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And
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Re-training? Really?
Put on your consultant hat and invite the manager to chat about the situation. There are some important considerations to look at before signing folks up for a return trip to the same class. First, look at the message sent to the returning staff person and their colleagues. Is a return trip for re-training a signal to everyone of failure the first time? Do other staff members think management is clueless about how to help this person?
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Cartoon
by Randy Glasbergen, used with special permission
from the cartoonist.
Unauthorized
usage of any kind is prohibited and unlawful.
SPELLING
BEE
I
work in the call center for AOL UK. I once
set up an account for a customer. The customer
then asked "How do you spell AOL UK?".
I said "AOL UK". She said "Oh",
and hung up!
CHATTY
CUSTOMER
I
work in a call center where we offer our customers
the option to receive assistance through a chat
program that is accessed from our website.
A few weeks ago, one of our phone representatives
received a call from a customer who informed us
that our chat was not working properly.
Concerned that we might be having technical difficulties
with this important service, the representative
asked several questions regarding the type of
problem, intending to notify the proper personnel
to have the bug fixed. However, the representative
realized the root of the problem when the customer
described her attempts to chat from her new computer:
"I keep talking to it as loud as I can,"
the frustrated customer emphasized. "It's
just not doing anything!" At this point,
the representative broke the news to the customer
that in order to chat online, one does normally
have to type!
STATE
OF CONFUSION
I
am a supervisor for a directory assistance (411)
call center and we have a customer that firmly believes
that New England
is a state. Here is how these calls would
go:
Operator:
What city and state please?
Customer:
Uhhhh. . . Lincoln, New England.
Operator:
I'm sorry, did you say New England was the state?
Customer:
Yes, that is what I said.
Operator:
Sir, I apologize but New England isn't a state.
Customer:
Yes it is, I am reading it off a paper that says
"Lincoln, N-E".
Operator:
I am sorry sir, but N-E is Nebraska . . .could it
be Lincoln, Nebraska?
Customer:
Oh yeah, that's what I meant.
It
would be funny if it only happened once, but it
happens several times a week, which makes it hilarious!
WHERE'S
THE REST OF MY
ORDER?
I
work in the home delivery enquiries (read: complaints)
department of a major UK catalogue retailer.
A colleague once took a call from an extremely disappointed
woman who had purchased a cat gym/scratching post
type of thing. In the catalogue, the product
is pictured with two little kittens climbing on
it. You can probably guess what her complaint
was . . . yes, the product had been delivered, but
the two cats weren't inside the box!! The
advisor explained politely that the picture was
for illustration purposes only and that there was
no way that we could send live animals via a parcel
delivery service, but the customer continued to
rant at him, threatening to report the complaint
to Trading Standards, the press, her solicitors,
etc, etc. If that item is featured again,
maybe we should add the phrase 'livestock not included'
to the description!!!
YOU
TALKING TO ME!
I
took this call in a cellular phone call center.
Caller:
I can't make outbound calls on my cell phone.
Rep: Do you have the phone with you?
Caller: Yes, I'm talking on it right now.
Rep: The phone is working just fine. You just
called me.
The embarrassed caller quickly hung up.
OTIS
WITHOUT HIS WARRANTY
I
work in the consumer complaint division of an automotive
repair company. It's sometimes difficult to resolve
consumer issues at a franchise store. (Since it's
not corporately owned, we can't force them to take
action. We often have to persuade the manager to make
good on a poor repair.) One customer complained that
our franchise operator wouldn't replace the transmission
in his riding lawn mower. I sent an E-mail to the
store manager and received this response:
The
customer in question is the town drunk. His driver's
license has been revoked for years. I wondered why
it was showing such wear, but I still replaced the
transmission in his mower twice! Recently I discovered
him riding it, along the shoulder of the road, to
his favorite "watering hole," which is
eleven miles away! 11 mile journeys are not a legitimate
use of riding mowers, and I am not going to replace
his transmission again!
Source:
Readers of The Phone Phunnies
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