We're not allowed to say the customer lied

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

How, exactly, is telling a customer "That's not our equipment" equal to telling them "Liar liar pants on fire"?

The Dilbert Priniciple in action once again.

[wolfie]

Is there any way to ensure that this 2nd tier supervisor with a cranio-rectal inversion is involved in a particular call? If so, you might want to arrange for a friend to call, having trouble connecting through a router that your company supplied. It's not a Linksys or a Netgear - it's a D-something. D-link? Nope, DeWalt.

[bainsidhe]

How, exactly, is telling a customer "That's not our equipment" equal to telling them "Liar liar pants on fire"?

Here here! You're not saying they're lying. You're saying they're WRONG. To most people, that would be a lot less frustrating than being given the runaround and then transfered constantly because no one wanted to "lie" to you.

If I said, "I THINK the technition left this", does implying otherwise fall into shady territory. C'mon. How lame. Too bad you didn't rip the manager a new one.

[Boozy]

Here here! You're not saying they're lying. You're saying they're WRONG. To most people, that would be a lot less frustrating than being given the runaround and then transfered constantly because no one wanted to "lie" to you.

I totally agree. Despite all the stories here, the majority of people are not SCs and will not go ape shit at being told they are mistaken. Most people are reasonable folks who just want their problems fixed as quickly as possible.

This company should treat their customers like adults and stop worrying about hurting their feelings.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

Wow. That's......all new kinds of asstardery...

I say "asstardery" because it's a mix between ass and retard, which is what you have to deal with...I really feel for you.

[gunsage]

The funniest part is all I had to do was apply the HSD (high speed data aka Das Internet JA) code and he was up. I didn't have to bother quibbling with the customer over the details and I got a sale out of it. I've yet to be written up (the t2 supervisor claimed he was going to get some higher up to contact my sups or something) and honestly, the only thing I could've done better was pressed the point into eternity.

I guess my major concern through all this was that I've heard a LOT of BS from t2. And hey, it happens. Each department has people that don't want to do their job, are lazy, make excuses, etc. and make life hard for everyone. Clearly not ALL t2 is like that. Actually, there are a number of them that write excellent notes and transfer for perfectly legitimate issues. On top of that, they almost seem cheery...almost. I'm certain our t2 has it rough and that's why I understand the lack of morale, but still don't excuse flat out BS.

What troubled me the most about this was this guy was a supervisor. If it was Bobby Ray working on his computer telling me this, fine, whatever. If it was the t2 agent sounding absolutely zombified, yeah, I can see that. No, this was a supervisor...someone who probably wasn't hired in at this position, but rather worked his way up to it. He should know the policy and if that really IS the policy, clearly HR involvement is necessary.

[Seshat]

Find out who's responsible for tier 2, and tell them about the problems you're having. Ask if he's the source of 'don't tell the customer they're lying', and tell them about the difficulties that causes.

If your calls are recorded, have him listen to that call, with you pausing and providing appropriate commentary.

If whoever's responsible for tier 2 is competent, that should solve it. If they're not, you may have to go further up the chain.

If you go up the chain and don't get a satisfactory resolution, consider finding a better company to work for.

[gunsage]

The problem is that our tier 2 call centers are contracted. As a result, when I did get the supervisor...

A. There was no way of guaranteeing whether or not that was actually a supervisor. For all I know, it could've been the guy sitting next to him.

B. There are SO many details we'd have to go over involving the tier 2 department that it would actually be better to get a different company to do it for us. Of course, that would have to be HR's decision, not mine, and I don't really feel my supervisors are backing me on this, despite the fact that it's affecting a good portion of our department.

C. Let's assume that was definitely a tier 2 supervisor. Let's also assume that really is the policy. It doesn't mean that holds true for all the tier 2 call centers. Besides, it's more of a nonsense policy that probably goes hand in hand with following a script. The sad part is that the last time I did tech support was as a tier 2, but we also had our tier 3 department within the same call center. There was a sense of trust and reliance. Unfortunately, with the company segmented in that regard, I don't think we'll ever achieve that or be able to come together on a policy that makes sense.

I'll be moving to first shift soon, where I probably won't have time to care because I'll probably constantly be in queue. I perform at my best under those circumstances and as I'm a proficient multitasker, that'll be my time to shine.

[MoonChild2007]

I guess that's their way of saying the customers is always right

[asyouwish]

Well, I guess it's just okay news. If anything, I'm still pissed. It really doesn't seem to be getting any better in our department. The tier 2 groups are getting progressively worse and snotty to boot. With supervisors like THAT backing them, it's pretty obvious why. So what do you guys think? What do you think would be the best policy in dealing with this? It's starting to get out of hand and we even have a supervisor (one of my favorites, in fact) leaving because of all of it.

Be nice to them, they don't get enough training and probably had a really pushy cust. They were probably new from the sounds of it, and I had the same job and no support from my sup. We evil CSR's have to work together, not ridicule each other. Many times the cust says it's our mdm and we find out later it's not - by that time we're in a corner. Was this in Florida, by any chance??

[gunsage]

Nope, not Florida. The tier 2 was from Canada, actually. My problem is that...

1. I proved it was not the customer's to the tier 2.
2. We had apparently had previous problems with this agent regarding this.
3. I proved it with VERY LITTLE EFFORT that it wasn't the customer's to the tier 2 supervisor.
4. The supervisor could not effectively explain how that "policy" trumps common sense.
5. The next few minutes with the supervisor were nothing but a cyclical argument.
6. The SUPERVISOR cold transferred the customer over to me.

Another thing...recall that I have former experience in security. In fact, in chronological order, here's how my jobs shook out...

- Stocker
- Gas Station Attendant
- Gas Station Attendant
- Gas Station Attendant
- Security Officer
- Tier 2 Agent
- Security Officer
- Factory Temp
- Security Officer
- Tier 3 Agent

When I first entered tier 2 work, there were a LOT of agents that were steamrolled by customers left and right. The funny part is if a customer was being a douche, not only would I not tolerate it, I'd either A) have fun with it or B) warn them until either they stopped or I was forced to hang up. A lot of agents were worried that would affect their stats, thus the personal coaching from me.

The primary hate I have of my job right now doesn't come from cold transfers...it comes from incompetence. If it's your job, do it. If it's your job and I KNOW it's your job and I INFORM you it's your job, do NOT argue with me about it, do it. I try to be calm and coolheaded, but when you put the customer's hamdouchery above your intelligence in a blatant, idiotic attempt at a bad transfer, do yourself a favor, quit while you're behind.