A response is appreciated with a side of voodoo

[smileyeagle1021]

911 prank caught

My first story is about a 911 call we got, which aside from us being pretty sure was a prank (like certain enough that we had to have a sup take over the call). We cannot disconnect a 911 call until one side or the other does a physical disconnect. The deaf user was called on it being a potential prank call, and what do you know... they forgot to disconnect so I got to sit there for 20 minutes every 60 seconds telling the PSAP officer "still waiting for a response from the caller" because she refused to disconnect also (thank God after 20 minutes my sup told me to go ahead and disconnect).

a response is appreciated

call comes in
Me: Thank you for choosing [relay company].
Me: Call started at (time)
Me: I am CA(me), please hold while I connect your call to 888-555-5555

Me: [Dialing]
Me: [Ringing 1...]
Me: [Automated Menu]
Me: [Female voice]
Me: (collecting information please hold)
Me: Prepaid company customer hotline *
*company name obviously changed
Me: To continue in English, please press 1.
Me: (spanish option)
Me: [which option would you like to select?]
DU: 888-555-5555
Me: (You are already connected, would you like to disconnect?)
DU: 888-555-5555
Me: [Your call has been disconnected.]
Me: [Dialing]
Me: [Ringing 1...]
Me: [Automated Menu]
Me: [Female voice]
Me: (collecting information, please hold)
Me: Prepaid company customer hotline.
Me: To continue in English, please press 1.
Me: (Spanish option...)
Me: [Which option would you like to select?]
DU: I'd like to know my balance.
Me: (Searching for balance)
Me: (collecting information, please hold)
I do my thing, find the option for balance.
Me: [Automated Female Voice]
Me: Please enter your card number.
Me: [Are you still there?]
*note, we must wait at least 60 seconds before asking that question, remember there is time between responses.
DU: Yes, what is my balance.
Me: (The automated menu requires the requested information to proceed.)
Me: [Automated Female Voice]
Me: Please enter your card number.
*repeat adnasuem for 40 minutes... sometimes waiting for over two minutes for them to reply, but every time a variation of yes, I'm here, what's the balance.
45 minutes later I get the response.
DU: screw you, you don't want to find my balance for me. SKSK

yeah... I refuse to find the information for you...

I have voodoo powers...
Deaf user calls in, I do my thing, no one answers and it goes to voicemail. The caller disconnects. About 10 minutes later, I get the same caller... same thing.
15 minutes later I get the same caller... I haven't even started dialing and he types "Oh, it's you... you have bad voodoo, people don't answer when you call. SKSK"
OK, that is a power I didn't know I had...

[Jack]

Bit off-topic question -- what's the point of SKSK (SK twice)? I can understand sending SK twice in ham CW where it may be mis-keyed or misheard, but a single SK at the end of a typed message seems unambiguous enough.

[VComps]

SK is "goodbye" whereas SKSK is "I'm hanging up!"

(One is polite, the other is the TTY equivalent of slamming the phone down.)

smiley, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I dealt with TTY.

[Jester]

Okay, I know I'm an idiot, but what does SK stand for? I know from the above posts what it means per se, but what does it actually stand for?

[taurinejunkie]

I seem to remember from talking to people of a different dept. in my ex-workplace that it means "Stop Keying". I could be wrong though.

[smileyeagle1021]

SK is "goodbye" whereas SKSK is "I'm hanging up!"

(One is polite, the other is the TTY equivalent of slamming the phone down.)

smiley, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I dealt with TTY.

That's pretty close. SK means finish your response because I'm going to disconnect as soon as you do, SKSK means that I'm done, I'm off, keep typing if you want I"m not going to read it.

[Shalom]

As a former Ham, (KA2GYP) I always expanded ̄s ̄k as Silent Key.

[Jack]

Yes, http://www.ac6v.com/morseaids.htm#CW does list SK as Silent Key. Tks fer info

[Ulrika]

That second story brings back a lot of memories for me, Smiley. Those automated systems and the way the customers expected me to interact with them, (i.e. cast a magic spell while breaking every rule in my handbook and getting myself canned) made me want to tear my hair out on a daily basis when I was an operator.

Do not miss that part of the job at all. I haven't worked there in 2 years but I still get jumpy when I hear the T-mobile chimes.

[Hyena Dandy]

On a side note, I'm pretty sure that's not the proper use of the word voodoo...

[smileyeagle1021]

That second story brings back a lot of memories for me, Smiley. Those automated systems and the way the customers expected me to interact with them, (i.e. cast a magic spell while breaking every rule in my handbook and getting myself canned) made me want to tear my hair out on a daily basis when I was an operator.

Do not miss that part of the job at all. I haven't worked there in 2 years but I still get jumpy when I hear the T-mobile chimes.

This is one thing I like about where I work... once the caller says "I want a live rep" we are freed of all responsibility for menu accuracy, we just mash buttons until someone picks up.
And yes, I dread T-Mobile... I can tell by the ring when it's going to be T-Mobile.
The other ones I dread are "Thank you for calling Social Security... during the flu season..." and "You have reached the United States Postal Service Employment information line" (the line used for calling out... it's about a half hour to get through that automated menu )

[zzapp the witch]

Two words about your job that I'm SO glad I've never had to do: Sex Chat.

[Andara Bledin]

Weird about T-Mobile.

I have T-Mobile, and the few times I've ever had to call for anything were quick and painless.

Of course, I'm speaking as a person doing her own calling and paying attention to what's going on, and not having to be in the middle of a customer (who may or may not be a complete fxcking moron and/or angry) and their system.

^-.-^

[Ulrika]

The other ones I dread are "Thank you for calling Social Security... during the flu season..."

Thanks for that, Smiley. I had literally blocked the Social Security calls from my memory, and that brought a bit of it rushing back. Hanging up after 45 minutes of holding only to HAVE ME CALL BACK because I "obviously did it wrong the first time". GAH! I need a drink.

[Gravekeeper]

Oh lord, this is the new job is it?

I do this at work very rarely, as we technically offer a line for the hearing impaired through one client. But our machine for it is archaic and separate from our normal call software. So if, god help you, it rings, you have to leave your desk and go deal with the thing. Then take the receipt printer tear off of the conversation back to your desk where you can enter it under the client's account.

Drives me batty. Especially when they dead air on you for an extended period like that. Or they're exceptionally bad typists. -.-

Most people use a relay service such as yourself now, but enough of the client's clients still use this blasted old machine so we have to keep it around.