I Said It and I Mean It

[flybye023]

I currently work in a shipping/receiving office for a storage facility. We don't actually own any of the product on the premises, everything that comes in and goes out belongs to our customers.

So, we have this customer who has constantly been out of various items since before Thanksgiving and has been kind of a pain. They don't quite seem to understand the concept that if they don't ship us their product we in turn can't send it to their clients. Basically they have an inventory problem that is, in fact, their problem not ours.

The Story:

I'm covering the lunch break for the scheduler (Carol) so I can do some things with appointments but I don't have access to a lot of the details of each appointment.

I get this call today and the lady first asks if a certain delivery has been scheduled. I look it up and find that yes, it's scheduled for next Thursday, the 26th. She then asks if the delivery can be moved to the 24th. This is when it got a little sucky.

Me: I'm sorry, but I don't have access to any information other than what I've given you. You'll have to talk to Carol when she gets back from lunch.

SC: Well, do you know if the appointment was made by us or the trucking company? (If the customer made the appointment, most likely it can be changed. If it was the trucker, we have to stick to it)

Me: Again, I don't have access to that--can I get your number so Carol can call you back?

SC: (gives it) Can you just tell me if this appointment can be moved? We really need to have it before the 26th so we can fulfill orders we want to ship on the 26th

Me:... (didn't I just answer that question twice? Also your inventory problems are just that yours) I'll just have Carol call you when she gets back.

SC: *exasperated sigh* Okay, you be sure and have her call me.

Really. If I tell you I can't help you, don't keep asking me if I can help you!

[Kittish]

Absolutely! I get similar situations on the phones fairly often at work. Customer will call with a question or problem that's outside the scope of what I'm able/allowed to handle, and I'll tell them so, and they proceed to repeat their question or problem, usually 3 or 4 times, getting my 'I'm sorry but I can't help you with this, you need to talk to ------' each time. Do people think that if they repeat themselves often enough the answer they get will somehow magically change into what they want to hear?!?

[Sylvia727]

People just can't listen. I answer the phone with "Bakery at the corner of Main and Washington, this is Sylvia, how can I help you?" and the customer says "Yes, are you the one at the corner of Main and Washington?" My other favorite is "Please hold so I can get the manager. No, I can't do that, but the manager can. Let me transfer you to the manager. I'll get you the manager. Please hold while I get you someone who can help you." Then when I finally cut them off and put them on hold anyway, they either hang up and call right back, or bitch at the manager about our aweful customer service (pun intended).

[ReverendBSB]

Today I was walking through the store and I was stopped by one of the girls and a customer. She asked me to check and see if we had any 6 foot cypress swings. I told them that we did not have any, only 4 and 5 foot swings. I did not need to look, as I had personally sold the last two days ago and we had not gotten any new ones in. So I continue on my business till a few minutes later I see one of the other guys headed towards the back. I ask him whats up and he asks me if we have any 6 foot cypress swings. The idiot customer went to the front desk and asked the girls there if we had any. I went to the front and told the customer that we still did not have any 6 foot swings.

[mattm04]

People just can't listen. I answer the phone with "Bakery at the corner of Main and Washington, this is Sylvia, how can I help you?" and the customer says "Yes, are you the one at the corner of Main and Washington?" My other favorite is "Please hold so I can get the manager. No, I can't do that, but the manager can. Let me transfer you to the manager. I'll get you the manager. Please hold while I get you someone who can help you." Then when I finally cut them off and put them on hold anyway, they either hang up and call right back, or bitch at the manager about our aweful customer service (pun intended).

Ahhh, the idiots who think I will be more inclined to help them when every time i try to transfer the call to someone who can they hang up and call back. I can put you call on hold and make the page really soft so people are less likely to hear it. This will cause them to make another page, asking me to repeat my page, which by that time you will have hung up and tried calling again.

[Lady Heather]

No. No. No. Still No. No.

There has to be a way to get the point across. Like:
Just stare at them when the SC asks again. (and stare and stare)
(Long Pause) I'm sorry(?)...didn't I just awnser your question?
Sir/Ma'am I promise no matter how many times you ask the awnser won't change.
Hold on a second please. (Pause) Nope still can't do it.
No. And please stop asking.
What do you hope to acomplish by asking me repeatedly?
Are you trying to Annoy me into submission?

[Boozy]

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago when a corporate client wanted to return a large special order...it was over $3500 worth of product.

They called our head office first for some reason. I then received a phone call from head office, saying that this customer wanted to do a return, but because it was a special order and not usually permitted, they were going to let the our district manager decide whether that was allowed. Our DM would contact me when she figured out what she wanted to do. They were just giving me the heads up in case this customer called.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, I get another call. Customer wants me to approve the return. Normally, I have the authority to do this, but its too late for that now - the customer has already gone above my head and called head office. I can no longer approve anything, this is now in the hands of my DM.

No matter how many times I explained this to the customer, she wouldn't accept this answer. She kept saying, "But if I had called you directly, you would have taken the return, right?" I said yes, that's true - but you went over my head and I absolutely cannot break hierarchy now. I have to await instructions.

Rinse, repeat. Finally, she says "This is ridiculous" and hangs up.

Too bad. If she had just had enough confidence in my ability to handle the situation in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. But she wanted to get the Kings of Bureaucracy involved, so now she has to wait. Not my problem.