We discussed this last time you called - my story isn't changing!

[greensinestro]

Working in a call center, one thing that can be, well, irritating at times is when dealing with the same SC's over and over again. Lately, I've been a relieving supervisor, meaning I get to handle the unreasonable customers that want a supervisor to magically take care of the impossible.

Good example. Three weeks ago today, I spoke with a woman who demanded a supervisor because she hates our menu options on the toll free number. It turned out she was dialing the incorrect number, so on that call, I provided her with the right one. That was not good enough for her, because she also had tried that number and heard nothing but a recording of menu options, which she did not even bother listening to.

Today, three weeks later to the day, she demanded a supervisor again, and the rep told me her issue was with her e-mails not coming through. During that call, this SC resolved her e-mail issue, but still wanted to speak with a supervisor. So, I took the call, groaning as soon as I saw the account info and the notes. Her reason for wanting a supervisor was to again, bitch and complain about the menu recording on our toll free number. To top it all off, she was again dialing into the wrong access number for the internet department, which again, I told her the right number. It was the same issue of "All I get are recordings on that!" with me telling her again if she just presses the right number on her phone, it would route her to internet support.

It got to where I had to tell her, "Maam, we discussed this the last time around, and nothing has changed since the last time." She in turn told me that she owns a company and owning a company would mean making sure customers can get through without incident. This was another argument noted on her account, so again, she wasn't telling me anything different. It finally got to where I asked her if this had anything to do with her internet service, which she said it did not. The moment I thanked her for calling, she hung up, as if she knew I wasn't going to have this argument any further with her.

Deja vu, anyone?

[angelicafire]

I don't know if this is hijacking your thread, but I have something similar. I work in a very small department, there's only four of us total. We'll have people set up payment arrangements, and if they don't keep them, we interrupt their cell phone service. Here's a typical call:

Me- Obviously
SC- You know who

SC: Why the hell is my phone off?!

Me: Well, it looks like there was a payment due yesterday for $XXX.XX and we didn't receive a payment...

SCcutting me off) I TOLD that b!tch I would pay on Friday! What, is she stupid!?

Me: Actually, sir, you spoke to me. I recall this conversation, and you definitely said yesterday's date. In fact, I confirmed both the day of the week and the date. How would you like to make your payment to restore your services?

SC: Uh...debit.

This happens on a daily basis. People try to exploit the fact that call centers are large organizations, but in this case, there's four of us to handle all business payments. Trust me, we're familiar with your lack of payment, we know you did this last month, too.

[greensinestro]

Hmm. Call centers with large amounts of people, eh? Well, I work in a small one myself, and I dealt with an issue similar to that one about payment arrangements and interruption of service. This lady e-mailed me from work, wanting to know why she could not log in to her e-mail. Her account had not been paid in over six months, so I advised her of this on an e-mail reply. Not ten minutes later, one of my reps told me this lady was calling for an explanation of what that meant. I had the rep send this woman to collections being my story was not going to be any different than what I had written her back with.

Like I've said, I don't know why people think that if you speak to them again, you'll tell them a different version of what you previously said. Oh, by the way, the woman paid her bill in no time at all.

[Boozy]

She in turn told me that she owns a company and owning a company would mean making sure customers can get through without incident.

I'm guessing that her company and your company operate on two completely different scales.

And offer completely different services.

If she is even telling the truth about owning a company.

This is a big pet peeve of mine - the "I own a company/work in customer service/have a daughter that works at this store so I know how things should be" excuse. I always want to say, "If you are so familiar with my situation, than why are you making things so difficult for me when you know there's nothing I can do?"

[tamezin]

I work in a large call center. When I was still on the phones, we had customers who would attempt the same crap. Fortunately, we have what is known as 'smart' routing. This means that customers are routed to specific queues based on agent skill sets.

Some customers would attempt to call back repeatedly to get a different agent in order to get a different answer. Because of the routing rules it didn't work and the customer would end up speaking with the same agent groups.

[Talonetc]

Working in a call center, one thing that can be, well, irritating at times is when dealing with the same SC's over and over again. Lately, I've been a relieving supervisor, meaning I get to handle the unreasonable customers that want a supervisor to magically take care of the impossible.

Welcome to being a sup. A few points for you.

1. We as supervisors have quite literally infinite reign to do as we please. We specifically choose not to wield this sword of unlimited power because we have a specific grudge against each and every customer.
2. Each and every thing that we offer does not cost us anything. For example, Samsung gives us all the phones for free and as another user on the forum once said "we only charge for them because we are assholes". Also, maintaning our network also has zero overhead, so we're making 100% pure profit on every customer and you're screwing them with outrageous rates.
3. You personally are at the reigns of your company. You have a moral obligation to keep every single person you interact with happy, your company's right to seek a profit clashes with that obligation.