How can you say I don't know anything

[princess4life]

Ok so I just barely got off this call and man I didn't think I could be so pissed after this call like this.

Me: Thank you for calling XYZ Company's Presales Helpline my name is princess may I have your name please?
SC: Yeah it's asshat. . A-S-S-H-A-T (name changed lol)
Me: Ok asshat can I have your user name?
SC: Yeah it's theasshat T-H-E-A-S-S-H-A-T
Me: (verifies information) Ok thank you asshat are you calling about an existing case today?
SC: No this is new I need to know about (insert technical product)
Me: *pulls up information on product* what do you need to know about said product?
SC: I want to talk to someone who can give me detailed information on this product
Me: What kind of detailed information do you need?
SC: I want to talk to someone that can give me detailed information
Me: I can give you detailed information if you tell me what information you need to know.
SC: I want you to transfer me to someone that knows what they are talking about.
Me: We cannot transfer to other people in this department and everyone here has access to the same information I do. . What can I help you with today?
SC: You don't know anything I am not going to talk to you, if you can not answer my questions I am going to call someone else!!
Me: I am sorry you feel that way asshat but you haven't even asked me a question to be able to tell if I know anything or not.
SC: I am going to try distribution since you are refusing to help me
Me: I am not refusing to help you, you haven't asked me anything other then to transfer you to someone else. I have detailed information on this product all you need to do is ask and I can answer your question.
SC: I am not going to talk to you, you don't know anything!! I am going to call distribution maybe they can give me more details. *click*

the more I think about the more I think he decided I didn't know anything because I am a female since he didn't even give me a chance. I just can't wait until he calls distribution and they tell him to call my department for detailed technical information

[Brightglaive]

Ya gotta love em, princess. I believe you talked to me about that one....

[princess4life]

Ya gotta love em, princess. I believe you talked to me about that one....

nope not this time

[wagegoth]

I got the best tech support one time from a woman in India. There was no condescension; she walked me through a really bad situation and got my computer up and running again, and didn't make me go through the whole frikkin' binder of maybe on the way there. She figured out the problem very quickly and we worked it through.

She was excellent, and I gave her top marks on the review later.

[Marxfan]

Well, of course you don't know anything! Asshat knows everything, which is why they called you to, um, help them with, um, something they... don't. Know.

Whoa, trying to get behind SC's logic will make you dizzy. Attempt at your own risk.

[ta2ooed1]

Being a female in tech support I get this all the time, to me the funniest thing is I get most of it from an account of almost entirely female nurses and the least from an account of almost entirelly male field technicians.

[gunsage]

Strangely, it's exactly the opposite in our department. As an example, we had a lady that was HYSTERICAL because we still hadn't buried her cable yet and some kid tripped over it and hurt himself. Obviously it's our responsibility to get someone out and bury it, but, well...it's complicated. There are environmental conditions to be concerned of as well as a waiting period and...stuff. I'm vague about this strictly because I'm not a field tech and certainly don't personify myself to be.

In any case, I and a number of male agents attempted to talk to her and calm her down over this, but to no avail. I recall about 3 different people leaving negative customer comments in her account as a warning of sorts for others. Then, one of our few female agents got her. One of the first things she (super-fem agent) said was "Okay, ma'am, I can understand you're frustrated, but I'm not about to sit her and have you yell at me when I've done absolutely nothing to help or hurt the situation thus far. Please calm down and explain the situation to me."

I looked over, expecting to see her headphones blaring off her head...when suddenly, the customer...calmed...down?! Almost every bitchy customer has been handled the same way since. Often, they will continue to call back, thinking they can harass us...but when they get to her, they're super nice for some reason. I don't get it...but I like it.

[Boozy]

SC: Hey-lo, lil' lady...can you get a man on the phone? I need s'meb'dy that knows what they all is doin'. (Think male, deep Southern accent...)
Me: Sir, I will put a man on the phone as soon as you do.

All I have to say is:



Awesome response.

[chops]

Me: *pulls up information on product* what do you need to know about said product?
SC: I want to talk to someone who can give me detailed information on this product
Me: What kind of detailed information do you need?
SC: I want to talk to someone that can give me detailed information
Me: I can give you detailed information if you tell me what information you need to know.
SC: I want you to transfer me to someone that knows what they are talking about.

I remember getting a call almost exactly like that when I had been selling cars for a couple of months. A customer wanted to know about the latest & greatest car, but would not specify what exactly she wanted to know. I had to try to guess what she wanted me to tell her, and every guess was wrong. She went from sickly sweet at the beginning of the call, then went mad, yelling at me: "TELL me about the CAR!!!" I then decided to just start from the beginning, listing basic specs. She decreed that I knew nothing and that she would call someone else, slamming the phone down in my ear. Bitch.

[Listerfiend]

I don't really have to deal with gender issues (luckily) seeing as my clientèle is 80% female, as am I. I do, however, deal with other jerks... It usually seems like they think I know too much or too little. For example, people assume that since I work at the front end of the store that I know every detail about every product in all departments. I've dealt with people that actually got angry at me because I couldn't answer their questions about certain products, and angrier still since I ended up having to call people who knew the info they needed. Which makes no sense to me--why would you pester someone who didn't have the answer and then ignore the person who does? I once had a customer who asked me if a particular kind of paint would work on a certain surface/object. I knew that we recently got in a shipment of paints with said objects, and since they were near my register I began to walk over to look at them to see if they'd work out for her, and when I got halfway there she started mumbling something about "you don't know what you're talking about why don't you know what'll work you don't have a clue" and stopped me before I even got a chance to look at the product and said, "never mind--I'll just go to your other store [there's another store of ours nearby, but it's a 10-minute drive that's grown to 30 due to tons of construction]--they always know what they're talking about" [another side note: that branch is NOTORIOUS for hiring any idiot off the street, undertraining them, and customers who frequent both our stores always comment on how my store has associates who know what they're talking about--the other store not so much...].

[iradney]

He.
I used to get that alot. Then I'd put my no-nonsense, school teacher voice, and they suddenly accept my help. It's weird.

[Lady Heather]

Don't you all know you are supposed to use your Jedi Mind Tricks! Jeeze, you can't expect a customer to ask what's wrong. The SC calls and you are supposed to awnser with the solution to their problem. Without the SC ever saying a word.

[trunks2k]

I remember getting a call almost exactly like that when I had been selling cars for a couple of months. A customer wanted to know about the latest & greatest car, but would not specify what exactly she wanted to know. I had to try to guess what she wanted me to tell her, and every guess was wrong. She went from sickly sweet at the beginning of the call, then went mad, yelling at me: "TELL me about the CAR!!!"

That's when you the conversation should go like this:

You: Well, it's blue and kinda shiny
Her: Thanks for your help! That what I wanted to know

[Andara Bledin]

SC: Hey-lo, lil' lady...can you get a man on the phone? I need s'meb'dy that knows what they all is doin'. (Think male, deep Southern accent...)
Me: Sir, I will put a man on the phone as soon as you do.

Yes, I was sucky to the customer but by the end the customer thought I was God's gift to tech support.

That was so full of win.

And no, you weren't sucky. Anyone who pulls that crap right out the door deserves exactly what he got.

^-.-^

[Interior Desecrator]

I have to deal with the gender issue in my field, too. I'm the only female employee at my shop, but I'm the designer. This means that, 9 times out of 10, I'm the one with the answers. Not to mention, I also have a fairly good understanding of construction. We still get calls from some builders and one archtect in particular that seem to think they can only get information from my boss. It's actually kind of funny when I transfer the call to him, and he has to put the caller on hold to get the info back from me. (It also doesn't help that I'm only 24.)