I can't believe I actually said it!

[friendofjimmyk]

What was that about the police cancelling the call?

Well..about 5 minutes after I talked to this lovely lady raging twatwaffle...the call showed up on my screen as cancelled. I opened it and read the notes and they stated "the police are cancelling this call". Which, first of all...I could not believe. If this upstanding citizen douchenozzle suckling fucktard told the police that the driver would be there in 15 - 20 minutes, the police would KNOW that is a good time and, furthermore, they would know that cancelling our call and then turning around and calling THEIR people would EXTEND the time. Not to mention, when the call came across as cancelled...I radioed my driver and he was literally one block away.

Oh...to add...when the police want us to cancel the call...they don't call our call center...to the same 800 number our members call.

[protege]

The last time I broke down, it took quite awhile. Mainly, because it was Saturday, and the call center couldn't quite figure out where I was. Apparently "McLaughlin Run Rd between Upper St. Clair and Bridgeville" is too hard of a concept for that particular call center Even after I'd added "it's a little orange car with the hood up," the driver went by me twice Seems he's never towed an MG, and wasn't familiar with them

[IT Grunt]

15-20 minutes for a tow truck is to put it simply an awesome wait time. I've got two incidents where I had to wait a while for a truck:

First one was in my old car. Unbeknownst to me, when the engine was replaced, the garage didn't tighten the drive's side front wheel down properly. It started to make noise and I made an appointment with my regular mechanic to have it checked, because every time I checked it, it seemed fine to me. (It was widening the holes, as I found out. Aluminum rim). Before I could get it in, though, one morning, 5 AM, middle of winter, I'm going down the interstate at 70 MPH when it broke all five lugs and came flying off. Ever see a shower of sparks flying up past your window from your brake rotor while you drive? It's pretty. Scary, but pretty. I managed to get it to the side of the road, and one of the state's Courtesy Patrol trucks spotted me and stopped to help. With her phone I was able to call for a truck, but it took a while to get there. (BTW, a wheel with a tire full of air goes a long ways when it rolls off at 70 MPH. Fortunately I was able to find the wheel and the still good tire by following the track it made in the snow.)

The second one I was holding up traffic when I got a flat on a hill at a traffic light on an icy road. Front wheel drive, front tire flat, no traction. Just spinning. The dispatcher knew I was in traffic, but said it would be at least 30 minutes or more before the truck could get there, and she was right. Fortunately in that case, a salt truck came by while I was waiting and the ice melted, so I was able to get traction and pull into a parking lot. I got quite a few horn honks that day.

[PepperElf]

When my car broke down (mentioned above) I had my hazard lights on but... a lot of people still pulled up behind me ... until the army guys came along.

the one good thing i found out was... it was free towing within 5 miles - and the dealership was 2 miles away.

[friendofjimmyk]

I got quite a few horn honks that day.

This baffles me. I hear it from members and I seen it when I drove a tow truck. Other motorists would see the car broke down...most of the time, the hazards would be on. But yet, these other morons would pull up behind the broke down car and honk AS IF the magical horn elves living in their horn would blow pixie dust toward the disabled vehicle and it would levitate to a place of safety off the road.

When I was driving...one of my most favorite things to do were calls that were blocking traffic. I was usually in a large, flatbed tow truck. By law, as long as my lights are flashing, I could block traffic for up to 8 hours. I would pull up on the members, sometimes frantic because so many fuckwads were honking their horns, and get ready to work...in order to tow...I had to even further block the traffic. People would pull up and honk and yell and scream and curse and flip me the bird...I'd smile a BIG HUGE CHEESY GRIN and wave...and work 10 times slower.

[It shouldn't]

You are my hero!

I've always wanted to say that to a customer, too.

(but never had the balls)

[KhirasHY]

Longest I had to wait was about 90 minutes in a 104º day with no shade..luckily I didn't need a tow (since I was parked at a meter in downtown, and he couldn't have towed me), but he was able to juice up my battery just enough. Had to get said battery replaced though, since it was done for that day hehe.

[Anthony K. S.]

. . . not all of our members know what happens in these situations. She said I should've apologized

Wait, what?

Instead of pointing out that it was physically impossible to reach the driver in less than 15-20 minutes, your supervisor wanted you to apologize for not being able to do it?!

]SY]H]JNHS\-ETJ(*JH$(_HT(_H(_HK-]JXETBGOIXRTBIXIROTJH]IJ]0ERJGHXJE]0JH]0JX]0ERJH]0JBN]]=0SNM340\]WIPBSN08945N9-NBS45NP9HU4HNUEIPGUS45N]0TW4AGNNER0[GNH[EROO($#JR(_WHESD(H@({EJ{)#JR{J{(GF{U(BHF{(H({SHD{( H({HRF+)*+*)U#*()&@$&*)(#RRXFHKWE49Z-\TJG](_H({HF(EH({FHERF. . .

. . . Sorry, that was me pounding my head against the keyboard.

That kind of management thinking is just as much to blame for our SC problems as the SCs themselves.

"Not all of our members know what happens" . . . For the love of , how much knowledge do you have to acquire before you understand that motor vehicles don't travel at the speed of light?!

And as for the apology . . .

Supposedly, apologizing to the customer in these types of situations will help to ease the customer's emotions and alleviate the conflict, thereby making things proceed more smoothly.

Even if that was true (and in many cases, it isn't), it is, at best, a "penny wise and pound foolish" approach.

In this case, for example . . . If you had apologized to this driver for not being able to get a truck to her faster than 15-20 minutes, it would have only reinforced her belief that you could and should have been able to do it. It would have made her even more convinced that she was receiving bad service.

Apologizing to SCs and EWs only emboldens them . . . It encourages them to be bigger and bigger SCs and EWs. It makes them complain even more about the service they get, demand "compensation," demand that employees be fired, etc., etc. . . .

In the end, an apology to an EW will often cause much more grief than it prevents.

But just try explaining that to a manager.


Well, anyway . . . <Steps off the soapbox> . . .

Friendofjimmyk, I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to say . . .

[EricKei]

I think FofJ's manager meant "apologize for the outburst", not "apologize for the amazingly short wait time"

And yes, indeedy, indeed.

[Anthony K. S.]

I think FofJ's manager meant "apologize for the outburst", not "apologize for the amazingly short wait time"

That possibility did occur to me when I was writing my earlier post, but . . .

She said I should've apologized (FOR WHAT?! The inability to beam a tow truck!!!) and spoke to the member from an empathic (is that the correct tense?) stand point and been more reassuring. My response?

"Yeah, I should've counted to five - not ten, because I'm sure she wouldn't be able to wait 10 seconds - and responded rather than reacted"

It's possible that I'm not reading this correctly. But it certainly sounded to me like the two of them were talking about what friendofjimmyk should have done instead of saying "Do *YOU* understand I cannot BEAM you a tow truck?!" rather than what she should have said after it.

Am I reading this incorrectly?

[hotelslave]

About 7 years ago I worked for AAA in the emergency road side call center. It was the worse job ever. SC cars break down way too much.

[friendofjimmyk]

It's possible that I'm not reading this correctly. But it certainly sounded to me like the two of them were talking about what friendofjimmyk should have done instead of saying "Do *YOU* understand I cannot BEAM you a tow truck?!" rather than what she should have said after it.

Am I reading this incorrectly?

My supervisor, of course, told me the "beam you a tow truck" comment was inappropriate...as I thought it was the moment it slipped out of my mouth. However, she DID want me to aplogize for what the SC perceived as a long wait time. She said I should've said something along the lines of "I'm sorry, I understand that this is probably a stressful situation for you and you believe that 15 - 20 minutes is a long wait time, however, I assure you that this is a very good time for service to reach you."

Meh. I'm not really good at coming up with sugar-coated bullshit after someone has been telling me, in screaming fashion, that *I* do not understand their predicament. I mean, I did offer up an apology....I believe I stated "I apologize, but I assure you this is a good time for service" or something like that.

I agree though, I didn't owe this person an apology. Yes, I probably owed her an apology for getting snarky with her...but an apology because she didn't understand that teleporter travel has not yet been invented? I don't think so.

[Jester]

The last time I broke down (actually, accidentally backed up into a ditch!), in rural Ohio on a semi-back road in August of 2006, I had to wait about an hour or two for the tow truck, and I was more than happy to, as (A) I realized I didn't have much of a choice, being stuck in a ditch, and (B) I realized the two truck would be the one to get me out of said ditch.

The second one I was holding up traffic when I got a flat on a hill at a traffic light on an icy road.

I got quite a few horn honks that day.

This baffles me. I hear it from members and I seen it when I drove a tow truck. Other motorists would see the car broke down...most of the time, the hazards would be on. But yet, these other morons would pull up behind the broke down car and honk AS IF the magical horn elves living in their horn would blow pixie dust toward the disabled vehicle and it would levitate to a place of safety off the road.

It should not be surprising that people are just as rude and stupid on the road as they are in our stores, bars, and on our phones.

Perfect example of this: when I was 16 I managed to break shatter my jaw by crashing off my bicycle while riding along a semi-major thoroughfare. So there I am, laying in the street on the side of the road, tangled up in my bike, bleeding. I would later discover that I had road rash on both knees and both elbows, took a good chunk of my thumb off, and had a huge gash on my chin (the landing with my full weight upon my chin is what caused both said gash and the destruction of my jaw). I am obviously not there intentionally or to have a good time. And yet, these yahoos driving by are HONKING at me to get the hell out of their way. While I was more concerned with my injuries (not to mention the severe PAIN!) than what a bunch of overly highstrung jackass motorists thought, I would estimate that about a third to a half of the drivers in the far right lane (where I was in a crumpled heap) honked. Perhaps a few in the left lane as well, despite my NOT blocking their traffic. Total number of motorists that pulled over to help and/or see if I was okay: zero. This in the same country and at the same time where there was an uproar about rock music lyrics being harmful to our "precious children." Precious, that is, unless they are injured and bleeding and interfering with your commute.

No, I did NOT become that kind of driver.