I think I screwed up...

[gunsage]

Any feedback you guys can provide will be helpful. It's hard to admit when you've done something wrong, especially when you think it might get you fired, so I wanted your guys' opinion on this first. Ever since I started this position, we've had a problem with cold transfers. To elaborate, theoretically NO ONE should be cold transferring to our department. Cold transferring is different from warm transferring in that you just hit the number, then transfer, instead of hitting the number, waiting for the group to pick up, then relaying the situation, getting confirmation to transfer, then transferring.

That said, I don't feel like our management has really done anything about it ever since I started almost 2 years ago. Recently I started using an internal communication method to relay the message "Please do not cold transfer to the tier 3 group. Thank you." Simple, right? Well, except, we've never really been told whether we're allowed to use said form of communication, especially for those purposes.

Flash forward to today. I get a cold transfer from our lovely customer service department just before lunch. I start to look up the offender's info when I notice 1) this person was a repeat offender and 2) there were comments put on the account..."transferred to level 2." In other words, she deliberately stated she transferred to a department she clearly didn't, has done this before, and cold transferred on top of it. Furious and not really thinking, I go on the message system and relay the following message...

"You transferred to the level 3 department, not level 2, and you cold transferred. This completely goes against policy. This is not the first time you have done this and your supervisor will be notified."

Therefore, she E-MAILS me back...

"Please do not send me messages about my xfering to another department. She told me she was told by level 2 that she needed to speak with level 3 about slow browsing issues which is why she was sent there- I explained to her that level 2 does not always send to the correct dept, and for some reason level 3 calls get xfered to us. So you made your point. Sorry for the huge in convenenience, and my supervisor is copied on this email. Thank you and have a nice day"

And yes, she cc'd her supervisor. At this point, I don't really know what to do, if anything, to prevent getting in trouble. It was a damn stupid mistake on my part. Granted, I could always send back the repeated offenses on her part, but I don't think that'd exactly mull it over. It doesn't help any to know that the management for this department sucks and really isn't on our side, so if I so much as mention any of this, I'll surely get in trouble.

At this point, I'm thinking to myself that she just admitted she transferred improperly and tried to mull it over with a poor excuse which really isn't going to impress her supervisor. However, I don't want to make matters worse. I just really have no idea what to do.

[MannersMakethMan]

Honestly? I'd be tempted to just leave things as they are.

You made a mistake. Fair enough, it happens to everyone, and I think the penalty this time is to not mention any previous indiscretions. She could make things very ugly very quickly, and since this time it's your mistake, you're going to be made the villain of the piece. I'd normally say to apologise to her, but I get the feeling all there'd be would be a nice vitriolic reply (cc'd again to the supervisor) making you look bad and stirring up a whole heap of trouble unnecessarily.

However, there now exists a formal exchange between you two, so you can feel free to start documenting any further problems and bring them to the attention of the relevant people. She's been told about cold transfers, and you can prove it, so anything afterwards should be duly noted.

[gunsage]

I guess that's one way to look at it. Personally, I feel sick just thinking about it. It would be one thing if I felt the supervisors were on our side, as we're a small, specialized group and don't handle a very large queue as a result because of all the side duties, etc. Unfortunately, that's not the case. If it was, I would simply have manned up about what I did to one of them and it'd be over.

[Balgram]

I don't think you made that big of a mistake. If anything, your tone is the only issue I could even claim to take.

It sounds like this lady knows she did a cold transfer, if anything, I'd reply along the following lines, or leave it alone:

"Thank you for explaining the situation, and I'm glad I understand what happened better now, and apologize if my tone earlier seemed upfront or rude. In future, I would appreciate it if you would let us know what is happening with the phone call before transferring the customer. I understand that it can be tiresome to explain every call before transferring, but it's greatly appreciated and helps us assist customers more efficiently."

NOTE: Avoid accusing anyone of anything. That'll look really bad, and it puts people on the defensive automatically.

If your company looks down on e-mailing each other like this, then don't do anything. I don't think you did anything wrong.

If anyone does give you heat over this, explain that you were just trying to explain that it's difficult to work with customers when you've been cold transferred. You're very sorry it's escalated this far, and didn't intend any serious effects to this degree.

In other words, BS until the cows come home.

Seriously, though, don't panic. You made a mistake. It's not a big one. It's over. Try not to make any future mistakes, and if you're nervous about acting just leave it alone.

[crazylegs]

Leave. It. Alone.

You've bruised her ego a little and any further snark or snippyness may be enough to get her even more annoyed.

If her supervisor does get in touch make sure you have dates/times of when she's cold transfered, so your arse is covered.

[Gerrinson]

I think Balgram might have the right idea. Personally, I don't think what you did will get you fired unless you're on your last write upalready. Most places you'd get a verbal warning and the chance to explain your side of it. It's possible management there might do more, but I think it would be awfully sucky of them to do so in this case.

[wagegoth]

Balgram is right: the only real problem with this was your tone. His response is excellent.

For the future, unless you're someone's supervisor or higher, don't use that tone and don't jump them regarding policy. They are considered your peers and you need to talk to them in the same way you prefer to be spoken to. For the future, keep a draft email template that you can copy (if you use Outlook) that says something like:

"At xx:xx pm today, I received a cold call that was transferred from your phone. For the future, please be aware that policy requires that the party transferring a call to Tier 3 support stay on the line and explain the situation with the caller before releasing the transfer. We appreciate your cooperation, as it cuts down on the customer repeating himself and speeds up the process."

[gunsage]

Thanks for the advice, guys! No further action has been taken by me or anyone else at this time, so hopefully it'll stay that way. Just in case, I do still have her e-mail.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Call me nasty and spiteful, but I don't see much of a problem with the OP's tone.

She knows she isn't supposed to cold transfer, she did it anyway, and she's made a habit of it. She can piss up a rope for all I care.

Sometimes you have to really rock the boat to get things addressed, I've noticed. It makes me wonder why there's a policy, official or unofficial, against cold transferring if the supervisor's won't do anything about it when it happens.

But then again I'm just fireable like that, do not suffer fools gladly and have several other things wrong with me.

[Naaman]

I'd also mention that if the supervisor checked with T2 and they advised an immeadiate transfer to T3 (but not cold....Bad operative!!) a line in the notes would help to clarify the situation.

[prb]

You also have to be careful about customers dialing directly through if your department has it's own line. It seems to be the only way to get someone at Rogers and I've done it a few times to get a rep.