Here's another automobile call center story:
Lady calls in about a repair dispute with her local repair shop. She’s yelling and screaming the second I pick up the phone. Every attempt to communicate with her fails as she shouts me down although I do manage to give her my direct phone number to get in contact with me (company policy). Finally, I state that I need her to keep this at a professional level and if she cannot, I will put her on hold (we’re not allowed to hang up. Only supervisors can hang up on customers). She screams some more, I put her on hold and call for a supervisor. As I’m explaining the situation, I notice that she has hung up. Fine with me. But, she calls back, like one minute later.
Again I pick up and again she starts screaming from the get go. Now she’s pissed that I put her on hold. I again tell her that I need her to calm down before we can help her and if she won’t, I will put her on hold again. Her reply? Scream, scream, scream. I put her on hold. This time I actually manage to get a supervisor on the phone. He puts on the headset and I listen in on the handset. She starts out by telling him how rude I was to put her on hold. She is, after all “allowed to yell at customer service people when I’m upset.” (At this point I’m like WTH? Allowed! by whom?
) The supervisor tells her that we need her to remain professional if we are to help her with her problem. She then starts complaining about how she doesn’t have to because I was unprofessional first. She demands I be fired because I laughed at her and called her an idiot.
(At no point did I laugh or call names. I was absolutely furious and found nothing in this “conversation” humorous. My supervisor actually had heard all of the second call and knew this). The call ends with her demanding to have a new service rep handle her call.
Next thing I know, my phone is ringing again. I pick it up and it’s her again. She starts in with her problem all polite and starts saying how she just wants a new rep to handle her call because the previous rep (me) wasn’t very helpful—then she starts badmouthing her previous rep (yup, me). I realize that she thinks she’s gotten some anonymous rep. I quickly tell her who I am and that I am perfectly aware of her problem. She immediately reverts to Screaming Woman and asks why the hell I answered the phone when she doesn’t want to speak with me. I answer by telling her that she called my direct number and that if she continues to call that number, I will always be the one answering it. She seems to be confused into silence by this answer and hangs up, never to be heard from again…by me anyway.
I Can't Talk when You're Shouting
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