Fess up...who called out this SC?

[Neo_Classic]

I lurk on the Miss. Manners board and look what I found:

Click here.

[disneyfav4ever]

That lady has entitlement issues. Getting mad at an employee because she went over on her text messages.

[BaristaTrav]

I actually think she had a point in that the rep was not very professional. However, she definitely had the EW vibe going from the get-go, and of course immediately called in right away to bitch/whine/beg for free stuff before looking over her statement to check for herself whether the charges were legit. (Which of course they were)

[Apathy]

Who wants CSR's to upsell to them? "Please try and make me spend more! Please!"
Yeah, the lady wasn't very professional, but who cares? I'm pretty tired of nonstop professionalism from everyone. I mean, lighten up. We're all people. I don't care if it's a business setting, I like it when people act like real people instead of company drones.

[Samaliel]

Hmm, granted, she didn't seem to be quite amicable to begin with, but sometimes, trying to joke with the customer in order to relieve them from their anger / distress just have the opposite result. They feel insulted because you're belittling their feelings.

I'm rather jaded about crappy phone support and know quite well what kind of hell CSR have to endure on a daily basis, so I probably wouldn't have been all that angry, especially over something like that. I would go over my bill and, unless I found some numbers I'm not at all familiar with, I would pay without protesting. It happens to me every year, in December and January, because of season grettings and everything like that.

Still that lady's reaction was over the top, and the "I'll take my business elsewhere" is the lamest line in the book.

But were I the CSR who took that call, I wouldn't have insisted on joking, since the customer didn't take it well the first time. "So above, same below" apply to CSR too.

[BaristaTrav]

Who wants CSR's to upsell to them? "Please try and make me spend more! Please!"
Yeah, the lady wasn't very professional, but who cares? I'm pretty tired of nonstop professionalism from everyone. I mean, lighten up. We're all people. I don't care if it's a business setting, I like it when people act like real people instead of company drones.

Well, you really just can't throw out things like "oh, you're like a teenager, haha." To me, that's a little patronizing, especially when the lady is upset over a bill twice as much as usual. Granted it was her fault, but I don't agree with the way the rep handled it.

[Samaliel]

The really sucky part from the customer here is that she actually hoped she would get some credit for her whining.

[OfficeSlug]

Why should the customer GET a 'partial credit' (as she feels entitled to)??

She sent the texts (and admitted it)!!!!

[Neo_Classic]

To be fair both sides suck IMO. I only joke with customers I know because there are people who walk around looking for ways to be offended.

[tamezin]

Ok she was definitely trying to be an SC...she changed her story twice. First she said she called in because she thought there was an error on the bill -- realized after researching the bill (which she should have done before she called) that the charges were legitimate. Got so upset because of the non-challant attitude of the CSR that she didn't stay on the phone long enough for the CSR to actually help her. She stated in her very first post she expected the CSR to offer her an upgrade and credit on the text messages.

Later she posts that she didn't expect to get anything for 'free', she was upset because of the CSRs attitude.

Then again later she says what upset her was the fact that they didn't try to upsell her and back date it so she would get partial credit for her texts.

She was totally trying to get some thing for nothing. She didn't have a text plan on her phone at all (she posted that) what did she expect would happen when she received her bill? Texting without a plan ain't cheap....She needs to pay what she owes and get over it.

[Evil Queen]

I can see the CSR trying to use humour to calm down the SC (hell, I do it myself and have never had such a bad reaction before). I don't blame her for that. Maybe how she continued it with the "Okay, sorry miss" in the supposed "whatever" attitute was a little much, but I don't see the suck really coming from the CSR.

This lady made the bill so high and thought she could scam some credit. This is wrong and makes the people who honestly have error's in their bill look bad.

[Peppergirl]

Ya know, there's a lesson to be learned here too.

In the three years that I've had my same cell plan, I've gone over on text messages or minutes twice, both due to having a teenager on my plan. Needless to say, he now has a prepaid phone that HE pays for, but I digress.

Both times, I called and politely and respectfully asked if there was anything they could do for me. In both cases, I acknowledged that it was MY fault and BOTH times, I was given a partial credit. Once it was to the tune of about 200.00.

I hear these stories all the time about CSR's and how they won't work with you. I truly believe it's all in the attitude you display when you call. I know personally, if someone is on my phone and they are courteous, polite and honest - I'll move heaven and earth to help them out of their dilemma.

I don't think people realize that the golden rule comes into play here alot. Treat people how you wish to be treated. In these cases, you'll sometimes get rewarded in the end.

In this case the CSR totally misread the situation and it spun out of control. I see suck on both sides, but again, the golden rule would have been one to stick with.

[depechemodefan]

What annoyed me was the first responder who said she/he was a CSR and that the SC's CSR should have been fired. I hate when someone who should know better (that customers lie) treats their fellow CSR that way.

Ya know, there's a lesson to be learned here too.

Both times, I called and politely and respectfully asked if there was anything they could do for me. In both cases, I acknowledged that it was MY fault and BOTH times, I was given a partial credit. Once it was to the tune of about 200.00.

I hear these stories all the time about CSR's and how they won't work with you. I truly believe it's all in the attitude you display when you call. I know personally, if someone is on my phone and they are courteous, polite and honest - I'll move heaven and earth to help them out of their dilemma.

I don't think people realize that the golden rule comes into play here alot. Treat people how you wish to be treated. In these cases, you'll sometimes get rewarded in the end.

In this case the CSR totally misread the situation and it spun out of control. I see suck on both sides, but again, the golden rule would have been one to stick with.

Yes, I agree. Many times I will bend over backwards to help someone who is actually nice and doesn't feel he/she is entitled to get what he/she wants when it envolve rule breaking.

I got an account and posted. I really hated this comment: but I guess it was stupid of me to think that this might be a common occurrence or to hope that the CSR that I got on the phone this time might have received the same customer service training and be able to provide the same solution. Yeah, they are trained to give EW freebies.

[Kogo Shuko]

Where do I start on this?

I'd love to respond to her thread, but I don't think I'll be joining that board just to do that. Oh well.

What did she expect the CSR to do? From what I gathered from her first post and a few others, the reason she called was to confirm that she indeed DID use 100 text messages. So the CSR cracked a joke. Good for her. Perhaps it's her way of keeping her sanity.

But since this SC was calling up to verify that she did indeed send all those messages, how the hell should the CSR know that the SC wanted to be upsold to? My cell phone company has YET to try and upsell to me. Which I am thankful for. When I call in saying, "Holy crud! Look at my two hundred dollar phone bill!" I don't just say, "Is it correct?" No... I say, "Holy crud! Look at my two hundred dollar phone bill! What can I do to lower the cost?"

THEN the CSR will offer solutions.

In my opinion, that is the way it should be.

And no, I do NOT expect the CSR to say, "And we'll backdate it so you can save money."

If the CSR DOES say that, my jaw will fall to the floor, I will stutter, and then burst out with an, "OMG! THANK YOU! If your boss is monitoring this call, I want to express that you are AWESOME at your job!"

If you ask me, the SC started that conversation with the rep close-ended. "Is this correct?"

In my opinion, if I was the CSR, I would answer the question and that would be all. For all I know, the customer only did it for one month, and won't do it again, unless they state otherwise. The customer has not described the situation in full enough for me to offer a solution.

And for the record, it really sickens me that people think they are entitled to perfect customer service 24/7. I'm a human being, too. No, I will not grin and bear it while you shove your problems up my ***. I will not be chipper and offer you the best of the best when I have to deal with two idiots on either side of me and my best friend getting fired, thank you very much.

[depechemodefan]

I have to be honest, the SC didn't scream at me when I said "Though I don't have her side of the story. I have seen customers lie to supervisors about what the CSR said." So she isn't totally bad. Most people will start screaming when they think you are lying. I then posted this:

Me: I'm just going to mention that you expected the same service as before...that the new plan be back-dated. You have no reason to feel entitled to that. It was a courtesy, not a right.
SC: I never said that I thought I was entitled to get this courtesy again, just that in the best-case-scenario, I HOPED it might. I expected to get a CSR on the phone who was interested in helping me solve my problem, that's it, and that's NOT what I got AT ALL. The other instance happened at least 2 years ago so I very much doubt the account history that came up included this.

Ok, I have to laugh that she thinks that her account history doesn't include something that happened two years ago.