Experiences with phone brats

[Voice on the Phone]

So i have only been at this job for 4 months, but actually still like it. I have a ton of stories, the only problem is remembering them I work at a Huge Hotel Co. making reservations, and I get to do it from home! Yay!
So to get started: About 2 months ago:
-It was nearing midnight when this couple calls. Both of them on the phone. One of their friends had canceled their reservation and they wanted to take it. The hotel has been sold out for months for this date (it for Jan '10) already. I see that there are 3 rooms, all a different type. I explain the different room types and ask them which they prefer. For 20 minutes, no exaggerating, we went over the room types. I should of pulled a room type down to hold it but each time I thought they were going to finish it they changed their mind.
So when they finally decide what room type they want, and i check my timer and it has been a total of 35 minutes for the call, the rooms are gone. All 3.
Yeah. I was still at the point of the job where I can't do the things I can now. So i explain to them what happened. Both go postal on me. It took 10 more minutes of me trying to explain that i couldn't of held all 3 rooms, and yes within the span of half an hour with the popularity of this particular hotel it will sell out as soon as there are rooms. I get calls all day asking if there have been any cancellations. The wife didn't understand that I wasn't at the hotel, even after me asking what city and state, and told me repeatedly that she was going to 'make me shine' when she came to the hotel. Finally I told her in a sickly sweet voice "Ok you do that, you have a nice night" and released the call..... My boss laughed and told me not to worry about it after I emailed her.
Some smaller and just plain Huh? calls:
-Guy A wanted a discount because he stayed at a hotel in FL a few months after a hurricane and it was just mediocre. I was stumped because I don't recall any hurricanes in FL this year. Oh no it was 3 years ago. He was just now getting around to the call.
-3 calls last night were people who has called the actual hotel, spoken to the front desk person, and was forwarded to me. One was for a sleep disorder place. I could understand this getting to me, he was trying to make a reservation after all. Two was for a truck company. Looking for a job. Three was for a specific person staying in the hotel.. I get number 3 all the time though.
-I have people hang up on me after I ask for the credit card often. 2 days ago I asked for the cc for Guy B. "Oh you need a cc, I don't have that with me its at home, can't you hold the room for me and I will call back with it" "Sorry as soon as this call hangs up my screen resets" "OH ok here is my cc number"
Really. I mean really. You got home THAT fast and found the card. You sir are amazing.
-Guy C is mad at me because his secretary didn't tell him the cancellation was at 6pm the day of arrival. He called at 11pm.

Well now I need to go clean, but hopefully I can post more later.

[smileyeagle1021]

-3 calls last night were people who has called the actual hotel, spoken to the front desk person, and was forwarded to me. One was for a sleep disorder place. I could understand this getting to me, he was trying to make a reservation after all. Two was for a truck company. Looking for a job. Three was for a specific person staying in the hotel.. I get number 3 all the time though.
.

you obviously don't work for the same company I did when I was at the call center... 3 in a day would be a miracle for us... we'd normally get that in an hour because our hotel employees were morons and had huge itchy fingers to transfer so they didn't have to actually do their job

oh, and to

[Voice on the Phone]

Thank you! Now I am thankful for the transfers I get! Some of the coworkers I have get worse desk employees from what they say in the chat room. One today had the woman at the front desk hang up on her 6 times. Lovely days

[smileyeagle1021]

Oh, don't get me started on some of the hotel employees I had to deal with... I hated calling this one hotel in San Diego... they had a guy I called "the gatekeeper"... his sole job was to prevent anyone from ever actually getting through to the front desk... if I had a dollar for every time he transfered me back to my own department (there is nothing quite so disorienting as hearing the greeting both in your headset and from the person next to you ) I'd be able to retire already at 23 (well, close enough).

[Hyndis]

-It was nearing midnight when this couple calls. Both of them on the phone. One of their friends had canceled their reservation and they wanted to take it. The hotel has been sold out for months for this date (it for Jan '10) already. I see that there are 3 rooms, all a different type. I explain the different room types and ask them which they prefer. For 20 minutes, no exaggerating, we went over the room types. I should of pulled a room type down to hold it but each time I thought they were going to finish it they changed their mind.
So when they finally decide what room type they want, and i check my timer and it has been a total of 35 minutes for the call, the rooms are gone. All 3.
Yeah. I was still at the point of the job where I can't do the things I can now. So i explain to them what happened. Both go postal on me. It took 10 more minutes of me trying to explain that i couldn't of held all 3 rooms, and yes within the span of half an hour with the popularity of this particular hotel it will sell out as soon as there are rooms. I get calls all day asking if there have been any cancellations. The wife didn't understand that I wasn't at the hotel, even after me asking what city and state, and told me repeatedly that she was going to 'make me shine' when she came to the hotel. Finally I told her in a sickly sweet voice "Ok you do that, you have a nice night" and released the call..... My boss laughed and told me not to worry about it after I emailed her..

I get this all the time. Sometimes we have very limited stock on particularly popular items.

This limited stock means that if you want one, you need to get your arse moving!

But noooooooo....people call up, say they want it. I check stock and we have it at the moment. And then rather than actually send in their card info to buy it right then and there, they wait. Weeks. By the time they finally get around to it we've long since sold out of that item, and now the customer is on back order.

Invariably they go ballistic. They simply do not understand that if it is a popular item and we only have 3 or 4 of them left, you need to buy it NOW. Not later. Now.

They never do.

[Andara Bledin]

Invariably they go ballistic. They simply do not understand that if it is a popular item and we only have 3 or 4 of them left, you need to buy it NOW. Not later. Now.

We actually have a clause on our quotes that states that all items are subject to prior sale. We deal in surplus electronic components, and sell a lot of obsolete mil spec stuff, so sometimes we're the only game in town, and we have a limited supply of whatever it is.

We had one part where over the course of two days, 4 different customers came in with orders to buy the stuff. Luckily, the first one in, was one of our better customers, so we weren't too broken up over telling the others they were SOL, but one of them happened to be a first-time buyer, and it's never fun telling a new customer that we no longer have the item they need.

^-.-^

[Hyndis]

We actually have a clause on our quotes that states that all items are subject to prior sale.

We have a similar disclaimer. It basically states if its out of stock, too bad, so sad.

Of course no one actually reads it. They just see the paragraph of fine print, read what they want out of it, then ignore the rest. And then when I remind them of the second half of the paragraph that is the disclaimer that availability depends on having it in stock, the person throws a tantrum.

[MrSmiley]

Oh, don't get me started on some of the hotel employees I had to deal with... I hated calling this one hotel in San Diego... they had a guy I called "the gatekeeper"... his sole job was to prevent anyone from ever actually getting through to the front desk... if I had a dollar for every time he transfered me back to my own department (there is nothing quite so disorienting as hearing the greeting both in your headset and from the person next to you ) I'd be able to retire already at 23 (well, close enough).

Workplace has 5 phone lines coming in, and a 1-800 number that goes to a call centre somewhere else. When those phone lines get filled (or if it's "busy" during the graveyard shift, when there's less people), the staff are authorized to punt calls over to the 1-800... the idea being not to keep them on hold for 20 minutes.