You're All Incompetant!!! - A Rant (or is it a meltdown?) (long)

[KatL]

If they end up listening to the recording of the calls from this woman I'll probably get reprimanded in some way but at this point I don't care anymore. I'm really at the end of my SC rope. I don't think I was REALLY out of line, just a bit short. In my defense I haven't gotten decent sleep for days, I have a cold AND a toothache. And also I wasn't snotty or rude, just... argumentative I guess...

I work (5 years in may) at a call center that takes orders for about 100 different companies. Basically we're an overflow dept for these places on weekends or when their lines are busy, etc. Near the end of a fun filled day (today) full of whining and complaining and not listening and snobbery and rudeness and people who sounded like their last 2 braincells were out to lunch - I got a lady who started right out yelling. Said she'd placed an order on the 28th of Feb and didn't get it. She said it was sent to the wrong address because the STUPID girl taking the order wrote it down wrong. I asked her if she'd checked to see if her credit card had been charged. She said she shouldn't have to. I looked her up in our system (i say OUR because we can't see files at the main facilities which makes our lives a living nightmare when people insist we can blah blah blah) and the order HAD been taken at our facility as well as 5 messages over the last week or so reguarding the problem. All but one of the messages had the "wrong address". One of the "wrong" address messages was taken by a very sweet and very competant supervisor.

ME: "Ma'am all these have the same address on them. So is the 7200 Blah St. the correct address?"

HER: NOOOO! It's 1700 Blah St! Youre all incompetant and I'm calling my lawyer!"

NOTE: As an outside service we don't store customer information. We have to get it fresh with each call even if they've ordered a zillion times.

ME: Ok I don't understand I guess. So you've called 5 times now and talked to 5 diffent people and EVERY time the person has misunderstood you and put the wrong address down? The SAME wrong address?

HER: Yes because they're all stupid and incompetant!

I know all but one of the people who took the messages/order and they are NOT incompetant. What I DO know is that 9 times out of 10 situations like this are because the SC is incompetant. I know what I "should" have done was let it go and just took another message right away but I just couldn't. I don't think people should be allowed to act however they want and I'm sick of having to smile and say how I'm soooo sorry everything is OUR fault when it's NOT!

ME: So what you're telling me is that you've called on 5 seperate occasions and talked to 5 seperate people on 5 seperate days and each time, they heard you say your address wrong but they all heard you say it wrong the exact same way? 7200 Blah St.

HER: That's right! I know my own address! I wouldn't say my own address wrong! They just keep copying the wrong one over because they're stupid and incompetant!

ME: *gives up* No ma'am they aren't incompetant and they can't copy it over because we're an outside service for the company. We don't store customer information. That's why I say I don't understand how 5 different people took fresh info from you but all got the SAME wrong address. Anway, what I can do is take another message for you. May I have your first name please?

HER: That's YOUR opinion that they aren't incompetant!

ME: May I have your first name please?

HER: I'm calling my lawyer on Monday and by God I'll get more than my measely $40 back!

ME: *a touch of amusment in my voice* Ok ma'am. May I have your first name please?

HER: Don't you have it there already?!?

ME: (didn't i just tell her i DIDN'T???) As I said, this is an OUTSIDE SERVICE. WE DO NOT store customer information. May I have your first name please?

*Insert more whining and threatening and name calling (on her part) here*

Finally she gave me her info and then made me repeat it back so as to make sure I got it right and all. I told her to have a nice day and that was that.

Now, if I were to guess what happened here, I'd say when she gave her address in the first place, for the order, she said, "Seventeen hundred Blah St" instead of "One, seven, zero, zero Blah St" and it sounded like 7200 to the girl who took the order because many times when they give a number that way it's hard to understand them due to mumbling/poor cell phone reception/their mouths being crammed full of food with they are moistly chewing in your ear. And when the girl repeated it back to her as we're suppsed to (we have to repeat it back single digit so there's no errors), she said, "Seven, two, zero, zero Blah St" and the womans brain short circuited and she agreed. For some reason when you repeat a number back to them single digit like that, they freak out. I can't tell you how many people have screamed at me something like, "NO! IT'S NOT FOUR, SEVEN, THREE IT'S FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE!" They seem to get confused when you say it that way. Sigh. So yeah, my guess is that's what happened.

Bah. Bahhhhh! I don't even care if I get in trouble. I think it's time for a new job except there are no jobs that don't involve people. Honestly, this job has made me DESTEST most of the human race! But the alternative to quitting this job is getting one where I'd have to FACE the public and kiss ass in person instead of being behind a phone where I can flip the @#$%&*'s off when they piss me off. Sigh. Eck

[Amethyst Hunter]

You handled it better than I would've.

SO hear you on the wanting a job that doesn't involve dealing with humanity (at least on a regular basis).

[Shironu-Akaineko]

I'll call my lawyer to get more than my 40$ back...

You do realize that you have to pay this lawyer, missus SC?

[Sonoma]

when the girl repeated it back to her as we're suppsed to (we have to repeat it back single digit so there's no errors), she said, "Seven, two, zero, zero Blah St" and the womans brain short circuited and she agreed. For some reason when you repeat a number back to them single digit like that, they freak out. I can't tell you how many people have screamed at me something like, "NO! IT'S NOT FOUR, SEVEN, THREE IT'S FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE!" :

We have a similar rule where I work. If the order number is MYKAR, then we're supposed to repeat back MARY, YANKEE, KILO, ALPHA, ROMEO, or whatever phonetic alphabet you can come up with. We have one individual who gets upset if you read it back phonetically. Then, when you mistake his "D" for an "E", or whatever, he throws the biggest hissy fit ever. So, he gets mad if you do it the way you're supposed to, and if you do it his way and the number's not clear, he gets mad too.

Everybody in my department knows who he is, and all you have to do is say his name to get eye rolls from all of your neighbors. I've given up hope that he would someday realize that if he were nicer to our people, then we might be more willing to go above & beyond, versus doing what we have to do, and nothing more.

[KatL]

Yes, we do it that way when a letter is hard to understand. They get SO mad, like we're trying to say they weren't speaking clear or something when it fact its just that there are certain letter (f and s, t and p, etc) that sound exactly alike sometimes over the phone. Once...

ME: Is that C as in cat?

HER: No that's C and in salad.

[Bonnie Bitch]

Now, if I were to guess what happened here, I'd say when she gave her address in the first place, for the order, she said, "Seventeen hundred Blah St" instead of "One, seven, zero, zero Blah St" and it sounded like 7200 to the girl who took the order because many times when they give a number that way it's hard to understand them due to mumbling/poor cell phone reception/their mouths being crammed full of food with they are moistly chewing in your ear. And when the girl repeated it back to her as we're suppsed to (we have to repeat it back single digit so there's no errors), she said, "Seven, two, zero, zero Blah St" and the womans brain short circuited and she agreed. For some reason when you repeat a number back to them single digit like that, they freak out. I can't tell you how many people have screamed at me something like, "NO! IT'S NOT FOUR, SEVEN, THREE IT'S FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE!" They seem to get confused when you say it that way. Sigh. So yeah, my guess is that's what happened.

Been there, lived through that.
My faves:
customers call in and try to be cutesy with the phone numbers. So, instead of giving their phone number one digit at a time, they try to cram two digits together. So, if the last four of the # is 7890, they'll say seventy-eight ninety.
And that's just so trendy <insert puking sound here>, but WTF do you do with:

SC: My number is thirtynine, eighty-eight, fiftyuhsix.
ME: Ok, so that's 3988506. Could I have the area code please?
SC: Thirty-nine.
ME: No, that's not an area code. An area code has three digits.
SC: Three what?
ME: Three numbers.
SC: <transcribed to get the feel of this SC> You stupid. A area code
just one number.
ME: I apologize for your confusion. An area code has three numerals in it. May I please have your area code, one numeral at a time?
SC: Thirty-nine.
ME: I'm sorry, but I'll be unable to assist you today, as I have no way of retrieving your account information without a valid telephone number. Thank you for calling XYZTV, and have a nice...
SC:" No, waiT! I was on hold for a hour, I don't want to wait...
ME: Phone number, area code first, one numeral at a time, please.
SC: <big sigh> Area code three zero nine.....

I was overly nice on that call.
The other one was an SC who wanted to make a payment on his XYZTV account, and when I asked for the expiration date....

SC: Huh? Oh, yeah, the expiration is one ten four dash two one three one.
ME:..... Uhm, ok... could you repeat that please?
SC: Damn, you stupid.
ME: That could very well be. However, one ten four dash two one three one is still not a recognized date on any calendar ever devised by mankind. In order to process your payment, I'll need the expiration date from your credit card.
SC: I done give it to ya already.
ME: No, sir, you did not. You read off a series of meaningless numbers. Please read the expiration date from your card, so that I can process this payment for you.
SC: One ten four dash two one three one.
ME: Ok, and what month, date, and year would that be on a calendar?
SC: January 10th, 2004 dash February 13th, 2010.
ME: Thank you.

01/10/ 04 - 02/13/10
must have been input into that SC brain as one ten four dash 2 one three one.
Pesky damn zeros!

I share your pain, hon! <big hug>

[KatL]

I've had this thing happening lately where instead of them giving a phone number in the way that people have given phone numbers since the begining of telephones (IE - 501-555-1234) they say something along the lines of, "50-1-5-55-123-4". It messes me up every time, lol. My fingers just stop working because that's not the way I expected to hear it. Why on Earth would you give your number that way and HOW could you? I mean its 3 numbers, 3 numbers then 4.

[TNT]

My favorite was the guy reading me his credit card number... instead of 0004, he called it "three zeros four." I stagger at the amount of thought he put into it. "Wow, not only is saying 'zero zero zero four" a lot of work, it's boring, too. I've got to figure me a way to jazz it up."

Oh, well... he could have done worse, I suppose: "Double-ought four with a leading zero."

[KatL]

"Double-ought four with a leading zero."

LMAO

Don't know why but that made me think of the lady who once said to me...

"Eight! Eight! You know, the LETTER right after nine?"

[CurlyLocks]

I've noticed that a lot of our Canadian customers will give a credit card number as "triple zero four" for 0004, or whatever, but I've only once heard an American say a number that way.

[tollbaby]

I've noticed that a lot of our Canadian customers will give a credit card number as "triple zero four" for 0004, or whatever, but I've only once heard an American say a number that way.

I've never heard anybody give a number that way....

[Jester]

So, instead of giving their phone number one digit at a time, they try to cram two digits together. So, if the last four of the # is 7890, they'll say seventy-eight ninety.
And that's just so trendy <insert puking sound here

Trendy, nauseating, and annoying it may be, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary.

For example, my street address is 3333.

When I first moved in, I tried to be cute and say "four threes." Naturally people only heard "43."

Then I tried to be seriou and I would say "three three three three. People only heard 333, NOT 3333.

Now I say "thirty three thirty three" and people (usually) get it. Yes, it is a lot of threes. But it happens to be where I live.

[CurlyLocks]

I've never heard anybody give a number that way....

Hmm, maybe they live in different provinces than you do. Seriously, though, I hear it a lot from your compatriots.

[Imogene]

SC: Thirty-nine.

*we so need an eyebrow quirk icon for the site, it should look like the smiley is going into brain freeze*
Thirty nine? Let's see... that could be: 0-3-9; 3-9-0; or just 3-9. In my interpretation, anyway. None of which are correct, apparently, since the guy didn't specify whether or not there was actually a hyphen in his pronunciation of thirty nine!
*hugs*

[BusyBee]

I dunno about other Aussies but if I had to say "0004", "triple-zero, four" would be the first way that came to my mind. Double and triple are so handy, getting into quadruple and quintuple is a bit tricky though hehe.

Jester, you could also try "double three, double three"? Or be silly and say "three thousand, three hundred, and thirty three." Although I wouldn't be surprised if most people's brains short-circuit with a number that long