Employee Bingo!

[Dips]

You know how some people will contact a company, not like what they hear then keep trying and trying to get another employee who will tell them what they want to hear?

My co-worker, Mark, calls that practice Employee Bingo.

I had a terrific case of it today with an activation scammer. With these kinds of call I tend to go with "believe their story unless they tell you something that you can't believe."

This guy was, to put it bluntly, full of shit. And the more questions I asked trying to get him to verify or provide a reasonable explanation, the more shit he spouted.

So I reminded him of the licensing terms and told him what he needed to do to activate his computer. It involved removing copies from other computers. And no, I don't buy that somehow two computers with names that match the rubric your school uses just *magically* appeared on our server and somehow these completely imaginary non-existent computers *magically* wound up associated with a license registered to your school.

So anyway he hung defeated and I made notes, lots of them, in the record.

Five minutes later the phone rang and I saw it was the same school. I tried to get it, but Eugene beat me to it. I stepped off the record so Eugene would see my notes and waited. Sure enough, he decided not to touch it and transferred it to me.

To say our scammer was disappointed to hear my voice would be an understatement. Needless to say he repeated the same highly improbable story. I repeated the same spiel and he hung up. Defeated.

Apparently, since he knew any calls would get transferred to me, he tried emailing us. That was unfortunate for him in two ways:

1. As you've guessed, I answer emails. So he got me again.

2. He supplied some information in the email the proved him wrong and proved me right.

When I replied with the same answer, I resisted the temptation to mention I'd been the one on the phone (fun as that would have been).

[Automan Empire]

Oh, I hate this!

I call it, The Mom Says No So Go Ask Dad Game.

Once or twice, I've pointed this out to the customer, and they laugh!

[jais]

I see, we call this banker bingo! They will all try it at some point.

Unfortunately, it works often enough that it's not going to go away.

[jjllbb]

When I replied with the same answer, I resisted the temptation to mention I'd been the one on the phone (fun as that would have been).

awww. that would have made it perfect!

[draftermatt]

See people just tell me that's what they're going to do.

I'll give them an answer, they complain, I explain, they complain more.

I tell them they are more than welcome to talk to my supervisor, who will explain it again, but not as nice. They take me up on it, and find out I was correct (one guy told me he should have just listened to me instead of getting yelled at for 10 minutes).

But I have occasionly had one call back and ask for my supervisor, which is why as soon as I hang up the phone I tell him what went down in case they call back.

People don't seem to understand that.

[AriRashkae]

Oh, I hate this!

I call it, The Mom Says No So Go Ask Dad Game.

My 11 year old tries this. All. The. Time. He apparently hasn't learned that *gasp* Daddy and I talk to each other! Given that we live in the same house, sleep in the same bed, etc, etc.

[Kiwi]

A customer called me a liar once to my face, she didn't believe that someone so young could possibly know what she was talking about.

So she went and asked another older employee... my boss... the department manager the same exact question.
My boss turned to me and said "I'll have to ask kiwi, shes the one who knows about that sort of thing"....

Ahhh the joys of owning a customer in front of and with the unknowing help of a manager. It was even better when the woman repeated that she thought I was a liar and my boss stood up for me.

[Record Store Tough Guy]

Ahhh the joys of owning a customer in front of and with the unknowing help of a manager. It was even better when the woman repeated that she thought I was a liar and my boss stood up for me.

I had the almost exact opposite happen to me at the record store. I come back from break to encounter Awesome Manager Chick being berated and brow-beaten by some self-important suit about... something, I forget. I think he wanted to leave something there for his wife to come by for as part of a scavenger hunt. AMC had declined, citing it as a loss prevention issue, but he was having none of her explanation. I forget his exact words, but he was not being polite. As I walk up, he turns to me and says: "Finally, someone who can get something done. Are you the store manager?"

I have to admit I took a perverse pleasure in pointing out that he had been talking to her the whole time. He turned an interesting shade of red and stormed out.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I love it when people do that; especially when it's over an unbreakable policy. Such as, back when I worked in the supermarket and chip and pin didn't exist, this woman who tried to pay with an unsigned card. She asked me, my supervisor and the duty manager; and we all told her no. XD