What would you do if a Customer Service person become rude?
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 - 9:03pm
I just got off the phone with buy.com rep. and it has to be one of the worst experiences ever...
This is one of those call center that is in India, so I made sure that I am as nice as possible, since these people probabaly take a lot of sh*t from customers for the slight language barrier.
Basically, the guy told me to call them back when I received Oblivion, in response I said that I would rather the issue being resolve now, since it is hard to get hold of the reps. Then he got pissed, and start telling me that I am wrong, and that they are always there, and I don't know what I am doing. I tried to explain my past experiences, and he just yelled on top of my voice saying that they are open 24/7...
So I just gave up, and said thanks for the help, and I will call again. Now I feel so stupid... Should I have at least yelled back or something? I really didn't want to be an ass, but now I just feel like a piece of dirt 
Of course, being ignored then hung up by the supervisor on my second call attempt didn't help boost my esteem either...
I really tried to be nice, I never rose my voice. And when i didn't understand what the rep was saying I always said "could you please repeat that please?" But did my attempt of being nice just increased my chance of being bullied around?
I am really confused now, I thought treating other people with respect is always a good thing, but should I have done differently in this case? What are your experiences?
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
*In response to being rewarded with a in-game shack for NOT nuking FO3 city Megaton*
Yeah, but if you set off the bomb in Megaton you are rewarded with a parking lot!
No, you took the high road and that's good. I have almost always regretted getting confrontational.
Xbox Live: hubbinsd
The only time I've gotten irrate with someone on the phone was the moving company when they tried to force me to pay with cash (like $600) when the person I originally talked to said I could pay with a credit card. Considering I had a $25 bank balance, credit was the only way I could go so I gave him an earful until he took my hard earned money.
That was the hardest I ever had to try to get someone to take my money!
ThePolypusher
WAR - Dolz
hubbinsd: thanks for the insight. I am not a confrontational person by nature, so it is easy to step on me, and I will just shrug it off. But I just felt kinda stupid for not standing like a man. But you are right, confrontation usually doesn't gain anyone much besides bad feelings. Thanks
polypusher: at least at the end you got them to take your money
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Look at it like this: You are obviously not in a job that wears your nerves thin enough to snap at innocent bystanders. You win.
And if I haven't seen further, it's because those bloody giants blocked my sight.
There's no need to waste your time, and you have no obligation to take disrespect from customer service. So, if you feel you're getting shafted by a customer service rep, always, always, always ask to speak to their manager or supervisor. And before you do, be sure you get their name. (This is especially important when you're speaking to customer service on the phone.) The manager will most likely be polite, but if he or she is disrespectful too, get his or her name and then ask to speak with their supervisor (or get the number of the regional/district/whatever manager). Just keep going up the chain of command. Never lose your temper, but don't take crap either.
Also, whenever I have to call customer service on the phone, I usually listen very carefully to their greeting for their name, and make sure to repeat the person's name back to them in the conversation. That lets the customer rep know that not only do I plan to be polite, I'm also paying close attention to who is helping me, should I need to speak with a manager later. It seems to work; even if things don't quite go how I'd prefer, I never really have personal issues with customer service.
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
My Website v. 3.0
Never thought of that, Katerin. I am always weary of asking the CSR for their names, because I thought that would be interpreted as being rude. But now I understand why it is important, to get their name, it will probabaly make the CSR feel more comfortable if I addressed them by their name instead of saying "you" or "hey." One more question about this though. What if I cannot really understand the CSR? I mean I don't want to keep on asking them for the name do I? And what if you just get hung up on, or "accidentally" not get transferred to the supervisor? I find that some people seem to always get what they want from dealing with Customer Rep people, I wonder if there are some magic words or something that they use.
Again, thanks for all the help. Believe it or not, I will actually sleep better now. Thanks.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Want tips from an insider?
Ask for a case or record number. (for accountability)
Don't get angry or rude. (they'll more inclined to help you)
Don't give them permission to end the call. (they can't hang up unless you do)
Ask to speak with a manager. (that sends all kinds of warning flags up for any phone agent)
You'll know a manager when you speak with one.
We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all.
"What misconception traveled down the road and made you want to be here?"
I'll echo Souldaddy's advice, although I'm grateful to all ye gods that it has been many years since I've worked in a call center.
Some other things that can help keep things from going pear-shaped early in the call. If the person on the other end of the phone is at all helpful, in the middle of the call let them know you want to leave a compliment w/ their manager when you are done. It is the hokiest thing in the world, but in a job full of mean, spiteful, bitter, hateful and above-all STUPID customers, somebody showing appreciation almost always gets the reps best effort. Be nice to them and they will be nice to you. (usually)
I can remember as a phone tech how dirty and embarassed I would be after I whored myself out for compliments. CSRs and Techs are *not* treated well and are used to being abused by their customers and shamefully taken advantage of by their employers. You can take advantage of this by shamefully flattering them and being over-the-top nice. Like a bribe in a third world country, it won't get you extra service, but it just might get the basic job done.
Anyway, I always feel sorry for the poor bastards on the phone, whether they are competant or not. And since I've left the call center world, I've discovered that being nice to them goes a long, long, long way. Even when you are super-pissed at the lousey way the company is treating you, being uber-nice to phone techs is STILL usually the fastest path to resolution.
(Plus, they usually are allowed to hang up as soon as you swear at them, so likely that will only make their spiteful little hearts flill with glee.)
*Legion* wrote:
informationgames.info
http://twitter.com/nnschiller
I kill them.
"Time traveling terrorists are no laughing matter, Malor." - *Legion* quote #30201
XBox Live: Novopain
*busy taking notes* thanks guys.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
I had a terrible experience with Buy.com when buying a Sony PSP. They lied about the product being in stock, they stalled and delayed, and when I canceled the order, they said "it couldn't be completely canceled" even though it wasn't in stock and I received the better part of the order anyway.
Shortly after that, and trying to talk to "no speake Englez" customer service on the phone, I removed my credit card numbers from my Buy.com account and never used it again. It was just... terrible. They've got a very low rating on resellerratings.com or whatever that site is called.
In short, buy.com is a group of dirty rotten scoundrels who somehow got ahold of a "good" domain name. People automatically assume that someone with "Buy.com" domain is too mainstream to be terrible, and boy are they in for a surprise.
You definately did the right thing, Lethial. But word of advice, for anyone really: Do not talk sh*t on the phone when customer service puts you on hold. This is especially the case when you're on hold for a long, long time. Most often they're listening to your comments, and they'll often extend your waiting period. Gotta' love it.
I have to sympathize with them, though. Their work is tough. They have to deal with a lot of bullsh*t, and a lot of ridiculous questions. My brother once told me a story of how one of his co-workers in a tech company had to deal with someone who allegedly thought a computer mouse was a foot pedal.
That's probably the oldest phone service urban legend on the books. Second only to the "Is it plugged in?" story.
I second all of the advice above, but add that you should not be afraid to be firm with service folks. If you have been polite, informative and concise and are still getting sh*t, then there is no need to become rude, but there is also no need to allow them to treat you like a doormat. Bottom line: you're paying them for a service. If you do not feel that you are getting the service for which you are paying, you have a right to be upset or demand that your money be refunded and take your business elsewhere. These folks who treat customers like sh*t believe that they have the right to do so because we allow them to believe so.
Don't be saucy with me, Bernaise. - Count DeMonet
FalseGravity - My first blog.
Oh, I don't doubt it's bullsh*t. I'm just saying; these people have to deal with a lot of crap, and most of the time it's all intentional. It's one of the main reasons as to why I'd prefer to stay far away from phone service as an occupation. Well, desk service isn't much better in my opinion, but hey, I guess you could get some kicks out of it if you're the type of person. Anyways, I'm sure they don't want to be there (obviously) and that it's required to get the bills paid, but damn. . . I gotta' feel for them. Generally speaking -- yeah, just be kind and respectful. Don't give them a reason to retaliate and you should be fine. Otherwise, you know what to do.
Oh, I haven't heard that one. Any chance you can share?
XBox Live|Tshirts|xfire | Last.fm
Customer calls CSR. Says the computer has stopped working. CSR asks if it's turned on. Customer says "Yes." CSR asks if it's plugged in. Customer says "Yes." CSR then asks customer to check the serial # on the back of the PC. Customer says that they can't see it. CSR asks why. Customer says "The power is out, so I can't turn on the lights to see ..."
Don't be saucy with me, Bernaise. - Count DeMonet
FalseGravity - My first blog.
Man, I've had some dumb things but that just takes it all.
XBox Live|Tshirts|xfire | Last.fm
That story has been circulating since at least 1995. I doubt that it ever actually happened.
Don't be saucy with me, Bernaise. - Count DeMonet
FalseGravity - My first blog.
During my extremely brief stint as a customer service rep for a company I got to sit in an listen to another CSR handle a call. The CSR was telling the lady to put the ISP's CD in her drive and run "Iexplorer.exe" to reinstall Internet Explorer. The lady was becoming extremely aggitated because, according to her, there was no "Iexplorer.exe" on the CD. After verifying that she had the correct CD in, the CSR got her to read out the contents on the CD to him. As she was going through the list of directories, he was checking them off on his screen to cofirm, that yes she did have the correct CD in. When the next one on the list was the internet explorer directory, the lady read out "le Explorer" (she was not French BTW) and kept going. The CSR quickly pushed the mute button and we both keeled over laughing. After the CSR told her that the directory was "I Explorer" he got her to open the directory. She managed to complete that task. Then he asked her to double click on "Iexplorer.exe". She said she there was no "Iexplorer.exe", but there was an "le explorer.exe". It was a long call needless to say.
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
Hehe, good to see that CSRs get to have fun sometime too.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote:
Then there's the one about the person calling becuase there drink holder that came with there computer was broken....
Wannabe priest with a sword....
I personally had to fly from FL to NY to fix a piece of equipment. When I got there the power plug was not pushed in all the way and that was the only problem. So it does happen.
I don't think I've ever said this sentence before, but man would I love to hump that butterfly.-- KrazyTaco
One phone call and you're melting like butter over my kettle pop. -- Edwin to Mex
2005 GWJFFL2 Champion
And the ending is the CSR telling the customer to put the computer back in the box because "you're too f*cking stupid to own a computer."
Fedaykin98 wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:
Dude, I did 4 years of tech support for Apple Computers. I've had this call.
Q: What is the state of the computer at this point sir?
A: Nevada
In fact as an example of this call. I worked on 9/11 I remember going into work and listening to the events on radio, but I didn't know how bad they were till I got home at the end of the day.
I had calls from people in New York most particularly several blocks from ground zero who had lost power and were having computer/internet/power issues. Imagine my joy at having to explain they may need to wait out the emergency before they could get there precious computer working again. And at times there confusion over what I was telling them, (Because we were not allowed to comment or anything on the events we had to pretend like the world was full of sunshine and rainbows for everyone.) It was a particularly brutal day.
The voices say hello.
Oh heck while we're at it.
I had a call with a person who could only get the mouse to work on half the screen.
After 20 min of trying to figure out what in the OS would prevent a person from using half the screen I notice a knocking sound ever time the customer was trying to get to the left of the screen. Turns out the customer was hitting the keyboard with the optical mouse. You've never heard anything funnier than a tech agent trying to explain the concept of picking the mouse up and moving it to access more of the screen.
My job as a frontline agent was not to solve problems. It was to intercept the stupid so the people gettting paid big money above me only got the real problems to deal with.
I also trained phone agents for 2 years. I'm a certified call center/phone agent expert.
Trick #1: Never ask a customer to check if something is plugged in. ( - If you ask them to see if the keyboard is plugged in they will lazily look and if it's anywhere near the port they'll tell you it's plugged in.)
Always get them to disconnect/ reconnect it. When it suddenly works you can make them feel good by not telling them it was loose and like a TV checking the cables is a fairly baisc thing that most monkeys should know how to do.
The voices say hello.
Much agreed. Once they become rude, they're flagged for PvP.
"Screw the speed of light, fan-boy rage is my new gold standard for measuring velocity." - Dr. J
"Lupus with a crowbar is the meaning of life itself." - Certis
When I was in Tech Support, these are actual experiences I had:
"Hello, can you reset my genetic password?" If only I could have, I would have been doing the world a favor.
"Excuse me, where is the "any" key?" as in, Hit any key to continue.
"My computer says it's not getting any signal. Is the network down?" I walk over and see the monitor is on, so I helpfully turn the on CPU. I smile at them and walk away. I also remind them of it at every chance.
I'm not lost. I'm locationally challenged.
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See? Quintin's heard that one. Where have you been, Ed?
I agree that people are often stupid, but I think the important thing that Tech Support and IT types often forget is that most of the folks calling for help aren't stupid, they're ignorant. There's a difference. Knowing how to educate people without being insulting and/or rude is what makes the differnce between being a good service rep and being a dickhead with a superiority complex.
Don't be saucy with me, Bernaise. - Count DeMonet
FalseGravity - My first blog.
Bad customer service.
hahaahaaaaa!
MaxShrek .. The reason you keep falling, is there is no bottom.
Horror Vacui
Hehe you guys are turning this rather pessimistic starting thread into something much more interesting. Thanks for all the inputs from the other side. And please do keep them coming.
I wish the CSR that I got had 1/10th of the sense of humor that you guys have.
Decisions are just decisions, there are neither "good" or "bad"
LobsterMobster wrote: