Have you ever felt this way towards difficult customers

[guywithashovel]

Hi. I was a fairly regular member of the forum several years ago, like 2003-2004. Back then, my name was UndercoverCopycat (took me a while to remember that). I rejoined a few months ago, but since I am not working in a CS position anymore, my presence has been scarce since I have little to say to these types of discussions.

Anyway, on to the matter at hand...

Yesterday, I was talking to my girlfriend, and she was telling me about a previous job she had in a call center. The call center was for an insurance company, and she dealt with a lot of cranky customers while there. The company dealt with medical insurance claims, and on occasion she would have the misfortune of having to tell customers that insurance would not cover their kid's seizure medication, or that there wasn't any coverage for whatever medical issue the customer was having. As you can probably imagine, this often resulted in her having to listen to people yell at her over the phone.

This brings me to the issue I want to raise. In this situation, the call center person probably does not appreciate being yelled at, but at the same time, the call center person probably understands why the customer is upset, and probably feels bad for the customer or possibly even a bit responsible for the matter. I was wondering, do you ever feel this way when dealing with upset customers. When I worked in retail, there were times when I could sympathize with a customer's agitation, but at the same time did not enjoy having to endure the customer's fury. Obviously, since I worked at Wal-Mart, it was never anything as serious as not getting needed medicine. But there were times when we had policies that I didn't think were fair to the customer, but still had to uphold anyway. And even though it wasn't as serious of a matter, I still felt like I was giving bad service.

[ktopmil]

As a current Wal-Mart worker, I know what your talking about. If their nice about the inconvienience, then I do feel bad that i couldn't help them. This usually happens up until the point in which I get meat thrown at me(True Story).

My question to you: When people find out that you used to work for Wal-Mart, do thay ask you dumb questions like: Do you like it? or is it as bad as people say it is? Are any of the rumors true? I actually had someone ask me these questions as I was working.

[marasbaras]

I know what you mean. There have been more than a few times where the store or company with whom I'm dealing is giving me really poor service. And, I know that it's not the poor, hapless cog with whom I'm speaking that sets that policy. They're the unfortunate person who has to actually communicate that to me.

The store/corp has put the CSR in a terrible position.

On the other hand. they ARE an agent of said company.

[Peppergirl]

Since I work weekends in my agency's emergency call center, we have to take calls from the people who are booking at various travel websites that our agency owns. The online help desk is closed on weekends. Makes sense, right?

::note sarcasm::

Anyway, the charge to book on the various sites is anywhere from 8-15 dollars, US. The charge to have us book is 32-36 dollars.

If the site is down, or there's a legitimate issue with the site and someone calls in to report it and, therefore, ask us to book the flight - we have to charge the higher rate. Yes - even if it's verified that the site is down.

This tends not to go over very well and I don't blame people for getting pissed. Some of their responses:

"Will you guarantee this fare if I call the online-help desk tomorrow and they fix the site?" Answer: No
"Will you honor this fare for me and charge me the online fee instead of the service fee, since you have indeed verified that (randomtravel).com site is down?" Answer: No

Frustrating, hell yes. This is why I've taken to giving out the online help desk managers phone number and telling them her work hours.

Does this give them the right to yell at me, no - sorry...it doesn't.

Now when dealing with a kids seizure medicine being rejected by insurance, I could probably muster up a little more compassion if they yelled at me. But for not being able to book their flight? Not so much.

[Anriana]

Occasionally there are circumstances where I feel the customer has been completely mistreated and I do feel sympathy for them; however, that doesn't justify them throwing a temper tantrum.

[powerboy]

My question to you: When people find out that you used to work for Wal-Mart, do thay ask you dumb questions like: Do you like it? or is it as bad as people say it is? Are any of the rumors true? I actually had someone ask me these questions as I was working.

Had those asked to me also, when I was working there. And the answer is YES. They are true

Occasionally there are circumstances where I feel the customer has been completely mistreated and I do feel sympathy for them; however, that doesn't justify them throwing a temper tantrum.

Happens sometimes at work. If you are nice to me, then I will do what I can. If you are an ass to me, then forget my help.

[Misanthropical]

I feel bad for those who really do have a good reason as to why they are behind on their bill and tell me in calm manner. I will go out of my way to help them.

If they scream and yell at me, I don't feel any desire to help to them and won't do anything to help them out. Pay up!

[MaverickGypsy]

Our policy towards ink cartridges used to make me cringe. No returns for any reason. I didn't think it was fair, especially if you accidentally bought the wrong one, realized it and brought it back unopened. There was no return. I told people that a few times but finally I just started returning them anyway. I would just tell management "oops, sorry. Forgot." That policy has changed and we can take them back unopened now. yay.

People would always ask me "is it true you guys have to chant every morning before they allow you to work? I got asked that a lot!!!
Gimme a W!!!

Our Walmart is very tiny as far as Walmarts go. Very friendly like a big family. Our cheers in the morning were the funnest part of the day. Lots of laughs. Sometimes we would still be in the middle of it when we opened and customers would see us. These same people would then say, " I was going to apply for a job but I don't wanna work for no cult."

[Boozy]

I have never felt sympathy towards a customer's plight when they are yelling at me. It's human nature to feel defensive, aggressive, and hostile when you feel you're under attack.

So if I'm being yelled at, I am no longer thinking "I feel bad for this guy. What can I do to help?" Instead, the cave person in me is screaming, "You are under attack! Either run away or fight back!"

I'm willing to bet that this gut reaction is true of 99% of customer service providers out there.

Let that be a word of advice to potential SCs: You may have a valid point and a good case, and someone might bend the rules to help you. But if you start yelling or making threats, its probably game over for you. Even if someone wants to help, even if they're trying desperately to channel their inner Buddha and understand you, you may be making them physically incapable of doing so. Once you start becoming aggressive, you're triggering survival instincts that have served homo sapiens well for thousands of years.

I am capable of feeling sympathetic and understanding towards angry customers after the fact. We've all felt like yelling and screaming at idiotic company policies, even if we haven't actually done so. But in the heat of the moment, logic is not in play.

[gunsage]

It won't let me post here for some reason.

Okay, now it will...let's try this again.

I can understand a person's frustration in a given situation only if I feel it's just. For example, if someone's calling up and their phone's been on the fritz for months, just keep getting blown off or hung up on my CSRs, the techs are no help or lazy, and they have a relative in the hospital or something, yes, I can perfectly understand. I would prefer it if they could stay calm while talking to me as I'm doing the best I can to help them, but I still understand and have several diffusing tactics, so it's all good (I've studied negotiation tactics, assertion tactics, speech, debate, and played Phoenix Wright).

However, let's take one where I actually lost my cool two days ago. This was, oh, 8 in the morning. Now, I'm not one to say WHEN you should be trying to get online to do whatever, but this guy was upset because his speeds were ridiculously slow. Dispatch a tech, right? Yeah, well, the previous agent on his account (who actually sits right next to me) had already done that. First he claimed the agent hung up on him (not true, his cell dropped), then he proceeded to badmouth our tech support in general, and it really didn't help that I was cold transferred this customer from level 2.

He claimed that there's OBVIOUSLY an outage because it took 25 hops to get to our homepage and hops 15 to 25 on the trace route where timing out. Okay, first off, it MAY be true that there's an outage, but there's none reported. Second, yes, you were set up a tech to come out and I completely understand that you want one as soon as possible, but I don't have magic powers to make a tech come out TODAY, especially for residential service, and TELLING me there's an outage, not ASKING me if there is one, will not help.

Further, an outage often isn't declared in an area unless a CRAPLOAD of people call up with the same issue, it's noticed by the network group, etc. Now, apparently my CW and I relayed this to him several times, but to no avail until finally...

SC: "Y-you know...I have more intelligence about this in my FINGER than you have sense!"
Me: *Brain-to-mouth filter malfunction* "OH, SIR, THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO INSULT ME LIKE THAT. YOU BETTER WATCH IT."

Whoops. The really funny part was HE ACTUALLY CALMED DOWN, took a breath, then went on to explain that he supposedly helped developed the backbone for XYZ, worked as a tier 3 for X many years, yada yada. The worst part? Once he finally gave up, yeah, I noted his account, but especially after this little tidbit from my CW...

CW: "Was that SC? Yeah, he was starting to get unruly with me because his online gaming wasn't working right and he does it professionally or something like that."

I was so pissed I was ready to call him back and let him know I would be delaying his tech to two weeks out. I didn't, but GOOD GOD I was ready to. JEEZ! Point being here...I'm typically a fairly nice guy and more than willing to work with you, but don't be an ass. If you're mad, fine, you're mad. That will NOT help me work any faster, just so you know, and it won't get you a supervisor either. If your anger is justified, don't take it out on me.

If it's directly taken out on me, I will only tolerate it up to about...oh...a minute. Then you need to shut up. I'm here to help you, not beat up verbally. And hey, you know what? I don't do online gaming, so I don't know much about it, but I do know it's NOT top priority. Shut up. There, I said it. STFU.

[Alpha Strike]

Like a lot of the other folks here, I work for a company that has a few policies that are... questionable at best.

When I get callers who have been adversly affected by them, I do feel bad for them. I find myself more willing to help and I'm more patient then usual if they start to rant or get angry... as long as the anger isn't directed at me personally.

Once a customer starts to take out his anger or frustration on me personally, any sympathy I have will quickly disappear. At that point they turn into just another SC.

[Foxglove8778]

What you need to remember is it isn't personal. They are angry/ upset at the company and the situation. I worked for a health insurer for nearly seven years in a call center. Mostly I could keep the callers from making their frustrations into a personal attack. I am very good at calming irate callers. Let them vent. After they get a chance to vent, usually I can get them to calm down. Just keep reminding yourself that it isn't personal and don't rise to the bait if they try to make it personal.

I hated the circumstances of saying "We aren't saying it isn't medially necessary. The problem is that it is not included in your contracted benefits. We cannot override that. We are not saying you cannot have this service, just that your contract will not pay for it. I can understand how frustrating that can be. Let's see if we can figure out some course of action you can take."

" It is medically necessary, but we can't pay for it. " Is the reason I haven't looked for work with another insurer. Just because it isn't personal, doesn't mean it doesn't bother me.

[LadyAndreca]

My first Christmas season at the return desk was very rough. I started training at the desk in early December, so I was new and apparently looked easy to bully. I would come home shaking and frustrated, and play video games where I'd just smash everything I could to blow off steam. (Okay, City of Heroes isn't THAT violent compared to some, but when you've got a 5' tall female hero doing an upward cut on a 6' tall male villain, with a broadsword, the graphics ensure that the placement of the blade is very pleasing to a mind bent on releasing venom...) One of my managers had to pull me aside for a pep talk one day about how they're angry at the company/policy and not me, and to tell me that if I start getting THAT pressured from someone, to call a manager over to deal with it because I wasn't getting paid enough to. Things picked up after that.

Now, when a customer has a legitimate problem but is willing to work with me for a solution, I will do everything I can to help them--and after a year at the service desk, I know more tricks than most of the managers. I worked out a 'possibly against company policy but okay because I convinced the manager to make an exception' solution for a guy who had a defective DVD player and a glitched receipt once, because he was being so patient with me even after having to come to my desk three times over the course of several days.

Interestingly enough, I think it's BECAUSE of some of these super-patient guests that I learned some of the tricks. "Well...theoretically, if I do this, I can try this...oh, hey, it worked! Cool, now I can do what you need me to, and I'll know for next time."

[gunsage]

... On the subject of videogames as stress relievers, I often find these to be very helpful...

- Manhunt
- Katamari Damacy series
- Truck Dismount

And back on topic. I understand that 90% of the time, the person is not targetting me, but rather the organization. No, what irritates me is when they take it out on me because they can't get to whatever it is that's frustrating them in the organization, therefore, their anger is misplaced. I understand they're frustrated and are very willing to work with them, kicking, screaming and all.

What really frustrated me about the one dude is looking over his account history he was a repeat asshole to a LOT of people. I really should've called him on his BS and done the following...

Me: "Sir, if I could just stop you a minute. You are expressing to me that you know your stuff. And I mean, you're stating that you helped develop the backbone of our network, worked as a former tier 3 tech for a different network, etc. I'm not discounting that possibility, but you have no idea what I know either or my past experiences, meaning that I really DON'T CARE what you've done or who you are, but rather THAT you have a problem AND a tech will be out on the designated date so as to fix your problem, assuming it is not declared an outage in the meantime.

"Let's assume, for a moment, that you're right and there's an outage. How will screaming at me and making personal insults toward me help expedite this process of getting an outage declared? For that matter, why would I choose to help you any further at this point? You have every right to be frustrated as this is service you pay for and should definitely be receiving it, but I feel your anger is not only misplaced, but also childish, unprofessional, and from what I can tell on your account, has not been the first time an agent has received such abuse from you.

"Let me assure you know that in fact your account WILL be noted on this matter as it has been done in the past. Let me also assure you that any future agents you encounter will know of your regular abuse tactics and it will likely affect any decisions made in concerns to issuing you a credit for 'outages.' As I stated before, a tech will be out Wednesday and there's nothing more I can do for you at this time, therefore, I am now officially terminating this call. Goodbye."

Again, I understand he was frustrated, but to personally insult me without any real warrant or cause on my part? Shut your ****ing mouth before I assist you in it. If I said something stupid, were snarky, or otherwise completely unhelpful/unprofessional, yes, I could've full well expected that, but assuming I had already taken that demeanor, I would've shrugged and ended the call right there.

I've said it once, I'll say it again...I'm not personally responsible for all that is wrong in the world, but if I was, I'd "Mwahahahahaha" until my lungs collapsed. Actually, no, I haven't said it before, but there you go.

[Lace Neil Singer]

When I worked at the pizza place, 90% of the time when someone called in a complaint they'd be reasonable and would be perfectly happy with an apology and an offer to fix whatever was wrong. However, some people thought that shrieking down the phone like a demented howler monkey was the best way to ensure that they got the best fix possible. As far as I, and the other workers there thought, we were not paid enough to suffer thru someone's PMSing, so if they got too bad, we'd put the phone down. If they rang back to whine, the manager would take the call and tell them off.

Now, while I understand that it must be absolutely crappy to order pizza and get the wrong topping, especially if you're veggie/have an allergy/don't like the wrongly placed topping, but there is no reason to scream at the person answering the phone. Chances are they're not the person who made the mistake so yelling will not get you anywhere cept being given a black mark, and a caustic note on your file.

I used to sympathise with some of the people who rang up; particularly at a time when this new person was on making (at the time, the washer upper was sick so I was doing that as I was fastest and this newbie had to take over on the pizza making whenever I had to dash to the kitchen) cuz I'd hate it if someone messed up my order, but I just used to wish they'd understand that it wasn't personal and screaming is not going to solve anything. If they were nice however, all the stops would be pulled out to help them and compensate them for the mistake.