I hate it when people tell me what I'm going to do!

[angelicafire]

I just got off the phone with a lady who had her business cell phone account suspended for non-payment. The thing I hate most in the world is when someone asks me a question and then cuts me off before I can answer. Number two on that hating list is people who tell me what I'm going to do. Here's the jist of the conversation, I don't feel like typing out the 8 or so times she cut me off to randomly yell the same thing she just had said, but that would explain why at this point in the conversation I was a tad testy.

SC=you know who
me=ripping her hair out

SC: I mailed that payment on the 25th! The people at the store told me I could!
me: I see here you talked to <co-worker> on the 18th who told you that your suspension date was today, the 27th, and you said you would mail it that day, the 18th.
SC: I did NOT talk to her that day! I talked to her on the 21st!
me: So you're saying that <co-worker> made up the conversation you're saying you had four days in the future? The notes on the account are time-stamped, she can't change the date of her note.
SC: Well that's not the point! The point is that you turned my phone off and I always pay you people on time! The economy is bad! You never told me I would suspend!
me: It looks here that you were first told of your past due status on the 12th, then on the 15th, then on the 18th...
SC: Whatever! Here's what you're going to do! You're going to put a note on my account to always call be before you turn off my phone or I'll take my business elsewhere!
At this point, I was totally over this woman.
me: Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I will not guarantee that we will call you before you suspend. There is an expectation that you pay your bill by the due date printed on it. And besides, every other cell phone company bills monthly and requires a payment by their due date. All companies require that you pay them on time.

She flustered a bit and kept saying she would cancel, so I said that was fine and she hung up.

Anyone else had stories where the customer tells you what you're going to do for them?

[Sheldonrs]

"Anyone else had stories where the customer tells you what you're going to do for them?"

I've had a few but the one I remember the most was one I had to hand off to my manager. This was something she was REALLY good at handling. The SC wanted his movie production software shipped to him on location overnight at our expense without even paying for the product because he was without his credit card. But he insisted we do this because of who he worked for. I listened to him for a while but since I would not be able to authorize such a deal, I told him he would need to speak to my manager.
She listened to him as he listed off all the things we WOULD do.
When he was done she said (exact quote) "Well you've stated your position very well and I understand completely what you want us to do. Now THIS is what is ACTUALLY going to happen". :-) He did not get what he wanted the way he wanted. He wound up getting someone else on set to use their credit card for the purchase including the overnight shipping cost.
And in case you're wonder what production he was working on, without giving it away too much, think BIG ship vs. Iceberg. :-)

[Imogene]

think BIG ship vs. Iceberg. :-)

Do I have to? I'd rather think little trash compacting robot to the stars.

[Talon]

Oooh I love those faux cancellation-threats.

One woman got steamed because she got hit with late fees for not paying her bill on time. My old company did have pretty steep late fees, but you had to be 30+ days late first, and it was something like 90 days before non-payment disconnects were done.

Anyway she demanded I remove the fee. Her payment history wasn't great, so I refused. She threatened to cancel. In the most bored apathetic "I've-heard-it-all-before" tone possible, I said fine. She actually got more mad and blurted some nonsense out, but I honestly don't remember what it was. I found her empty threat, and her mini-hissy-fit at being called out quite amusing.

[Madhatter_67_85]

SC: Whatever! Here's what you're going to do! You're going to put a note on my account to always call be before you turn off my phone or I'll take my business elsewhere!
At this point, I was totally over this woman.
me: Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I will not guarantee that we will call you before you suspend. There is an expectation that you pay your bill by the due date printed on it. And besides, every other cell phone company bills monthly and requires a payment by their due date. All companies require that you pay them on time.

She flustered a bit and kept saying she would cancel, so I said that was fine and she hung up.

Well go ahead and take your business elsewhere. We will gladly tack on the early termination fee of your contract to the amount you all ready owe us and then turn your deadbeat broke ass over to a collection agency for nonpayment.

[rts]

Well go ahead and take your business elsewhere. We will gladly tack on the early termination fee of your contract to the amount you all ready owe us and then turn your deadbeat broke ass over to a collection agency for nonpayment.

Thats right folks, be careful what you ask for...you might get it!!!

[freeatlast]

When a customer would attempt to tell me what I was going to do, I usually did the opposite. At the Call Center from hell, I took escalated calls. Many of these were real winners. If they acted reasonable, I would attempt to compromise with them and give them part of what they were demanding.... Unless they told me what I was going to do. When that happened, absolutely no exceptions were made. They got only what they were entitled to - which in many cases was nothing.

[Peppergirl]

When a customer would attempt to tell me what I was going to do, I usually did the opposite. At the Call Center from hell, I took escalated calls. Many of these were real winners. If they acted reasonable, I would attempt to compromise with them and give them part of what they were demanding.... Unless they told me what I was going to do. When that happened, absolutely no exceptions were made. They got only what they were entitled to - which in many cases was nothing.

Any customer who tells me that I'm going to call the airline and rebook their cancelled flight because they refuse to get into the required line, is usually rewarded with being placed on hold and me reading a book or something as I pretend to place the call to the airline.

Amazing how the customer never gets rebooked when they pull that shit.

Now, act like a human being and sure, I'll assist you in 'beat the clock'. They get in line and I actually call the airline and sit on hold and we see who gets helped first.

In other words, as you said...act like a human and get preferential treatment. Act like an ass and get nothing...less than nothing sometimes.

[Big-box-retail-blues]

First thing I tell the people that work for me or that come for me for advice is this, "You are the boss, the customer is not the boss, they do not tell you what to do and they do not treat you with anything less than common decency. If you let the customer think they are in control your day has a very good chance of being ruined."

I've been invited to dinners with former CeOs of two retail businesses and I have customers from four states that still call me before they make large purchases. I have customers that come into my store just to talk with me and see how I am doing. The key to customer service is to always be confident and never be afraid to tell a customer the truth.

[Polenicus]

I used to be a real jerk about 'I'm going to cancel my account'. I was in Tier 2 and could get away with it, to some degree.

Basically, as soon as they started to threaten to cancel, particularly if it was to force me to do something I couldn't do (Such as things outside of support boundaries, make a Pentium MMX running Win98 not be crap, etc) I would IMMEDIATELY do my department transfer spiel, put them on hold and transfer them to Cancellations/Saves. At that point, nothing the customer could say would stop it, and I just sent them on through overtop of their stammered protests.

If you want to cancel, that's no skin off my nose. Here, let me help. Buh-bye!

[powerboy]

I get that here and there at work.

You will not charge me late fee's.
You will take off all the late fee's.
You will take off all the other fee's.
You will take off your lock. Only after you are caught up.


We give you 5 days grave period. It has to be in. Now if you let us know ahead of time, then we will waive the late fees

[Wembley]

We give you 5 days grave period. It has to be in. Now if you let us know ahead of time, then we will waive the late fees

Damn, you ARE powerful

I would have loved to put some of my problem customers in a grave for a few days....

LOL

-Wembley

[Music Mo-Gal]

SC: I did NOT talk to her that day! I talked to her on the 21st!
me: So you're saying that <co-worker> made up the conversation you're saying you had four days in the future? The notes on the account are time-stamped, she can't change the date of her note.
SC: Well that's not the point!

Funny how her story changes...

[DistantStar]

I've been informed that I do have the power to change our rates (which I don't) and to guarantee them a specific room (which again, I don't) and that I will do so because they've been in "the industry" for 25 years and that's how it works.

Perhaps at the resort you worked at, but not at this one. Suck it up and deal. My manager will back me up! My manager is AWESOME. Please talk to her. Go right ahead.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I've been told "you will call me before shutting off my phone" before.

Yeah and for what? Just to have you beg and bitch and moan and plead with us to NOT shut you off?? Like that will happen.

Customer empowerment seems to have gone overboard thanks to those companies that have spineless managers and "the customer is always right" policies.