Ok, so working for the same company as in this thread, same background, on the same bloody phone line even, and I got this gem:
A man called in, sounded... deflated, groggy, as though he was in some pain. I'd gotten a few like this coming in on this line, including one particular pair of nuns who kept shouting that they were going to suffocate and were running out of air. How do I know they were nuns? Easy, they told me. "We're nuns, you have to help us."
But this guy, while I was trying to ascertain exactly where it was he was stuck in a lift, and not having much luck, was breathing heavily, having a hard time talking. Tried to get what I could out of him, asking again what lift he was stuck in. He got out, finally, that he wasn't in a lift, but rather... trapped under his car. That he'd been working on the car, and it had collapsed on him.
Of course, I was under the impression he meant lift car, but he went on to clarify, slowly, laboriously, that it was his car, that he drove. At this point, I'm fairly panicking. I don't know what the hell to do, who the hell to call, I don't even know why the hell this guy is calling in on this line. All I know is that this guy really, really, sounds in a bad way, and sounds as though he needs some help.
I get every little sliver of info off of him that I can think to get. What street, what city, anything I can get. He says he's near Trinity College (right in the center of Dublin, so you know. It being 4am, it's credible that there be someone out that way, injured, who might not be seen straight away, depending on which side your closer to), and then he, well, apparently, died. Groan, followed by phone hitting the ground and a beep-beep-beep of a hang up tone.
I call the Gardai (Irish police force), tell them all I can. They're skeptical, especially as I'm calling from somewhere that's not even remotely nearby, but I have no problem providing them my full name, where I'm calling from, name of my company, and they say they'll go check it out. I get call backs from them a couple of times a night, ostensibly to tell me they were checking up on it, most likely to check that I was still saying I was from my company.
I leave a note for everyone there, should the Gardai call back, to let me know what they say. They do call back, but they want to speak directly to me. My bosses don't want to give out my home number, so they tell the... I don't know, Sergeant, whatever he was, to call back when I'm next on, which is that night.
Nice Garda calls me that night, telling me they didn't find anyone in the area who had been injured/died in that way, in that area - and had no reports from elsewhere of a similar story.
At first, I'm relieved - no, I didn't really hear someone die with me on the phone. No, I didn't fail someone and leave them lying dead somewhere. First words out of my mouth are "oh thank god."
Second tended more towards the angry, the furious, and the "I can't believe some rotten dicked asshole would actually think this is a funny prank..."
And those are the tales of the two single worst customers that weren't customers that I've ever had the misfortune to deal with.
A man called in, sounded... deflated, groggy, as though he was in some pain. I'd gotten a few like this coming in on this line, including one particular pair of nuns who kept shouting that they were going to suffocate and were running out of air. How do I know they were nuns? Easy, they told me. "We're nuns, you have to help us."
But this guy, while I was trying to ascertain exactly where it was he was stuck in a lift, and not having much luck, was breathing heavily, having a hard time talking. Tried to get what I could out of him, asking again what lift he was stuck in. He got out, finally, that he wasn't in a lift, but rather... trapped under his car. That he'd been working on the car, and it had collapsed on him.
Of course, I was under the impression he meant lift car, but he went on to clarify, slowly, laboriously, that it was his car, that he drove. At this point, I'm fairly panicking. I don't know what the hell to do, who the hell to call, I don't even know why the hell this guy is calling in on this line. All I know is that this guy really, really, sounds in a bad way, and sounds as though he needs some help.
I get every little sliver of info off of him that I can think to get. What street, what city, anything I can get. He says he's near Trinity College (right in the center of Dublin, so you know. It being 4am, it's credible that there be someone out that way, injured, who might not be seen straight away, depending on which side your closer to), and then he, well, apparently, died. Groan, followed by phone hitting the ground and a beep-beep-beep of a hang up tone.
I call the Gardai (Irish police force), tell them all I can. They're skeptical, especially as I'm calling from somewhere that's not even remotely nearby, but I have no problem providing them my full name, where I'm calling from, name of my company, and they say they'll go check it out. I get call backs from them a couple of times a night, ostensibly to tell me they were checking up on it, most likely to check that I was still saying I was from my company.
I leave a note for everyone there, should the Gardai call back, to let me know what they say. They do call back, but they want to speak directly to me. My bosses don't want to give out my home number, so they tell the... I don't know, Sergeant, whatever he was, to call back when I'm next on, which is that night.
Nice Garda calls me that night, telling me they didn't find anyone in the area who had been injured/died in that way, in that area - and had no reports from elsewhere of a similar story.
At first, I'm relieved - no, I didn't really hear someone die with me on the phone. No, I didn't fail someone and leave them lying dead somewhere. First words out of my mouth are "oh thank god."
Second tended more towards the angry, the furious, and the "I can't believe some rotten dicked asshole would actually think this is a funny prank..."
And those are the tales of the two single worst customers that weren't customers that I've ever had the misfortune to deal with.
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