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No, I do not know why you cannot get the channel you want

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  • #1

    No, I do not know why you cannot get the channel you want

    This incident happened today at the hospital I volunteer at.

    I was volunteering at the front desk answering the phone when I got a call from an elderly male patient. Here is what happened.

    me: "Volunteer Services, how may I help you?"
    elderly male patient: "Yes...a young gentleman brought me a tv guide earlier today. I am trying to watch channel 26, but when I press the number for that channel, I do not get that channel. I wonder if I am doing something wrong.
    me: "So you have a tv guide, & you are trying to get a certain channel."
    elderly male patient: "Yes...I am trying to get channel 26, but when I press the number for that channel, I get a different channel."

    At that point the teenage volunteer who was also helping up front had heard me speak to him on the phone. She goes to get the tv guide that we have at Volunteer Services.
    She gives it to me.

    me: "We have the regular tv guide from *name of newspaper* & the hospital tv guide which shows all of the channels. Do you have the hospital tv guide?"
    elderly male patient: "Yes...it is yellow, & I cannot get the channel I want."

    *Well...I have no idea why you cannot get the channel I want. I am just a volunteer.*

    me: "So you would like to know why you cannot get a specific channel."
    elderly male patient: "Is the male volunteer the only one who knows what is going on down there?"

    *Ok...it's not my fault you cannot get the channel you want*

    At that point the paid Volunteer Services Coordinator who works Wednesday through Sunday came out of her office to see what was going on. I told the patient I would put him on hold. She tells me we have no control over what channels the patients are able to get. So I tell her "I guess I have to tell him this." She says "No, I will take care of the patient."

    She picks up the phone. Here is what happened.

    "This is Michelle"
    elderly male patient speaks to her
    Michelle: "I'm sorry, but we have no control over what channels the patients are able to get. We just have the information to give to the patients."
    elderly male patients speaks to her
    Michelle: "I'm sorry, but like I said we have no control over what channels the patients are able to get. We just have the informaton to give to the patients. Maybe something is wrong with the tv in your room, & you just cannot get that channel."

    elderly male patient speaks to her. I could tell she was getting irritated.

    Michelle: "Yeah...maybe you just cannot get that channel on the tv in your room. It might be that the hospital has a contract with a company that provides a packaged deal, & the channel you want is not available."

    elderly male patient speaks to her. She wanted to get off the phone.

    Michelle: "I'm sorry, but maybe the hospital has a contract with a company that provides a packaged deal, & the channel you want is not available. I do know that a patient wanted to watch *specific show on specifice channel*, & he was not able to. I only know this because I was working the day he called Volunteer Services, & he told the person answering the phone that. I'm sorry."

    elderly male patient speaks to her. She was getting irritated.

    Michelle: "I'm sorry, but I was not able to watch a *specific show on a specific channel* at work one night. I'm sorry."

    He finally hangs up.
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  • #2
    Actually, no disrespect to you, but I would get a bit annoyed if the person i was speaking to just kept repeating themselves. Perhaps it would have been better if you'd told the man straightaway that Volunteer Services don't have any control over the TV channels, and he'd be best off contacting the TV management company.

    Maybe I am entitled, but I would expect you to know whether or not the hospital has a contract with a management company. I would expect something like that to be written in the hospital TV guide, actually (which obviously would not be down to you).

    My husband was in hospital for quite a while over the summer, and there was a sticker on every bedside TV with a number to call regarding TV faults. If the patient was unable to call the number themselves, the nursing staff were perfectly capable of making the call for them.
    A person who is nice to you, but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person
    - Dave Barry

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    • #3
      [QUOTE=Barefootgirl;853309]Maybe I am entitled, but I would expect you to know whether or not the hospital has a contract with a management company. I would expect something like that to be written in the hospital TV guide, actually (which obviously would not be down to you).

      As a volunteer I am not given that information. The full-time Volunteer Coordinator was guessing if there is a contract with a management company. She is not given that information either.

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      • #4
        Hmm, yeah...I wouldn't expect a volunteer to know. Regular hospital employee, maybe. Sucks he wouldn't listen properly...and that he said maybe only the MALE volunteer would know.
        "And so all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride!"
        "Hallo elskan min/Trui ekki hvad timinn lidur"
        Amayis is my wifey

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        • #5
          Quoth Barefootgirl View Post
          Actually, no disrespect to you, but I would get a bit annoyed if the person i was speaking to just kept repeating themselves.
          With no disrespect as well ^_^ ...It has been my experience that, when trying to help a customer, the usual cause of us having to repeat the same thing over and over again is when the *customer* keeps asking "why"/repeating their own "I don't understand" response over and over and over again. If the supervisor had to do it that many times, it would not surprise me at all if the elderly gentleman just kept rephrasing his inquiry, as if that would change the answer. Based on his earlier comment, he may have added further sexist comments into the mix.

          As for the TV guide -- I suspect that the hospital TV worked kinda like hotel TV's often work -- they have the channels "mapped" to a tight grouping of channel numbers, rather than using standard channels -- e.g., it might be that channel 26 was tied to the hospital's channel 11 or something. It may also be that 26 simply was not carried at all. If so, that's unfortunate, but it's not something that is controllable by anyone who would routinely have contact with the patients, nor is it likely that they would be better informed of it than the patients are...

          And yes, having a specific number to call for TV questions would be ideal. However, it's likely that most people would just call Guest Services instead. Fewer digits.
          Last edited by EricKei; 01-16-2011, 12:28 PM.
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          • #6
            Quoth EricKei View Post
            ...most people would just call Guest Services instead. Fewer digits.
            Why dial anything? There's a single motion magic pushbutton!

            ...There's a chick who's paid to be my slave...
            ...and she''l hit me with a needle if she thinks I'm tryin' to misbehave...



            Knockin 'Round The Zoo - James Taylor



            And I'm sure the nurses on board wish they could do the above!
            Last edited by dalesys; 01-16-2011, 01:14 PM.
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            • #7
              When a customer won't take "No" or "I don't know" for an answer, and policy forbids you from hanging up on them, sometimes, repeating yourself is all you can do.
              - They say nothing good happens at 2AM, they're right, I happen at 2AM.

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              • #8
                Quoth Argabarga View Post
                When a customer won't take "No" or "I don't know" for an answer, and policy forbids you from hanging up on them, sometimes, repeating yourself is all you can do.
                Yeah, we have to do that at work sometimes. "I'm sorry, that ad is in a category we choose not to publish." Repeat, repeat, repeat. We're not allowed to say why not.
                When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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