Holiday Customer Service Hell.

[Argent Silvermage]

Flip side of the coin!

Yesterday I found out about a CSR who works for the company we hired to take calls after our normal 9am -9pm hours.

It seems Erica had liked the guy she took the order from so much that she decided to call the customer over 12 times to chat.
Being a gay man the guy was obviously confused and annoyed by this behavior and asked her to stop. Not only did she not but she went onto a credit website (of some sort) and gained as much information on him as she could. the credit company called him to let him know there was someone looking into his information and that was that....

I innocently pick up the phone having no knowledge of what had been transpiring and get my ear blown off as soon as I said "TLA Vi..." I never even got to finish my opening. Poor guy had to have his number changed and is getting a restraining order.

 

[Boddha]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Argent Silvermage
Idiot 2: The customer had purchased a ‘realistic’ artificial female body part (starts with a V I’m being good for Eric’s Grandma). He wanted to send it back because…. “It don’t taste real.”.


Can I shake my head like an etch-a-sketch to get rid of that image?

 

[Argent Silvermage]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Argent Silvermage
Idiot 2: The customer had purchased a ‘realistic’ artificial female body part (starts with a V I’m being good for Eric’s Grandma). He wanted to send it back because…. “It don’t taste real.”.


Can I shake my head like an etch-a-sketch to get rid of that image?

If you choose to.... But it will not do any good. I've been dropping acid into my brain for a week now and it just keeps coming back to haunt me.

 

[Florian]

Can I shake my head like an etch-a-sketch to get rid of that image?

Be sure to turn yourself upside-down before doing it.

 

[Stormrunner]

Not just the customers...

I've had some "fun" management experiences too...

I never eat at KFC anymore after having worked there.
The sterilizing solution says in big red letters "Do not get in eyes or on skin". Of course, no gloves are provided for the dish-"washers" ("Washing" consisting of dipping the grease-and-batter-covered rack in the sink, spritzing it with water and throwing it back to be used again - with most of the chunks still stuck to it.)

The fryers contain hot oil at 400 degrees. The Extra-Crispy chicken pieces (covered in extra-slippery batter) have to be lowered in by hand until they touch the surface of the oil (which immediately begins spitting painful drops onto your hand) and then given a little flip so that they fall away from you into the oil. Again, no eye or hand protection provided. I let one slip once so that it fell towards me, and got a splash of hot oil in the face. Fortunately I made my Reflex save and closed my eyes in time. Then, keeping my eyes closed, fumble around for one of the wet towels (used instead of proper hand protection to carry the boiling-hot racks of Regular Chicken from the pressure cooker to the assembly lines) to wipe my face. No burn creme in the medicine cabinet - in fact, the cabinet is empty because they only fill it when there's going to be an inspection. About this time the manager comes back to yell at me for taking so long with the Extra-Crispy. I explain that I got oil in my face.
"Can you still see?"
"Well, yeah."
"Get back to work then."
Later I found out that if I had said no, I would have been retroactively let go - officially "fired" as of the day before so they wouldn't have to pay workers' comp (or the hours I worked day of the injury for that matter). (Saw it happen to another worker.) Bought my own burn creme, had blisters for a week, mostly in eyebrows and hairline where the hair had held the hot oil next to the skin.

Still, it wasn't as bad as some of the temp jobs I've had...

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Oh...I forgot about this one.

So, like I mentioned earlier, I work on various pharmaceutical hotlines. You know the number on the drug company ads on TV and in print? Some of those lead to me.

Well, this one time, this guy called in to do an insurance verification (IV)*. I was explaining the hotline services, etc., and he asks if I can come explain them in person! O-kay...I, of course, can't do that, but we're happy to help him figure out if his insurance will cover [redacted]. "No, no, I just want to meet you; you sound like you're cute."

Did I mention that I'm male?

I had to break it to him, as professionally as I could, that I didn't swing his way. Of course, given the disease he was calling in about, I don't think I'd want to even if I did swing that way. Oy.

* - That's where you give me your insurance information and I call your insurance company to find out if the drug is covered, if so how much you'll have to pay, where you get it, and if there's anything special that you and/or your doctor have to do to get it. This, of course, brings its own challenges. Like, for example, a call I made two weeks ago, to an insurance on the west coast, where the rep repeatedly told us that this patient didn't have home health benefits. I call the patient, and she tells me that she's got her employee benefits book out, and she does so have them. Okay, call back, get someone, and explain situation.

"(HUMONGOUS sigh) Aw, jeez, who told you that? Of course she has home health! I'm the one who told her about that!"

Oy.

Brad

 

[nonamazing]

I work in a chain bookstore in the middle of a semi-scuzzy downtown neighborhood. Oh, the horror stories I could tell you...in fact, I think I will!

Many of the strangest things that happen at our store occur in the men's restroom. We're constantly taking books and magazines out of there (which we always handle with gloves and immediately send back to the publisher). But sometimes things happen that just defy explanation. Like the time someone poured a can of beans all over the floor. Or the time we found an entire set of clothes (with shoes) tucked behind one of the toilets. Or the multiple times we've found half-eaten take-out food from the italian restaurant right beneath us (I mean, who eats their dinner in a public restroom?).

Because we've had so many problems with those restrooms (and I'm being nice--I haven't told you any of the really bad stuff), the managers decided to put locks on the bathroom doors. We had to put locks on the women's restroom as well, not because the women had caused any problems, but because we were afraid the men would just use the women's room if they didn't feel like asking for the key. So the other night, as I'm heading to the back, I notice a woman having a hard time with the key. She tells me that we've given her the wrong key. I take the key, give the door knob a twist, and it opens right up. She looks at me angrily and says, "You did that on purpose!"

We have a lot of scammers and con men who try and hit our store, and not all of them are very bright. One thing they try to do is find a recepit in the trash, sneak a copy of that book from the shelf, and try to return it. Only sometimes they can't find the book, since the recepits we use don't always have the complete title on them (if the title is too long, part of it gets cut off). One time we had a guy come up to the desk, look down at a little piece of paper in his hand (which we can obviously tell is a recepit) and ask, "Do you guys have, uh, Calvin and Hobb?" Sure enough, after we take him downstairs and give him the book, he's back less than five minutes later asking to return it. I'm still stunned at how stupid this guy was, not only has he appearantly never heard of Calvin and Hobbes, then he tried to return, to me, the book I'd just gotten for him off the shelf.

 

[Jesus_marley]

Later I found out that if I had said no, I would have been retroactively let go - officially "fired" as of the day before so they wouldn't have to pay workers' comp (or the hours I worked day of the injury for that matter). (Saw it happen to another worker.)

How would they have explained your presence in the store on the day of the accident? If you had been "fired" the day before, why would you be there working? Simply going to the hospital would have established a paper trail that they would not be able to eliminate. I would have loved to have been there when that happened.. Mr. manager would have gotten a very quick lesson on employee rights and OH&S standards. He also would have met my friends mr. Lawyer, mr. reporter, and Ms. health inspector,

When stores (and managers) try to pull stunts like this, it will catch up with them. then mr. manager will be mr. Unemployed.

 

[Mark]

I find it annoying when Customer Service Reps answer questions that they have on their prep sheet as opposed to the ones that you have actually asked.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

While I was still managing the video store, a buddy of mine who managed another store in the chain called me completely freaking out. When I calmed him down (actually managed to get him to stop cussing), he told me some guy had walked in, went to the back corner of the store, and took a dump. They didn't find it until the guy walked by the counter on the way back out and more "fell out" of his pants leg. True story.