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I received a phone call regarding a complaint from a sucky customer today, & I would like opinions.
"Kim", the director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations is out of the office today & tomorrow, & so her assistant, "Melinda", took the complaint.
There are 2 gates next to the booth I work in. Customers are supposed to drive up to the booth window & not the outside gate. The outside gate is used by public transportation vehicles dropping off handicapped passengers at the university. But...customers inevitable drive up to that gate. Some customers either 1) sit there, realize the gate is not going up, & drive up to the booth window, 2) drive up & back hoping the gate will automatically go up, 3) sit at the gate on their cell phone with the window rolled up looking straight ahead, or 4) honk their horn when the gate does not go up for them. This particular customer did # 4. The customer was driving a big car like a suburban or an explorer.
The first time I heard the horn I did not know if it was that car or another car since there was traffic in the area. Then I heard that car honk. I opened the window & pointed down to where to drive up to. The customer drove up to the booth window. Here is what happened.
me: "Hi, how may I help you?"
customer (with an irrited voice since she had to drive up to the window)" I need to park"
*At that point I was confused as to why anyone would drive up to the outside gate & honk their horn when they realized the gate would not go up. I would think you would drive up to the window if it would not go up.*
me (with a confused look on my face): "I am confused as to why you drove up to that gate since I am inside here & not over there."
Well...that was a big mistake. I will explain later.
customer: "The last time I came here you let that gate up"
me: "I'm so sorry, but everyone always has to drive up to this window first."
She parked in the garage, & complained to the Parking office, which sent her to Visitor Parking/Community Relations, the dept. I report to.
I get a phone call from "Nancy" at the Parking office asking me if there is a customer at the booth waiting to get in. I look up, & there is a customer at the outside gate. I tell "Nancy" there is no a customer at the window but at the outside gate, & that she needs to come to the window. "Nancy", who is irritated, says "No, she does not. I spoke to "Melinda", & she said you can open that gate." Ok, I'm confused. I was trained not to do that. So I call "Melinda" & ask her what is happening. She says to open the window & motion the customer to come to the window & that "we will talk later." Since she did not say anything else, I hung up the phone. I opened the window & "Melinda" immediately calls me back. I answer it, & she says "I did not want you to hang up the phone. I want to hear what you tell the customer." So I motion for the customer to come to the booth window. She tells me she is "Nancy's" sister, &she is here to see her. I say "I'm sorry, but could you please come over here next time." I am confused at that point. I get back to "Melinda", but she had already hung up.
"Melinda" finally calls me & asks me if another customer arrived at the outside gate wanting to be let in. I told her several customers did that, & asked her which one was this regarding. She asked me if I dealt with a customer who said that I let her in the last time. Since I do not do that, I said "No, I do not let customer's in through that gate."
Then she said the following
*which was not my intention. I was confused as to why she was doing & the fact that she said that I raised the outside gate for her before*
I said "may I say something?", & she said (in an irritated voice) "fine, that's ok"
I explained to her exactly what I said, that I was confused as to why the customer did what she did, why she said what she said regarding my opening the outside gate for her the first time she arrived, that I never meant to make her feel stupid, & that I had a confused look on my face.
"Melinda" said "do you understand how that made the customer feel stupid?" I was confused at that point, but I said "yes" since there was nothing else I could say.
I told "Melinda" "I apoligize for what happened, & I take responsibilty for my actions." I was still confused, but there was nothing else I could say.
After I said that, she said "bottom line is you do not do that. That was rude. I have to notify "Kim", she will be mad."
Well.. I made some changes after that, & I e-mailed "Kim" a heads up explaining what happened & apologizing for what happened since she told me she will be checking her e-mails at night.
I spoke to my co-worker, who works from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., about this, & she mentioned that a female customer driving a big car like a suburban or an explorer drove up to the outside gate a couple of weeks ago. She was speaking on her cell phone, & her window was rolled up. My co-worker waited to see if she would notice that the gate was not going up. She said she sat at that gate for a while, & did not roll down her window. She ended up raising that gate.
I would like opinions regarding what happened.
"Kim", the director of Visitor Parking/Community Relations is out of the office today & tomorrow, & so her assistant, "Melinda", took the complaint.
There are 2 gates next to the booth I work in. Customers are supposed to drive up to the booth window & not the outside gate. The outside gate is used by public transportation vehicles dropping off handicapped passengers at the university. But...customers inevitable drive up to that gate. Some customers either 1) sit there, realize the gate is not going up, & drive up to the booth window, 2) drive up & back hoping the gate will automatically go up, 3) sit at the gate on their cell phone with the window rolled up looking straight ahead, or 4) honk their horn when the gate does not go up for them. This particular customer did # 4. The customer was driving a big car like a suburban or an explorer.
The first time I heard the horn I did not know if it was that car or another car since there was traffic in the area. Then I heard that car honk. I opened the window & pointed down to where to drive up to. The customer drove up to the booth window. Here is what happened.
me: "Hi, how may I help you?"
customer (with an irrited voice since she had to drive up to the window)" I need to park"
*At that point I was confused as to why anyone would drive up to the outside gate & honk their horn when they realized the gate would not go up. I would think you would drive up to the window if it would not go up.*
me (with a confused look on my face): "I am confused as to why you drove up to that gate since I am inside here & not over there."
Well...that was a big mistake. I will explain later.
customer: "The last time I came here you let that gate up"
me: "I'm so sorry, but everyone always has to drive up to this window first."
She parked in the garage, & complained to the Parking office, which sent her to Visitor Parking/Community Relations, the dept. I report to.
I get a phone call from "Nancy" at the Parking office asking me if there is a customer at the booth waiting to get in. I look up, & there is a customer at the outside gate. I tell "Nancy" there is no a customer at the window but at the outside gate, & that she needs to come to the window. "Nancy", who is irritated, says "No, she does not. I spoke to "Melinda", & she said you can open that gate." Ok, I'm confused. I was trained not to do that. So I call "Melinda" & ask her what is happening. She says to open the window & motion the customer to come to the window & that "we will talk later." Since she did not say anything else, I hung up the phone. I opened the window & "Melinda" immediately calls me back. I answer it, & she says "I did not want you to hang up the phone. I want to hear what you tell the customer." So I motion for the customer to come to the booth window. She tells me she is "Nancy's" sister, &she is here to see her. I say "I'm sorry, but could you please come over here next time." I am confused at that point. I get back to "Melinda", but she had already hung up.
"Melinda" finally calls me & asks me if another customer arrived at the outside gate wanting to be let in. I told her several customers did that, & asked her which one was this regarding. She asked me if I dealt with a customer who said that I let her in the last time. Since I do not do that, I said "No, I do not let customer's in through that gate."
Then she said the following
- That what I said to that customer made her feel stupid
*which was not my intention. I was confused as to why she was doing & the fact that she said that I raised the outside gate for her before*
- The customer told her that I said "I'm in here, not over there."
- That what I said was rude
I said "may I say something?", & she said (in an irritated voice) "fine, that's ok"
I explained to her exactly what I said, that I was confused as to why the customer did what she did, why she said what she said regarding my opening the outside gate for her the first time she arrived, that I never meant to make her feel stupid, & that I had a confused look on my face.
"Melinda" said "do you understand how that made the customer feel stupid?" I was confused at that point, but I said "yes" since there was nothing else I could say.
I told "Melinda" "I apoligize for what happened, & I take responsibilty for my actions." I was still confused, but there was nothing else I could say.
After I said that, she said "bottom line is you do not do that. That was rude. I have to notify "Kim", she will be mad."
Well.. I made some changes after that, & I e-mailed "Kim" a heads up explaining what happened & apologizing for what happened since she told me she will be checking her e-mails at night.
I spoke to my co-worker, who works from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., about this, & she mentioned that a female customer driving a big car like a suburban or an explorer drove up to the outside gate a couple of weeks ago. She was speaking on her cell phone, & her window was rolled up. My co-worker waited to see if she would notice that the gate was not going up. She said she sat at that gate for a while, & did not roll down her window. She ended up raising that gate.
I would like opinions regarding what happened.
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