This is not a rant about customers, but a rant TO the customers.
I am a customer service rep myself and understand how things work being one, and have so for many years. Trust me when i say the more Loud/Arrogant/Annoying you are, the less you will actually get what you want. I understand that reps can sometimes be stupid, but for most of us we have been put through alot of training and know how to do our job well, but a bad attitude will make us dumbdown to the same level and annoy you right back. If you are in a really bad situation, ask to escalate to get it resolved as much as you can, but please do it in a nice manner and you will get your issue resolved fast and properly.
Believe me when i say this, because when you act in an idiotic manner, because of our policies that we have here towards the customer, our only defense is to slow things down a bit while still doing our job to make it tedious on you. You know that we cannot hang up on you, you know that we cannot cuss at you, but we can make things hard on you.
I worked tech support/customer service for 7 years. when I had an irate customer, I tried very hard to calm them down and help them out. I found that most customers only want to be treated fairly and usually they behave badly when they’re frustrated and feeling like they’re being cheated.
But then, I’m almost a half century old and was raised with the adage that the customer is always right. To purposely slow things down and attempt to annoy the customer right back is childish and terribly unprofessional.
I worked tech support/customer service for 7 years. when I had an irate customer, I tried very hard to calm them down and help them out. I found that most customers only want to be treated fairly and usually they behave badly when they’re frustrated and feeling like they’re being cheated.
But then, I’m almost a half century old and was raised with the adage that the customer is always right. To purposely slow things down and attempt to annoy the customer right back is childish and terribly unprofessional.
You know I have noticed that when I talk to an OLDer sounding CS person they do tend to be more helpful than younger ones and more willing to voluntear information.
I worked tech support/customer service for 7 years. when I had an irate customer, I tried very hard to calm them down and help them out. I found that most customers only want to be treated fairly and usually they behave badly when they’re frustrated and feeling like they’re being cheated.
But then, I’m almost a half century old and was raised with the adage that the customer is always right. To purposely slow things down and attempt to annoy the customer right back is childish and terribly unprofessional.
While you may think it’s childish and or/ unprofessional the fact of the matter is that we are paid to assist the customer, to answer any questions they may have. No customer service rep in the world is paid enough money to listen to some wanna entrepreneur from NYC rage about how “time is money” for him and that he can’t be wasting his time talking to “idiots” like myself. I get paid to assist him, not to be the ass to his foot. So i do things like take up his “valuable” time while still doing my job. In a profession such as this where there is like a 60% turnover rate for employees, stress leave is handed out on a daily basis, and so many call center politics thrown in the mix, i find it a good way to make money, do my job and keep my sanity. Especially knowing that i just made some arrogant ass lose time and quite possibly money, rather then him ruining my entire work day. You may call it childish, i call it fairplay.
I fully understand how customer service works Marisa, no need to lecture me on “the customer knows best” policies, customer who treat me fairly will get the exact same back. But there is only so much you can do for people that cannot be pleased.
I worked tech support/customer service for 7 years. when I had an irate customer, I tried very hard to calm them down and help them out. I found that most customers only want to be treated fairly and usually they behave badly when they’re frustrated and feeling like they’re being cheated.
But then, I’m almost a half century old and was raised with the adage that the customer is always right. To purposely slow things down and attempt to annoy the customer right back is childish and terribly unprofessional.
While you may think it’s childish and or/ unprofessional the fact of the matter is that we are paid to assist the customer, to answer any questions they may have. No customer service rep in the world is paid enough money to listen to some wanna entrepreneur from NYC rage about how “time is money” for him and that he can’t be wasting his time talking to “idiots” like myself. I get paid to assist him, not to be the ass to his foot. So i do things like take up his “valuable” time while still doing my job. In a profession such as this where there is like a 60% turnover rate for employees, stress leave is handed out on a daily basis, and so many call center politics thrown in the mix, i find it a good way to make money, do my job and keep my sanity. Especially knowing that i just made some arrogant ass lose time and quite possibly money, rather then him ruining my entire work day. You may call it childish, i call it fairplay.
I fully understand how customer service works Marisa, no need to lecture me on “the customer knows best” policies, customer who treat me fairly will get the exact same back. But there is only so much you can do for people that cannot be pleased.
Let me ask you this CingularGuy, does Cingular or the company you work for if you are outsourced encourage this practice?
NOT AT ALL. And understandably so, However, even though this company is paying me, whether it be cingular/att directly or an outsourced company, they do not pay me near enough money to ruin my wellbeing. I look out for myself before i look out for the company, and if i sense someone i’m speaking to is trying to insult me or make me feel lower than them, i will use the only defense that i have in a situation like this. It’s no different then being bullied in school, and then trying to make the bully look dumb so that he will stop.
I refuse to let the job and/or the customer stress me out over something “usually” so very minor.
I do not want to give the wrong impression and make it look as though i’m an ass on the phones myself, because i will go way beyond my limitations for a customer who has been done wrong, or who has serious issues but is remaining level headed. But like i said.. it’s only fair, if you’re an ass, i will try my best to be an ass aswell.
NOT AT ALL. And understandably so, However, even though this company is paying me, whether it be cingular/att directly or an outsourced company, they do not pay me near enough money to ruin my wellbeing. I look out for myself before i look out for the company, and if i sense someone i’m speaking to is trying to insult me or make me feel lower than them, i will use the only defense that i have in a situation like this. It’s no different then being bullied in school, and then trying to make the bully look dumb so that he will stop.
I refuse to let the job and/or the customer stress me out over something “usually” so very minor.
I do not want to give the wrong impression and make it look as though i’m an ass on the phones myself, because i will go way beyond my limitations for a customer who has been done wrong, or who has serious issues but is remaining level headed. But like i said.. it’s only fair, if you’re an ass, i will try my best to be an ass aswell.
Ok so the people you work for don’t encourage it but is it a common practice by CS agents where you work?
I guess what I am trying to ask is does Cingular discourage you from slowing down or anything.
It is common practice.. most definitely. However, that’s not to say that people like Marisa don’t still exist, and who believe in the “customer is always right” policy.
Cingular as well as any Outsourced call center i’ve worked in most certainly discourage it, and you can severely be punished (ie. get a later shift/more work/risk of being fired) for doing such a thing, IF and ONLY IF the customer becomes more angry because of your slowness or tone. BUT, like i said before, i will take a chance at being fired any day over having my day ruined and/or being stressed out by someone who thinks he/she is god.
In the ideal situation, they would want you to try to calm an irate customer down by speaking in a softer tone, and listening to everything before speaking. By assuring them that you will be happy to assist with all of their problems, and that you’ll do your best to get it resolved. It’s the assurance that can make or break the deal between customer and rep. But just to clarify what i’ve said earlier, here is an example of a situation.
Customer: Hi, I tried checking my voicemail all day but it’s been giving me a fast busy signal, am i doing something wrong or is there a problem in my area.
Rep: I’m sorry to hear that, i can definitely check into that for you and see if we can get everything working correctly for you.
Customer: Thanks, I’ve been having this problem quite a bit and it’s really a hassle paying for a service that doesn’t work right.
Rep: I completely understand and once we fix this issue for you, i can check over your bill to see what we can do about your costs.
Customer: That would be great.
Example 2>>
Rep: thank you for calling cingula....
Customer:Yeah listen, i don’t want to hear all that shit.. i just want my f***ing voicemail to work. All day long this sh*t has been happening and i have important people that are trying to call me to do business. Do you know how much f***ing money i’m losing because of you f***ing morons. i’ve called in 3 times about this issue before and it’s still not f***ing fixed, i swear you people are so stupid.
Rep: I’m so sorry to hear about your problems sir, you should not have had to call in 3 times regarding this issue and i do apologize for that. Let me look at your account and make sure everything is set up correctly.
Customer: Of course it’s set up correctly, i set it up.. are you calling me stupid? I’m losing money right now because of this and you’re on the phone calling me an idiot? What kind of f***ing service is this, JUST FIX MY F***ING PROBLEM ALREADY.
Rep: I’d be happy to help you sir.. are you on your cellphone now?
Customer: JESUS CHRIST shouldn’t you know that already… Listen if you can’t fix this shit i’m going to another provider because this is just ridiculous. I can’t get any voicemail and everytime i call customer service it’s the same thing OVER and OVER again.. WHY ARE YOU SO STUPID.
Rep: ok.............. sir....................let’s..................see...........................what.................we...................can...............do...........etc.etc.etc.
That’s how it happens… Even the bad ones have a chance to be assisted properly like everyone else.. but when you get people that you can’t even speak to because they are calling you names, it’s fair game.
So umm do you handle the Easy Coast? LOL because if yo do I am scared of you. Oh wait I am no longer with Cingular no need to worry. Although I am sure there are CS agents like you everywhere.
While you may think it’s childish and or/ unprofessional the fact of the matter is that we are paid to assist the customer, to answer any questions they may have. No customer service rep in the world is paid enough money to listen to some wanna entrepreneur from NYC rage about how “time is money” for him and that he can’t be wasting his time talking to “idiots” like myself. I get paid to assist him, not to be the ass to his foot. So i do things like take up his “valuable” time while still doing my job. In a profession such as this where there is like a 60% turnover rate for employees, stress leave is handed out on a daily basis, and so many call center politics thrown in the mix, i find it a good way to make money, do my job and keep my sanity. Especially knowing that i just made some arrogant ass lose time and quite possibly money, rather then him ruining my entire work day. You may call it childish, i call it fairplay.
I fully understand how customer service works Marisa, no need to lecture me on “the customer knows best” policies, customer who treat me fairly will get the exact same back. But there is only so much you can do for people that cannot be pleased.
No need to lecture me on turnover or stress levels. Like I said, I did it for 7 years and would have continued if dial-up had not died. (Small ISP went from 2600+ cusotmers to >1000 in two years after both comcast and verizon DSL came here.) Because we were local, we knew many of our customers. They stayed with us, over AOL and the cheap national services, because of our tech support and customer service. But just because you’re an anonymous voice and you don’t have to face your customer is no reason to leave your manners at home. You’re being paid to be courteous; the customer is paying your salary, indirectly. You should not lose sight of that.
And yes, I dealt with irate, idiotic customers as well. Further, as a middle aged woman I also had to deal with agism and sexism. I can’t count the number of business customer, male and female, who assumed I was a secretary and refused to discuss their technical problems with me. Having worked in the construction industry previously, I was already adept at politely changing minds regarding my abilities. The point is, I never lost sight of the fact that the customer was paying so I treated him or her with respect no matter what. In seven years I can think of only two times that I had to pass a customer up the chain because of insulting disrespect from the customer. (One was drunk so maybe he shouldn’t count.)
The fact is, customer service is a profession. “Bedside manner” is just as important as the technical training you receive but unfortunately cannot be taught. You’re either a helpful, caring person with good people skills or you’re not. Apparently, you are not.
Nice post Marisa.... Although you are clearly full of it and i’ll tell you why. You rant about how tough it is being a middle aged woman, and how to act professional and use manners.. and then you end by saying that i’m not helpful, skillful or a caring person? Well done. Maybe you’re losing your memory at your age, who knows, because you talk about manners yet you clearly have none. Because i “choose” to not let the bad ones bring me down, and instead i “choose” to make them realize that being an ass will get you nowhere, does not mean i’m not good at my job, or that i’m not a caring person. I have a wife and 2 kids that would tell you otherwise, so don’t dare lecture me about how “tough” it is for you, it’s your “choice” whether you accept what’s being done to you. Apparently, you do.
Obviously you both are from two different eras, but with all due respect Cingularguy I rather get Marissa on the phone, I think I’d get so aggravated with you. lol
Mike i think you’re getting the wrong impression.. If you have a problem, i will fix it. If you have questions, i will answer them. But when you’re loud, cursing and making personal attacks on me by calling me an “idiot” and such, i will still fix your issue, but i will make it as difficult for you as you are making it for me. Yes, it’s common practice at the 4 centers i’ve worked at, where we actually handle about 75 calls a day, and not just 1000 locals.
But yeah mike, looking at your picture i can tell you would be a problem...lol NYC was always the worst for customers.
