Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Yeah, this may be my last winter as dispatcher

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Yeah, this may be my last winter as dispatcher

    I had thought that I would probably be leaving the great dispatching desk after this winter, but if I am not careful, that may come a lot sooner.

    I am just tired of the same 'ol, same 'ol crap here.

    Had a member today waiting for service. I understand the service was running late, but I also discovered it was because we dropped the ball. Someone from our company was supposed to call the member to verify the location and get back to the station. I discovered this error when I was checking on the status of another call this station had. Lucky me, I get to pick up the ball where it was dropped.

    ME - who does not like playing ball
    SM - sucky member

    ME: *spiel* I'm sorry that you have been waiting for service, we have a driver assigned to the call, but he wanted me to clarify your location. Are you on highway A...
    SM: I am on highway A just north of the car dealership in *bumfuck*.
    ME: Okay, he wanted me to verify that you were ....
    SM: SO, he hasn't LEFT YET?
    ME: He is ready to head your way, he wanted me to get...
    SM: Cause we were told they would be here by 10 and now you are saying he hasn't left???!!!
    ME: No, no. I am not saying he hasn't left. I was just calling because he needed me to check your location.
    SM: So, he's NOT going to be here at 10? Like WE WERE TOLD!?!?!
    ME: I did not say that. I was...
    SM: Is he still at his shop?
    ME: No, he was on the road and he wanted me to verif...
    SM: So, where is he?
    ME: Standing by, waiting for me to call him with verification of ...
    SM: SO, HE'S NOT ON HIS WAY!?!?!?
    ME: He is waiting for me to call him with verification of your location because he said it could be one of two places.
    SM: HE BETTER BE HERE AT 10 as we were told! Will he be here by 10?
    ME: As soon as I call him with this information, I will ask....
    SM: We were told 10! (really, you don't say?) Will he be here by 10 because we have been waiting since 7:30 and we were told an hour and then we were told 10 and ...
    ME: (losing my patience) If I could get off the phone and (at this point, my supervisor whose desk is behind me pipes up for me to watch my temper - oooo....I almost lost it even more - but took a deep breath and continued) If you would please allow me to call him with ....
    SM: HE BETTER BE HERE BY 10! IS HE ON HIS WAY!?!?!?!?!?11111
    ME: I will call him right now, give him this information that he is waiting for, and call you right back!

    She then hung up on me.

    Really, I understand you are mad but when I am telling you that he is waiting for the information before he heads your way, you would think you'd let me off the freakin' phone!

    Yeah, this will be my last winter of this crap! On to treating those who are chemically dependent and all their drama.
    "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Look at it this way... at least the people on drugs will have an excuse for their sucky-ness.
    Sorry, my cow died so I don't need your bull

    Comment

    • #3
      Well, I feel bad because you would think that with my training for the counseling, I'd be better able to practice crisis intervention, but not here at the dispatching job...it just doesn't happen that way.
      "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead

      Comment

      • #4
        Yeah. If you're a drug counselor, then you are - in a sense - a third party; the problem is between the addict and his/her addiction. In the dispatch center, even though you may not be directly responsible, the problem is between the member and YOU, and they act that way. That fundamental difference makes for a completely different interaction and mindset.
        "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

        RIP Plaidman.

        Comment

        • #5
          I hate the rules that say we can't lose our patience ever. It's really stupid, and if yelling at someone is the only way to get them to shut up, pay attention, and get things moving along quicker, then we should be allowed to do so. If they can't treat us like a human being, we should be allowed to respond in kind.
          We Pick Up the Pieces

          Comment

          • #6
            Funny

            That's funny I was going to school to become an Addictions counselor and started working in call centers to pay the bills been on hiatus from school since I started and have thought about going back to finish my degree in it.

            Comment

            • #7
              Quoth d962831 View Post
              I hate the rules that say we can't lose our patience ever. It's really stupid, and if yelling at someone is the only way to get them to shut up, pay attention, and get things moving along quicker, then we should be allowed to do so. If they can't treat us like a human being, we should be allowed to respond in kind.
              Hear hear! I've been saying that for years. Well said!
              Coworker: Distro of choice?
              Me: Gentoo.
              Coworker: Ahh. A Masochist. I thought so.

              Comment

              • #8
                Quoth d962831 View Post
                I hate the rules that say we can't lose our patience ever. It's really stupid, and if yelling at someone is the only way to get them to shut up, pay attention, and get things moving along quicker, then we should be allowed to do so. If they can't treat us like a human being, we should be allowed to respond in kind.
                Especially when it's perfectly fine for them to yell and swear at us!
                It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

                Comment

                • #9
                  In no way trying to defend the suckiness, but there was a time I had to call for assistance, was told 40minutes to an hour and waited almost 5 hours before anyone showed. Highway Patrol made a few stops to check on me, but that was it. I can feel her frustration.

                  CH
                  Last edited by crashhelmet; 10-23-2009, 07:56 AM. Reason: Not paying attention...
                  Some People Are Alive Only Because It Is Illegal To Kill Them

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Quoth Pagan View Post
                    Especially when it's perfectly fine for them to yell and swear at us!
                    That's what I loved about the SM's at both our DaddyJim's pizza and at GameStore. We had a standing policy at both. If the customer curses at us, even once, we were to hang up immediately (no slamming it down, obviously) without saying another word. We then alerted the MOD, and we passed the call to them if that person ever called back. the few times we *did* get a callback, we soon heard the manager saying words along the lines of "...I do not allow people to speak to my employees that way". Naturally, if the callback began with an angry tirade ("WTF IS GOING ON YOU ^$#&#$^$@S JUST HUNG UP ON ME FOR NO REASON") we promptly hung up again. Repeat until they learn to speak in a civil manner.
                    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      On that kind of caller, I'd often mute my headset (the speaker, not the mic) or move the speaker off my ear so I couldn't hear them, wait about 30 seconds and then say what I needed to say. (or just repeat "Ma'am," or "Sir" for that time, then say...whatever it was they were preventing me from saying)

                      It was surprisingly effective...even if I sometimes had to do it two or three times. Don't think I ever had anyone complain about it. Not even sure if anyone ever noticed.
                      Supporting the idiots charged with protecting your personal information.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Quoth crashhelmet View Post
                        In no way trying to defend the suckiness, but there was a time I had to call for assistance, was told 40minutes to an hour and waited almost 5 hours before anyone showed. Highway Patrol made a few stops to check on me, but that was it. I can feel her frustration.

                        CH
                        I had a similar issue. I was on my way to get the keys to my husband's car (which had broken down the day before) when my car sputtered and died in a shady part of town. Called the tow truck and was told 45 minutes to an hour. Ok, that's doable. Hour and a half later, no truck, so I called back. The story I got was that the first truck had also broken down and they had to call another one. Not their fault, but I was still pissed. Like previously mentioned, I was in a shady part of town and it was getting dark. It was also January, so it was cold and my car wouldn't start so I could turn on the heater. I didn't want to leave my car in case the truck finally showed. I was on the phone with my mom to ask her to come sit with me when salvation arrived and I got my car towed. All in all, I think I waited 2.5 hours.
                        I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Don't get me wrong, I totally understand her frustration but when I am telling her, or any member for that matter, that the driver is standing by for my callback - you would think they'd let me get off the phone and not contribute to the delay in their service any further.
                          "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            I utilize the "time out" hold when someone is not accepting the answer I am giving them. I let them sit there for a moment then come back and repeat the answer and then they accept it.

                            Comment

                            Previous template Next
                            Working...
                            X