"I don't want to speak to a part time worker"

[raine_naoe]

Just a few stories. I wrote down a bunch from over the christmas season, but i can't find that paper, so these are just the last couple of weeks.

1.
sc: can you tell me if an item is in stock and if it is answer a question about it? item number is xx-xxx-xxx-xx.
me: (now, our system is such that the screen you enter the item number into doesn't actually tell you that much about it, they use abbreviations and codes that can be hard to understand, so right now i'm looking at "NECK GA") okay, the neck (pause for no more than like 5 seconds at the most)
sc: gater.
me: yes sir, sorry. now, i am-
sc: are you an hourly worker?
me: ...? yes sir, I am.
sc: do you have any full time workers there?
me: i'm sure we do, but I don't know if any are working at this time.
sc: could you transfer me to a full time worker. not to disrespect you, but i want to talk to someone who would actually know about the product.
me: i'm sorry sir, I can't transfer you to another agent, but i can place you on hold for a moment and talk to my supervisor
(now, this is the catalog center, we do customer service as well, but there are NO product specialists anywhere in the building. not to mention, all the next level up are part-time as well, and don't have much more information available to them then i do. AND it's about 9pm at this time... higher up laughs at the guy when i tell him about his request and says only thing he can do is call a retail store. I understand wanting someone who would know about the product, but it still seemed very rude to assume that i didn't. i assume it's because of the pause, but how does he know what that was? and then to say that he doesn't mean to be rude seemed to make it worse.)

2.
this lady was crazy. apparently a charge had been made using her money, by someone other then herself, but it's still unclear whether it was her card, check, or by depit (yes, she was pronouncing it with a very obvious 'p'). it's also unclear whether it was 42 something or 35 and 35. she had gone to her bank, and "fired them up" and they gave her this number. so no I get to deal with trying to make sense of her yelling. she's able to give me her card number, and the most recent charge with us is several months ago, so it wasn't this. so i'm trying to explain that it's possible that it might have been made at a retail store, which we don't have records of, and that she'd have to try and find out which one and call them. this first prompts her asking what i mean by the retail store. and after i explain her saying again that the bank gave her this number and why would they do that if i can't help her. so insert me explaining that perhaps the bank thought i would have records, but i don't, and she'll have to try and find the retail store and call them. repeat about 4 times. finally...
sc: well, which retail store?
me: I don't know, you'd have to try and find out which one it was made at.
sc: well, I'm in california.
me: okay, I can give you the numbers of our two stores in california then.

now, what's best about this is she's yelling the entire time, until that end part, when she all of a sudden turns real soft spoken and polite. even thanks me very nicely at the end.

3.
here's an amusing story my roommate shared with me. she gets a call about 11 at night and the caller is speaking very quietly, so she can't understand what he's saying. she keeps asking him to speak up and he keeps repeating himself at the same volume. when he finally does speak up she realizes he's asking her to "talk dirty to him".
she's shocked and forgets the procedure we have for this (I'm sure i probably would too) so she mutes him, takes the headset off, and stands up to see if her supervisor is in, she isn't, so she see puts back on the headset, where he is now asking "Hello? hello?" and disconnects.
5 mins later he calls back and gets her again. her supervisor is still not in, so she puts him on hold (our hold 'music' isn't actually music, but a selection of outdoor noises such as fishing sounds and bird calls) and calls an rc about what to do. it takes about 3 minutes of him being on hold before he finally hangs up.


sorry about worse grammar and spelling than usual. my computer's acting up and i already had to retype this.

[MaggieTheCat]

when he finally does speak up she realizes he's asking her to "talk dirty to him".
she's shocked and forgets the procedure we have for this (I'm sure i probably would too)

Now I'm curious! What is your procedure for when this happens? In our call center, agents are not allowed to disconnect calls ever (if a customer hangs up, the agent's phone will automatically disconnect after a second or two, so that's how agents end their calls) UNLESS this happens. If an agent gets an obscene caller they are allowed to terminate the call immediately without even a warning.

Personally, I really like our call center's attitude on this.

[raine_naoe]

if it's a prank caller we let a higher up know and then transfer them. if it's an obscene call we take down any information we can, disconnect the call, and give the information to our supervisor.

[Erin]

When I telemarketed, I'd get the obscene callers. I'd either pretend that I couldnt hear what they were saying, and make them repeat it (they'd do that a few times, and then get frustrated and hang up)

While I was basically stalling them, asking them to repeat themselves a few times, I'd be writing down the phone number off of our caller id's. (no names on it, just the numbers)

Sometimes, I'd ask the caller to hold...and they would. I'd call QA (Quality Assurance) and they'd take over the call, sometimes letting me listen in, and if the QA person was feeling especially silly that day, they'd either have a little fun at the guy's expense, or they'd explain to them about how their phone number was logged, and that it was possible (not sure if this was true) that they could get their phone service shut off or restricted somehow.

Occasionally, the QA person would tell them that the phone number was logged and their address had been recorded and that the information was being forwarded to the police.

I kind of wanted to be a QA person, but I dont think I have the patience or ability to BS people enough to do it.

[PepperElf]

of course the Evil side of me says...
that's when you put the caller on speaker phone... and everyone starts laughing at him.


those kinda callers do NOT like being laughed at.
(mom did that once at home cos the guy was mispronouncing everything - and she told him to get a dictionary! he hung up fast)

[Sliceanddice]

i could hang up that was fun

[bainsidhe]

Lady number two with the fraudulant card activity should be calling the police, not your call center. And her bank should be closing her account and logging in the fraud, not having her call your center. So I'm thinking something else is amiss than your standard identity theft. Methinks she knows who was using her card/checkbook/whatever and doesn't want to involve the police.

[raine_naoe]

I have no clue why the bank gave her our number. I'm sure there might have been details that i missed somewhere in all of her shouting, but I don't know.

[I_Hate_SCs]

Just a few stories. I wrote down a bunch from over the christmas season, but i can't find that paper, so these are just the last couple of weeks.

1.
...
sc: do you have any full time workers there?
me: i'm sure we do, but I don't know if any are working at this time.
sc: could you transfer me to a full time worker. not to disrespect you, but i want to talk to someone who would actually know about the product. ...

UGH. I hated this at my store. People would come in there expecting hourly workers to act like they are thoroughly trained in their products, like this was 1955. I was working in the toy dept., and I had this asshat walk up to me and the following conversation ensued:

SC: I would like to get the RidiculouslyOverpricedNoNameBrand Grill in Seasonal, but I'm unsure if propane or natural gas would be best for me.
Me: (showing my stupidity) All I know is the propane ones have the canister underneath it.
SC: What would be the best grill for me to buy if I am going to grill (insert meat product here)?
Me: I'm sorry, I'm not really familiar with grills.
SC: So then you wouldn't know if a cast iron or stainless steel body on a grill would be best for summers in Virginia with rust and everything?
Me: Um, sir, I think a team member in the Seasonal dept. can better help you with your questions. Let me ask them to meet you here...
SC: I don't F***ING BELIEVE THIS! You work here, you should know EVERYTHING about EVERY product you sell! How much are they paying you? Good grief!
Me: I understand sir, but it would be very time-prohibitive to receive expert training on every product being sold in this huge store. We get no training at all; you are more than welcome to complain to management about that if you'd like.
SC: Ugh. What the f*** ever. I'm going to Home Depot where a REAL MAN with knowledge of grills can help me!

Here's what I wonder: why would anyone go to the Bullseye store for a grill anyways when other stores like HD probably have knowledgeable sales staff and a better product selection (correct me if I'm wrong?) I wasn't even working in the seasonal dept! And plus, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I am innately an expert on grills, and the lack of knowledge on the subject doesn't make me 'less than a man' than the next guy! I lived in a condo growing up so my family never had a grill as we didn't have a deck or backyard to store one. Sure, I've been around grills like the next person, but that doesn't mean I paid attention to how it works outside of the obvious!

Sorry if I went a little OT!

[raine_naoe]

I have people asking specific questions about products all the time, or asking for a product specialist, that one just particularly annoyed me. his item was out of stock anyway, and i think discontinued as well.

[LadyAndreca]

Here's what I wonder: why would anyone go to the Bullseye store for a grill anyways when other stores like HD probably have knowledgeable sales staff and a better product selection (correct me if I'm wrong?) I wasn't even working in the seasonal dept! And plus, just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I am innately an expert on grills, and the lack of knowledge on the subject doesn't make me 'less than a man' than the next guy! I lived in a condo growing up so my family never had a grill as we didn't have a deck or backyard to store one. Sure, I've been around grills like the next person, but that doesn't mean I paid attention to how it works outside of the obvious!

One word: Price.

When I worked at the service desk there, I used to head over to seasonal at the beginning of the summer and grab each those useful information cards about the grills and patio sets, and make myself a booklet at the front desk. Mostly I'd just use it for item searches, but if they were being that special kind of ass about it, I'd be sure to deliberately read all the information the guest wanted off the cards.

[MannersMakethMan]

UGH. I hated this at my store. People would come in there expecting hourly workers to act like they are thoroughly trained in their products, like this was 1955.

SC: I don't F***ING BELIEVE THIS! You work here, you should know EVERYTHING about EVERY product you sell! How much are they paying you? Good grief!

Good golly gum and again, this brought back a whole load of memories. At Britain's favourite catalogue shop I'd get that all the time.

They employed me, a 16 year old kid for about 20 hours a week evenings and weekends mainly. I neither know, nor do I care about anything above and beyond what you can read for yourself in the book. I can look up previous prices and stock levels on our stock system, but I have no idea if the green or blue and purple dinner set would go better with Aunt Mildred's centrepiece. Nor do I know the first thing about which pressure washer will remove your suspicious driveway stains the best. I've never even used one, much less do I own one.

In a 1600 page catalogue, how in merry thunder do you expect me to know everything offhand? They'll give this job to any bozo (and I mean any bozo - Bill Bailey wasn't wrong about some of the staff). If brains were gunpowder, a lot of them couldn't blow their hats off, so no way this side of eternity are they going to remember the hundreds of details on thousands of products we currently sell - much less the obscure thing you're buying that was discontinued in 1982 that we don't even know a use for.

And the answer to the pay question? Not enough to deal with you. If you want it, take it, and if it's wrong, I'm sure you'll feel free to come back moaning to me at customer complaints on Sunday - no doubt used, without any original packaging, and of course without your receipt. 3 for 3 on violating the returns policy, but as you and I both know, one small tantrum later and a jellyfish manager will lead straight to a giftcard to start the cycle again...

Sorry about the vitriolic rant there... It just put me in mind of one particular person from my time at LBoD. It wasn't always so bad.

[Skeksin]

SC: I would like to get the RidiculouslyOverpricedNoNameBrand Grill in Seasonal, but I'm unsure if propane or natural gas would be best for me.

Wha? You use grills? I use a lightsaber and stalk the cow. Selecting the perfect moment to strike and slice off my beef. Lightsaber takes care of the needed cooking. Using grills, HA!

[earl colby pottinger]

Part time

I am the only who thinks that with the present WORLD-WIDE down turn most jobs available for the next few years will be part-time only?

At my last job (Arby's) even the shift managers were not getting full time hours, and I think the store manager was under a lot of pressure to keep it that way.

[I_Hate_SCs]

One word: Price.

When I worked at the service desk there, I used to head over to seasonal at the beginning of the summer and grab each those useful information cards about the grills and patio sets, and make myself a booklet at the front desk. Mostly I'd just use it for item searches, but if they were being that special kind of ass about it, I'd be sure to deliberately read all the information the guest wanted off the cards.

Your store actually got info booklets, and (I assume) the customer could pick them up themselves? Interesting! Either my store got them and didn't put them up with the floor models (I'd not be surprised), or they quit giving them out by the time I worked there.