
Him : Then I want to speak to him!
Me : -and he won't talk to you 'cuz he's busy as all get out and you're a bit annoying.
Him : You can't speak to me like that! You're supposed to help me. I need help! Why won't you help me?
Me : Maybe if you'd actually tell me what I need to know?
Him : You overcharged me! You charged me twice.
Me : Which hospital location did you go to?
Him : ______.
Me : What day?
Him : August 7th.
Me : And you waited until now?
Him : ...Yes?
Me : You paid by credit card, right?
Him : Yes.
Me : Visa, Mastercard?
Him : Yes.
Me : Wait, do what?
Him : What?
Me : Visa OR Mastercard.
Him : Yes!
Me : PICK ONE.
Him : Visa!
Me : Is that your final answer? (He was bugging me, it had to be said)
Him : Yes.
Me : How much were you overcharged?
Him : $___.__.
Me : Your name?
Him : You give me YOURS.
Me : Sorry buddy, if you refuse to give me your name, there's nothing I can do for you.
Him : I won't give you my name. I don't even know you.
Me : Nor I you. Okay, look. Odds are if I tracked down August 7th's sheets for Location and checked the Visa records, your name would be on them neatly next to the amount of $____.__. So really, I guess you don't have to tell me, because we already know. We know everything. But the hard part is that last year's records are kept 200 miles away and managed by someone else, and they don't talk to customers at all, and I know for sure they won't bother to check without you providing your name. So tell you what, you can leave your name and number with me and I'll have the manager at Location get back to you, or you can leave your name and number with the manager at Location and they'll get back to you. Either way, I'll be chewing out said manager for giving out my private number.
Him : Well FINE! *click*

Called manager today and sweetly told her not to ever do that again. Further note, they had gotten an angry call from the same person, who had yielded and given them his name. He gave them completely different information for the date, amount, etc. She told him we'd look into it, and passed the info on to the appropriate group.

Turns out, his name is nowhere in the records at all. He's never been a client of ours. No cookie for him. Ladeeda.

[Becks]

Sorry about the SC. You never would've experienced him, though, if the manager hadn't given out your PERSONAL number. I doubt I would've been so sweet about that. Doubt, nothing. I KNOW I wouldn't have been nice about it.

My number isn't in the official employee phone book at work. For damn good reasons.

[Mr. Rude]

OOOooo....Bad move handing out the cell number.

Customers ask for the owners # all the time. All they get from me is "Nope. I can take a message".

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I would NOT have been nice about it. What right does the manager have to give my private cell phone number to customers so they can call me when I'm off the clock?

That is one of the reasons why my employer will never get my cell phone number.

[upsidedown_orchid]

I don't mind getting calls from work on my off hours. In fact, it's usually better to fix the problem right then and there than to leave it until the next time I'm in. That being said... if a customer called my cell... there would be hell to pay.

Heads would roll.

(we need a rolling head smiley).

[powerboy]

The only reason my employer has my cell number, is because I have had the same number for about 5 years now. And we have been friends for longer then that.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Had a customer use my name on the business card I gave him and he looked me up in the phone book and called me up at my home at the asscrack of dawn (5:00 Saturday Morning).

Now I had just gone to bed around three that morning having stayed up most of the night playing with my new computer and I wasn't happy about the interruption. The customer wanted to know if his computer was ready yet. I told him that this was my personal number, that he needed to call the store when it opened at 9am to see, but I was fairly sure that it would be ready soon (since the last thing it was doing when I left the night before was a burn-in test).

That's when he cussed me out for not being more helpful.

I then proceeded to do the verbal equivalent of reaching into his body, grabbing a hold of the greasy, oily rag he called a soul and placed it into my crosscut shredder and danced around it performing pagan rites to ensure that his next life he'd come back as an earwig.

Monday morning the boss called me into his office and asked why I was rude to a customer. I told him that the guy called me at home at an ungodly hour on a Saturday morning, that the customer had no reason to expect me on my off duty hours to do something that the weekend crew would have handled when the shop opened, and that the customer verbally abused me and that I wasn't going to stand there and take that at o-dark-30 in my own house.

The boss then informed me that he agreed and I never heard anymore on the matter ever again.

M

[IT Grunt]

I then proceeded to do the verbal equivalent of reaching into his body, grabbing a hold of the greasy, oily rag he called a soul and placed it into my crosscut shredder and danced around it performing pagan rites to ensure that his next life he'd come back as an earwig.

Good thing I remembered Rule #1 for this one! Good one!

[mariamousie1]

You're the call center! I'd have said, No sir, I believe I'm a person.

I just started answering phones at my job. Here's how they go.
Me: Hello, Springbank Employment and Learning Center, how may I help you?
Person: Can you transfer me to 104?
Me: Sure, just a minute please.
Person: *may or may not say thank you*
Me: *press button, hang up*

My life is so boring.

[DesignFox]

For a short time, my current cell phone employers wanted me to call around to other businesses to try and drum up some more business clients. (well, that's the short answer, anyway.)

One call I made, I got a secretary. I stated my name and asked if I could speak to the boss. Now, normally, people ask me what I'm calling about...or tell me the boss is out, can I give you his voicemail. Not this time...She gave me the guy's personal cell phone!

I call figuring I'll just get a voicemail box...he picks up and he's not happy that I'm basically selling something...and informs me that it's a personal number! (didn't sound like he was sitting in an office, either....)

I was so embarrassed. I apologized profusely and hung up. I realized later that I probably should have told him that his dumb secretary gave me the number without even asking me what I was calling in reference to.

[Skandranon]

Update : The guy called me back. On my cell. At oh-my-god-it's-four-in-the-morning. I felt no need to be nice to him.

Me : *groggy* Mhn, 'ello?
Him : I need help with this overcharge.
Me : Oh bollocks it's you again.
Him : You're that same annoying girl! I want to talk to someone else.
Me : Good luck with that. *click*

*ring*

Me : Buddy, the hospital told you we never had any records for you. Stop calling me.
Him : That's rediculous! I'm a frequent client! You HAVE to get this fixed.
Me : I really HAVE to get in a few more hours of sleep or I'll be dead on my feet today.
Him : You are unforgivably rude. I want your full name and employee number; I am reporting you to your manager.
Me : Hang on. *sets phone to threeway, calls boss*
Boss : *can be heard by both of us* Dammit, the hospital better be on fire. It's four in the morning.
Me : No boss, I've just got a leech of a customer calling me on my CELL about some stupid nonexistant overcharge, and he 'wants to speak to my supervisor'.
Boss : Why isn't he talking to the manager at the hospital.
Me : Said manager gave him my cell. But get this; we checked it, and he doesn't even have an account with us.
Boss : Tell him to go eff himself. It's four in the effing morning.
Him : *sputters*
Me : Will do bossman.
Him : *click*

Life is, occasionally, sweet.

[IT Grunt]

Boss : *can be heard by both of us* Dammit, the hospital better be on fire. It's four in the morning.
Me : No boss, I've just got a leech of a customer calling me on my CELL about some stupid nonexistant overcharge, and he 'wants to speak to my supervisor'.
Boss : Why isn't he talking to the manager at the hospital.
Me : Said manager gave him my cell. But get this; we checked it, and he doesn't even have an account with us.
Boss : Tell him to go eff himself. It's four in the effing morning.
Him : *sputters*
Me : Will do bossman.
Him : *click*

Life is, occasionally, sweet.

Pwned! One would hope (probably in vain) that this guy would get a clue about what he was doing. I seriously hope he realized what an ass he was being.

[DesignFox]

now THAT is awesome!

[KellyHabersham]

On a similiar note, a few days ago I had a message on my answering machine from some woman who left her name and account number, and said she needed to speak to the manager. She left no info as to who/what business she thought she was calling, so I have no idea what this was suppose to be about.

[Boozy]

The last company I worked for never gave our numbers to customers, but they had a policy of providing every single employee in the city (five stores) with everyone else's home phone number for the purpose of getting shifts covered. This wasn't policy when I was hired - it was introduced about six months into my employment.

I told my manager that I didn't have a car at the time, so I wasn't available to cover shifts at any other store anyway. She said fine, but your phone number still has to go on the list. I told her that under no circumstances was I going to let her give my phone number to fifty people I'd never even met.

I had to call human resources to get it worked out. I told them that until the CEO provides HIS home phone number, I wasn't going to provide mine. Why is he entitled to more privacy than any of his employees?

My number was never put on the list, but head office flagged me as a "trouble-maker" and from that point on, it was really over for me at that company.