Lying, cursing sack of sh*t.... (long)

[sld72382]

This actually didn't happen to me, this happened to a CW of mine. There was an outage in one of our major city markets that caused people to have no dial-tone. Annoying yes, but most people got the hint that there was an issue in the area. It must have been a pretty big outage, as it lasted until the end of my shift that day and into the early morning next day.

Well my CW gets one of these customers effected by the outage.

I kept hearing her say "I'm sorry you're frustrated but there is no need to hurl profanity please keep this call professional," "Okay now you're insulting me," "Ok sir I've warned you twice if you do it again I'm going to get permission to release this call," "I'd be more than happy to get a manager for you, hold please" etc.

Before I get to what the manager said to the SC, here is part of the conversation. Whenever a customer complains about a tech, that call is pulled and listened to for review.

Apparently, this customer refused to believe there was an outage in the area and kept calling every 45 minutes, each time telling him there is an outage. Rinse and repeat about five times until the guy called in again....

CW: Sir, I'm sorry for your issue but as it was already explained to you there is an outage in the area and while there is no ETA we are working to get it done as soon as we can.

SC: Don't give me that shit, I want my phone fixed.

CW: Sir, there is an outage in your area. Once it's resolved you'll have your phone service back up.

SC: You know what? THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT! I want my god damn mother fucking phone turned back on in one fucking hour!

CW: I'm sorry you're frustrated but there is no need to hurl profanity please keep this call professional.

SC: Listen here you little twit, I can cuss and yell if I want to, you do not ever tell a customer what to do, do you understand me?!

CW: Okay now you're insulting me....

SC: Because I pay your bills dammit, I can say what I want, I am the customer! You do NOT tell me what to do!

CW: I can if you're being abusive.

SC: You think that I'm supposed to be civil to you? Especially since you shut my fucking service off and try to pawn it off as a god damn outage? I'll say it again: TURN MY FUCKING SERVICE BACK ON, OR YOUR ASSES ARE GOING TO FUCKING GET IT!

CW: Ok sir I've warned you twice if you do it again I'm going to get permission to release this call.

SC: Get me your supervisor, you little twit!

CW: I'd be more than happy to get a manager for you, hold please....

This is when the manager came on the line....

Sup: Thanks for holding my name is *sup* how can I help you today?

SC: I'd like to lodge a complaint about your tech.

Sup: What happened, sir?

SC: She was rude! I told her I want my phone fixed and she told me, "Stop calling sir, there is a outage, you need to just deal with it."

Sup: I'm sorry sir but I was patrolling the isle when she was talking to do and she did not say that to you.

SC: Are you calling me a liar?

Sup: In this case you're not being forthcoming.

SC: This is fucking bullshit! Do not call me a fucking liar!

Sup: My tech did not say that to you.

SC: You know what? FUCK YOU and your stupid company! I'm going to call customer service and fucking cancel this shit!

Sup: Just like my tech said I will not tolerate profanity hurled at me, please keep this call professional sir....

SC: Fuck you!

*click.*

This guy really needed to take a chill pill.... preferably an extra-large dose.

[BowserKoopa1]

Yup he doesn't have to be nice or talk in a civil tone, and why should he? He is the "all important customer who pays our bills and should be treated as royalty", and you are just a bug he can step on, because he feels like he can do whatever you want. I absolutely fucking hate people like this, and I would've hung up on his ass. Many places I've worked, if a customer starts insulting you, cussing, etc., we have a right to refuse service. Why should I have to deal with that? They don't pay me nearly enough to deal with bullshit like this. At least your boss backed you up, I've read and heard many stories where they will take the customer's side, no matter what.

[Teskeria]

At least you can hang up. Last couple places I worked for, we couldn't hang up even if they were actively having intimate relations with themselves OR anyone(s) else. Swearing, screaming, ect. still had to continue with the call.

[Ceir]

Have to love the oh-so-sudden tone shift when the supe actually gets on the line, don't you? Good on the supervisor for calling him on it - I remember having to message my team lead more then a couple times when I got calls from those users back at the call center.

[Seshat]

Yep, he can do whatever he likes.

He can also face the consequences. Which can include that noone ever wants to deal with him.

Enjoy having no phone service.

[raudf]

Did anyone else get the feeling this "customer" is used to having his service turned off for non-payment? And that he's used to cursing his way into getting it turned back on? Because that's the vibe I'm getting from it.

Either that or his jerk switch is broke, sticking him in complete nuclear a@@hole mode.

[taxguykarl]

I got that sense as well, raudf, another who throws a temper tantrum to get his way.

[MoonCat]

Yes, I figured he'd had his phone shut off before so he figured this was more of the same. Maybe if he wasn't an asshole he wouldn't have problems like this.

I would absolutely have hung up on him. I'd have warned him first...ONCE. I wish everybody in a call center could do that. It's the only way these idiots learn...if then.

[mikoyan29]

It's a shame that there isn't an inofrmation sharing service. They could have notes like abusive customer and what not and then noone would service him...unless he paid more.

[XCashier]

Maybe if he wasn't an asshole he wouldn't have problems like this.

Oh, he certainlly wouldn't. But these SCs are so used to bullying other people, they never, ever learn that you catch more bees with honey than with battery acid.

One of these days he's going to bully the wrong person, get his ass kicked big time...and he still won't learn. Some people are as stupid as they are mean.

[ThirdGenRetail]

This guy really needed to take a chill pill.... preferably an extra-large dose.

Preferably as a suppository

[sld72382]

I took a look at this SC's account info when it was up on my CW's screen. No recent disconnects for non-pay. So what caused him to basically call in and be told the same thing 5 times until he basically verbally attacked the tech?

I forgot about this little piece of info when I wrote the OP, but this outage was found to have originated from a piece of equipment at the central office that is reserved for our (the carrier's) use. The local "Ma Bell" carrier's equipment was still working fine, so their customers had service.

Back to the SC, I believe he kept calling back in because he probably asked around and his neighbors told him they were up and running, so he probably thought we were just bullshitting him. However, he didn't ask "why do my neighbors have service but I don't," so the techs beforehand never volunteered him that info. Every time he was told it was an outage he would just hang up.

A valid thought (and he wasn't the first customer to question the outage when people around them had service) and we would have been more than happy to explain all this to him if he didn't decide to go on a cursing spree.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm sure that it's frustrating to not have any service; I get that feeling whenever BT decides to have a hiccup. However, my preferred method is to ring up the helpline and be nice and polite when I ask what the issue is. I find that I never get hung up on, and that if there is a problem, they fix it!

I've also rung up, only to be told that there's an outage. I just say "Thank you for letting me know" and ring off cuz at least there's nothing wrong my end, and watch a movie instead.