I can't believe HE got in trouble for this....

[sld72382]

Got relayed this story 2nd hand. A CW was helping a customer on a game console when the call went south....

(Had to do with the tech telling the SC he needed to buy the console's official wireless adapter and that generics won't work).

SC: I don't believe what you're telling me is true, dammit.

CW: I'm sorry you feel that way but you can call MS if you don't believe me.

SC: You know what? You sound like a ni**er. (Don't want to say the full word on CS).

CW: Okay sir I urge you to keep this call professional and quit with the racist comments.

SC: Why should I be professional, jackass?

CW: Okay since you're aiming to take this conversation downhill with hurling insults and being a major racist ignoramus in the process I'm going to have to end this call now. Have a good day....

SC: Fuck you! *click.*


About an hour after the call, the tech got written up for "committing customer abuse" because he called the SC an ignoramus. As far as I know his sup hated doing it but QA pressured him to do so. Um, QA, did you not here the SC call him a racist slur? He didn't get in any further trouble, thankfully.

[FiddleFaddle]

He didn't say he was an ignoramus, just said he was acting like one..that's disgusting, that bastard slew verbal abuse and the guy reacts to it brilliantly and gets in trouble because he said something mean to the person that called him such a nasty word?


Disgusting

[mikoyan29]

What kind of QA would want to write up someone for that conversation?

[sld72382]

What kind of QA would want to write up someone for that conversation?

It wasn't QA. They just pressure his sup to do the write up.

QA says you're not supposed to "fire back" at a customer if they say unwelcome or unprofessional comments. You're only supposed to warn the customer to "keep the call professional." They lump it into the other forms of "customer abuse." This tech "fired back" by calling the SC an ignoramus.

Should they have looked the other way? Of course. Will they? Of course not, people's bonuses are on the line with those audits they do.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

What kind of QA would want to write up someone for that conversation?

It's a call center, I think. And in call centers, the companies paying the call center to do their customer service make the rules.

If the call center doesn't want to follow the rules, there are countless others the company can take its accounts to.

Therefore, calling a customer a ignoramus, even if they are being an ignoramus, is out.

Had the tech not used the word ignoramus and just said he was terminating the call due to the caller's racially insensitive remarks, he might have gotten away with it.

Also I'd like to again state I'm very happy I didn't get that call center job I applied for years ago. If I did I'd probably be more fucked up than I am now, if that is even possible.

[Rena_Muffin]

That's seriously messed up.

[Daemonmonkey]

QA says you're not supposed to "fire back" at a customer if they say unwelcome or unprofessional comments. You're only supposed to warn the customer to "keep the call professional." They lump it into the other forms of "customer abuse."

That's why SCs can abuse REP's over the phone, just because they know they can get away with abusive language.

If CORP weren't such a$$holes about the whole thing of "customer satisfaction" then things would probably be more civilized.

[Bright_Star]

So he wasn't allowed to defend himself?? He got put on the defensive, how do you think he would react with having a racial slur slung at him? That he just called him an ignoramus is a miracle of restraint.

[Jetfire]

While I can understand why and how he got to that point, don't most call centres have a policy that if the caller gets abusive, the employee can hang up? That is probably the better course of action, instead of "defending" themselves. Don't lower yourself to their level, even if it feels better. The click and dialtone is much more effective in the end.

Of course if the call centre doesn't allow that, then things are Truly Messed Up, and I've got nothing.

[nicolecj]

So he wasn't allowed to defend himself?? He got put on the defensive, how do you think he would react with having a racial slur slung at him? That he just called him an ignoramus is a miracle of restraint.

He wasn't defending himself, he was going on the offensive and striking back. That is the best way to have the situation sprial completely out of control and end up with a big fight.

In this situation, and situations like this everyday it is ALWAYS the better option to rise above it and only use their own actions against them. Think of it not as a bar fight where he who gets the hardest shot in wins, but like a sumo match were you have to wait for your moment and use the customer's own momentum to through them out of the ring.

In this case there is a code of conduct in most call centers where if the customer is physically abusive after warning, or threatening in any manner they have the right to hang up and report them. This will sometimes result in limits on their accounts and occasionally being banned from the company or only being able to contact the company through certain mediums.

When someone says something insulting or vaguely threatening, I actually egg them on a bit by asking 'are you threatening me?' The reason I do this is I need them to directly threaten me because I have all of their information including telephone number, address, and ss# and threatening someone in my job is considered a federal offence so I let them pull themselves down.

It is much more satisfying that getting into a pissing match. You might come out with a bruised ego from the few insults you had to take, but in the end you will win by letting them destroy themselves without taking you down with them.

[Rapscallion]

SC: You know what? You sound like a ni**er. (Don't want to say the full word on CS).

Your choice, obviously, but if quoting someone we're not too troubled.

Rapscallion