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The joys of the phone tree

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  • The joys of the phone tree



    I work for a very large corporation. We have many, many divisions, including some that deal with cellular products, and some that deal with radio/infrastructure equipment. Some of them overlap. We have many many call centers, as a result, and each call center only handles certain things.

    As of late, phone calls for one of our newest and most popular phone/PDA devices have been getting routed (thanks to a call center in Latin America, we've discovered) to our call center. The call center I am in deals only with radios and infrastructure equipment, and only with dispatch and tech support. We absolutely cannot do anything to help someone with a cellular issue, and we cannot get them any information without transferring the call.

    I'm always terribly apologetic with these people, offer them the phone number with extension that gets them directly to the support for the specific phone, and they're still angry. I know it sucks to get transferred around, and when you finally get an agent who speaks good English, to find out they can't help you, but still, it isn't my fault, and I'm doing the best I can!

    I've noticed a few trends lately, that I wanted to share:

    1) People call in, and after I spit out my greeting, launch into a 5 minute tirade about the problems they're having with their phones. When they finally stop ranting, I explain that I can't help them and will have to transfer them, and they are angry that I "allowed" them to tell me the whole story and wasted their time.

    2) Because of 1, I've started politely cutting people off once the name of the phone comes out of their mouth to inform them I can't help them, and they either get mad that I interrupted them, or seem to believe, even though I just told them I have *nothing* to do with cellular, that somehow once I hear their story, I'll be able to help.

    3) I always offer these callers the correct phone number, but most of them won't take it, stating that they already have the number. Well, that number you have got you to me, which is not the right place.

    4) When I put the customer on hold, then work my way through the phone tree to get them an agent on the line, they usually get impatient and hang up right around the time I get someone on the line. They usually call back, get me again, and do the same thing, again refusing to take the number so they can call on their own.

    Apparently they've got the issue mostly resolved, and the calls have died down from 10-20 a day to 1-2 a day, which is better, but still frustrating. I just hate that I can't help them beyond transferring them, and I feel bad that our phone trees suck so badly that things like this happen.

    /rant. Just needed to vent!
    "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

    “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

  • #2
    Quoth myswtghst View Post
    : when you finally get an agent who speaks good English,
    That made me laugh.

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    • #3
      It was actually on purpose, because I never can resist. I always hope someone will actually catch it. Also, because that is usually *exactly* how the caller phrases it!
      "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

      “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

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      • #4
        Quoth trunks2k View Post
        That made me laugh.
        "me fail english? that's unpossible!"
        Rawr

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        • #5
          generally i like a good phone tree.
          it easy

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          • #6
            Why is "speaks good English" wrong? "Speaks English good" certainly would be...
            Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

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            • #7
              it should be "speaks english well" i think

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              • #8
                Quoth HYHYBT View Post
                Why is "speaks good English" wrong?
                Because the "good" is an adjective modifying English. What should be used is an adverb modifying the verb "speak," like: "speaks English well," or, "properly speaks English."

                Perhaps I can illustrate it this way: "The other guy you talked to speaks good English? That's interesting. I only speak bad English. My neighbor speaks green English, and I have an uncle who speaks sticky English."
                I suspect that... inside every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything his own way.
                - Bill Watterson

                My co-workers: They're there when they need me.
                - IPF

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                • #9
                  "Good English" is a perfectly valid construction, referring to what's acceptable in the language. Example:

                  "[Mob] was once slang, and is now good English. A modern one is bike, which will very likely be good English also in time."
                  --- H W Fowler, The King's English, 2nd edition (1908)

                  The phrase "speaks good English" may sound a little clumsy, but it makes a valid point: one can speak English well without necessarily speaking good English. It's an important distinction because sometimes it really matters.

                  Consider the case (supposedly true) of an American whose psychiatrist was not a native English speaker. The patient said, in perfectly good English, "When I leave the house, I get butterflies in my stomach." The psychiatrist, who spoke the language well but didn't speak good English, prescribed anti-psychotic drugs -- "patient hallucinates that he has animals growing inside him."
                  I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. -- Raymond Chandler

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                  • #10
                    I agree with TNT. Although it sounds weird, it is correct English to say "I speak good English."
                    The universe is mostly empty space, and so is your job. ~Dilbert

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                    • #11
                      Because the "good" is an adjective modifying English
                      Which is exactly why it is correct. "Good" is an adjective, therefore it is correct to use it as one.

                      Whether it sounds weird or not depends on the listener
                      Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

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                      • #12
                        Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


                        The joke being, that is a grammatically correct sentence.


                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo...uffalo_buffalo.
                        Learn wisdom by the follies of others.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Hemily View Post
                          "me fail english? that's unpossible!"
                          "Pfff, what do I need to take English for? I'm never going to England."
                          "You are loved" - Plaidman.

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