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As it gets close to Christmas the advice centre I work at gets much quieter. Unfortunately while we get a lot less customers the ones who do come in either have some terrible crisis, or just have nothing better to do at this time of year, and enquiries get increasingly strange.
Thanks for interpreting.
We are normally genuinely grateful when people take the time to come with friends and family and interpret for us. It helps a lot. Normally.
My colleague saw two customers together. They had separate problems but asked to be seen together because the same friend was interpreting.
The customers spoke Polish. My colleague doesn't. It turned out neither did the "interpreter".
My colleague spoke to them in English. The "interpreter" turned and repeated the same thing. In English. Slightly louder and more slowly.
I had no idea that this method of attempting communication with foreigners was actually appreciated in Poland. You'd think they'd get more tourists there...
Simple Questions.
My other colleague has a customer who wanted to know how to get £1000 which a friend owed him.
It takes a while to explain all about small claims action, but my colleague went through it all.
Then the guy showed her the cheque for £1000 his friend had given him.
OK - that's an easier question. You, get this, bank the cheque...
I genuinely don't know if this was wind up...
I saw a customer who told me he had been ripped off by paying £65 to join a dating agency. Then that this "dating agency" was actually a male escort service. Then that he has only come to the UK 2 weeks ago from Africa (despite very very little accent) and was considering tracking the compnay down, blowing them up and going back to Africa...
I've heard plenty of weird stories but never something which got weird at every elaboration. Really don't know if the man was winding me up or not. If he was I don't know whether he was disappointed I took it seriously or pleased.
If I ever get like this in my old age please kill me.
Elderly customer came in complaining that the telephone service had cut him off the day after he paid his bill in full.
I phoned them up and asked why they'd done this. Apparently he'd asked them to, and had told them he was moving house..
I asked him if this was true. He said yes. He'd asked them to cut the service because they had over charged him £5. They'd told him he was under 12 months contract and would have to pay a hefty cancellation fee so he'd asked them to keep the line.
I asked the telephone company if this was correct. They said it was. He had asked for the cancellation, then asked them to stop the cancellation when he learned about the fee. However they had incorrectly recorded this and the cancellation had gone through in error. They had offered to either restore the service, or waive all cancellation fees because it was their error. He chose the later.
Customer agreed this was the case. I ended the call as there was nothing else I could do. He had not, incidentally, been over charged £5 - he was just incapable of reading a bill.
He then wanted me to call back and ask for the line rental fee already paid to be refunded to him.
NO. I will not make 2 phone calls because you gave me false information the first time. I will not waste any more time assisting a cussed old man who claimed to be moving home to get out of a contract over £5. I do not see any reason why they should refund for a service they are quite willing to provide but you have refused to let them.
No !
Even though I put it much more politely than that he stormed out slamming the door into the wall. I told him if he ever did that again we would charge him for any damage.
I'm pretty sure I don't have the authority for that...
I think that was the most completely stupid wastes of time in one day ever.
Do you know how hard it is to make sensible and serious case records of this stuff
Victoria J
Thanks for interpreting.
We are normally genuinely grateful when people take the time to come with friends and family and interpret for us. It helps a lot. Normally.
My colleague saw two customers together. They had separate problems but asked to be seen together because the same friend was interpreting.
The customers spoke Polish. My colleague doesn't. It turned out neither did the "interpreter".
My colleague spoke to them in English. The "interpreter" turned and repeated the same thing. In English. Slightly louder and more slowly.
I had no idea that this method of attempting communication with foreigners was actually appreciated in Poland. You'd think they'd get more tourists there...
Simple Questions.
My other colleague has a customer who wanted to know how to get £1000 which a friend owed him.
It takes a while to explain all about small claims action, but my colleague went through it all.
Then the guy showed her the cheque for £1000 his friend had given him.
OK - that's an easier question. You, get this, bank the cheque...
I genuinely don't know if this was wind up...
I saw a customer who told me he had been ripped off by paying £65 to join a dating agency. Then that this "dating agency" was actually a male escort service. Then that he has only come to the UK 2 weeks ago from Africa (despite very very little accent) and was considering tracking the compnay down, blowing them up and going back to Africa...
I've heard plenty of weird stories but never something which got weird at every elaboration. Really don't know if the man was winding me up or not. If he was I don't know whether he was disappointed I took it seriously or pleased.
If I ever get like this in my old age please kill me.
Elderly customer came in complaining that the telephone service had cut him off the day after he paid his bill in full.
I phoned them up and asked why they'd done this. Apparently he'd asked them to, and had told them he was moving house..
I asked him if this was true. He said yes. He'd asked them to cut the service because they had over charged him £5. They'd told him he was under 12 months contract and would have to pay a hefty cancellation fee so he'd asked them to keep the line.
I asked the telephone company if this was correct. They said it was. He had asked for the cancellation, then asked them to stop the cancellation when he learned about the fee. However they had incorrectly recorded this and the cancellation had gone through in error. They had offered to either restore the service, or waive all cancellation fees because it was their error. He chose the later.
Customer agreed this was the case. I ended the call as there was nothing else I could do. He had not, incidentally, been over charged £5 - he was just incapable of reading a bill.
He then wanted me to call back and ask for the line rental fee already paid to be refunded to him.
NO. I will not make 2 phone calls because you gave me false information the first time. I will not waste any more time assisting a cussed old man who claimed to be moving home to get out of a contract over £5. I do not see any reason why they should refund for a service they are quite willing to provide but you have refused to let them.
No !
Even though I put it much more politely than that he stormed out slamming the door into the wall. I told him if he ever did that again we would charge him for any damage.
I'm pretty sure I don't have the authority for that...
I think that was the most completely stupid wastes of time in one day ever.
Do you know how hard it is to make sensible and serious case records of this stuff
Victoria J
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