SC Time is TimeyWimey WibblyWobbly

[TelephoneAngel]

This morning, we actually had some avilability - this means that there were no calls waiting and so the cals which came through were being answered as soon as they rang, not waiting in a queue.After I had been waiting about twenty minutes for a call, this happened.

customer - It's disgraceful, I've been waiting in a queue for the phone to be answered for OVER AN HOUR!!!!!!!!!!
me - no you haven't, I could see from the call data that the moment you placed the call and it rang, I answered it, there was no waiting time, not even a few seconds.

customer - well, then, yesterday I waited over an hour for someone to answer the phone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[firecat88]

Amazing. O.o And not in a good way. Even if she *had* been waiting for over an hour, I've never understood the point of getting pissy with reps about a long waiting time. I mean, it's not your fault that they were on hold. When you're busy, you're busy.

That being said, part of me is inclined to believe that she might have been trying to frighten you into giving her some kinda freebies because of her supposed long wait time. Kudos to you for calling her out on it. *highfives*

.........also, free cookies for Doctor Who quoting.

[r2cagle]

I remember those complaints... come to find out, the customer was just lost in the beginning menu. The menu that helps direct customer calls and prioritizes based on their selections!!!

Often customers would select 'outage' option when they had a billing problem. Get routed to contract call center that was only handling overflow outage calls.. have to get sent back to queue and then wait again. Or they hit zero for next available operator... and wait.

[PepperElf]

pwnage!

and for the dr who reference:

=)

and yeah it's kinda like some of the guys from my first ship. they'd drop off gear and a half a week later they'd claim "it's been t here a whole week why isn't it ready yet????" they too didn't like when the truth was brought up.

[Munkie]

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff." -10th Doctor, episode Blink

[trailerparkmedic]

I just watched Blink again a few nights ago.

I really hated it when customers complained about the wait, even if they had been waiting. I wanted to tell them that the wait was so long because everyone else was complaining about the wait, raising our talk times.

[elsporko]

I remember those complaints... come to find out, the customer was just lost in the beginning menu. The menu that helps direct customer calls and prioritizes based on their selections!!!

Often customers would select 'outage' option when they had a billing problem. Get routed to contract call center that was only handling overflow outage calls.. have to get sent back to queue and then wait again. Or they hit zero for next available operator... and wait.

Please state what your problem is

Billing

I'm sorry I don't understand you

BILLING

You said outage. Now transferring you to the help center

[r2cagle]

Please state what your problem is

Billing

I'm sorry I don't understand you

BILLING

You said outage. Now transferring you to the help center

That shouldn't be happening on newer voice recognition systems.

But our system is still punching buttons. 1 for outage, 2 for electrical problems, 3 for billing and payment options, 4 - 6 are some other specialized group like builders, new services, etc. and 0 to speak to a customer rep. But a wait time, is a wait time no matter what option you choose. Just the options you choose determines where you are in the waiting line.

[superhotelworker]

Bonus points for the Dr. Who Reference. *Holds up new mini Tardis charm* <3 Made my day.
And congrats on getting to call an SC Out.

[TelephoneAngel]

One from this morning, just to prove the point.Customer was ringing because she had been told by a coworker that he would look into her problem and phone her back "within three hours".

customer - and I'm worried he won't phone me back because its been a while since he said this.

When did he say it ? at 10:45 as per his system notes.

When did she call and say this to me? At 10:54 exactly.

[Midorikawa]

Please state what your problem is

Billing

I'm sorry I don't understand you

BILLING

You said outage. Now transferring you to the help center

*grml* My insurance company still uses one of those ridiculous things. Someone walked by while I was trying to get my balance (bank through them too. They're awesome), and someone wandered by talking about buying a grill.

Rather than get my balance, it transferred me to claims. >:-O I called over, this time, right as it asked me where I wanted to go, the wife asked if I liked this particular grilling utensil set, and it sent me to billing. Third call, it mistook "Balance" for "Operator" somehow. No, the store wasn't noisy. This happens regardless of the phone/line/location I use.

Yes, I'm a technologist. It's my job to embrace technology. It's also my job to determine technologies that aren't quite ready for widespread use. The "press number for this department" is far better still.

[Shalom]

When did he say it ? at 10:45 as per his system notes.

When did she call and say this to me? At 10:54 exactly.

I was once listening to a call-in show in WNYC; moderated either by Brian Lehrer or Leonard Lopate, forgot which. He takes a call and the guy starts off by shouting at him, "You had me on hold for 45 minutes, and..." The moderator cuts him off, says "Sir, you were on hold for exactly 18 minutes and 47 seconds. I don't appreciate you starting off this call by lying to me." (Words to that effect, at least...)