These are just a few short stories from my call center days.
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Lady with a 1997 car with 137,000 miles wanted a brand new paint job and was asking for The Company to pay for it because the original paint job was “defective”. When we refused, she demanded the number to the BBB to make a complaint. We gave it to her. Figured the BBB could use a laugh.
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Lady with a 1999 car and 149,000 miles wanted us to give her a new transmission. Because she couldn’t pay for it herself.
(Sidenote: We based our assistance on customer loyalty, previous problems with the car, or sometimes if the problem was just really weird and we had no solution. I can’t believe how many people called seeking payment assistance for the simple reason that they “couldn’t afford it.” I can’t afford a house. Can I go to the nearest realtor and just ask for one?)
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Old lady calls in because her wiper motor is burned out. Every year, she claims, it burns out and she has to get a new one. Every year, the dealership replaces the motor free of charge but this year they’re refusing and she "just can't understaaand whyyyyy!". I call the dealership to see what the story is.
Me: hello, I’ve got Mrs. Whinyperson on the phone about a windshield wiper? She says that—
Dealer: Yeah, we’ve been dealing with her for years. She always calls us after the first snowfall and real freeze. We’ve replaced her motor every year because it really is kinda poorly made. However, each year we tell her that she needs to be more careful. See, what’s happening is she tries to turn the wipers on without cleaning off the windshield first. Even if the blades are frozen to the window, she still tries to force the wipers to work and the motor ends up burning out. We’re not going to do this again for free because if she followed our precautions, the motor wouldn’t burn out.
Me: Okay, fair enough.
Return to the lady and spend the next ten minutes explaining and re-explaining, then explaining yet again why we can’t give her a sixth motor for free. She never did get it.
***
Lady with a 1997 car with 137,000 miles wanted a brand new paint job and was asking for The Company to pay for it because the original paint job was “defective”. When we refused, she demanded the number to the BBB to make a complaint. We gave it to her. Figured the BBB could use a laugh.
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Lady with a 1999 car and 149,000 miles wanted us to give her a new transmission. Because she couldn’t pay for it herself.
(Sidenote: We based our assistance on customer loyalty, previous problems with the car, or sometimes if the problem was just really weird and we had no solution. I can’t believe how many people called seeking payment assistance for the simple reason that they “couldn’t afford it.” I can’t afford a house. Can I go to the nearest realtor and just ask for one?)
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Old lady calls in because her wiper motor is burned out. Every year, she claims, it burns out and she has to get a new one. Every year, the dealership replaces the motor free of charge but this year they’re refusing and she "just can't understaaand whyyyyy!". I call the dealership to see what the story is.
Me: hello, I’ve got Mrs. Whinyperson on the phone about a windshield wiper? She says that—
Dealer: Yeah, we’ve been dealing with her for years. She always calls us after the first snowfall and real freeze. We’ve replaced her motor every year because it really is kinda poorly made. However, each year we tell her that she needs to be more careful. See, what’s happening is she tries to turn the wipers on without cleaning off the windshield first. Even if the blades are frozen to the window, she still tries to force the wipers to work and the motor ends up burning out. We’re not going to do this again for free because if she followed our precautions, the motor wouldn’t burn out.
Me: Okay, fair enough.
Return to the lady and spend the next ten minutes explaining and re-explaining, then explaining yet again why we can’t give her a sixth motor for free. She never did get it.
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