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I've now completed three overnight shifts at the cable company. The customers who call in between midnight and 7AM are... unusual. Granted, there are some people who have legitimate reasons to call at hour... just as I had a legitimate reason to be buying beer at 7AM this morning (on my way home from work). Most callers don't, though, just as most of the people counting out pennies to buy their first beer of the day didn't.
Added complication #1... this week, we started taking calls from a much larger area than we normally handle. Areas that do things differently than we've always done them.
Added complication #2... most of the employees on overnights ended training just last week.
Added complication #3... we don't have support people, team leads, supervisors or managers at that hour. Instead, the senior employee is in charge.
Added complication #3a... for the last two days, the senior employee turned out to be me. Me? WTF?
(And sure enough, catastrophe struck on my watch... but that will be another post when I'm up to telling it.)
And now for just one of many SC stories before I go to bed.... the part of my comments I put in brackets are what I really meant.
Caller: I'd like to order cable service.
Me: Great. [At 3AM?]
Caller: Yes. (And she basically wanted everything we offered plus more.)
Me: I suggest you call our dedicated sales team between 7AM and midnight. They'll be able to help you better than I can with an order this size. [I want nothing to do with this... it's a trashy account. The last person at this address left behind a huge bill, and the previous two accounts under your telephone number also left huge bills behind. There's a story here, but I'm going to let someone else figure it out.]
Caller: This is the only possible time I can order.
Me: You're busy between 7AM and midnight, seven days a week?
Caller: I work those hours.
Me: I see. That's a lot of hours. [You work 17 hours a day, 7 days a week? Where do you find time to watch TV / surf the internet / use the phone?]
Caller: It is.
Me: At any rate, I've never been trained in ordering telephone service. So, you'll really need to call Sales. [That's mostly true.]
Caller: Then I don't want telephone service. Just cable and internet.
Me: Unfortunately, I still have to refer you to our sales team. [This looks more like a scam every minute.]
Caller: My sister called at this hour last week and she got service.
Me: I wouldn't know about that. [If you really have a sister, she found a bored, clueless, outsourced rep and now you think you can pull the same scam by calling in at this hour.]
Caller: Let me speak to supervisor.
Me: There will be one here in the morning.
Caller: You're telling me there's no one in charge right now?
Me: A supervisor will be here in the morning. [Yes, I'm in charge... but I've already said everything I have to say... I'm not about to cave on myself.]
Caller: That does it. You guys are #$%$ #$%#$ #$%#$ers. I'm getting satellite TV.
Me: I really suggest you call the sales team after 7AM. [Can I give you DirecTV's number?]
Added complication #1... this week, we started taking calls from a much larger area than we normally handle. Areas that do things differently than we've always done them.
Added complication #2... most of the employees on overnights ended training just last week.
Added complication #3... we don't have support people, team leads, supervisors or managers at that hour. Instead, the senior employee is in charge.
Added complication #3a... for the last two days, the senior employee turned out to be me. Me? WTF?
(And sure enough, catastrophe struck on my watch... but that will be another post when I'm up to telling it.)
And now for just one of many SC stories before I go to bed.... the part of my comments I put in brackets are what I really meant.
Caller: I'd like to order cable service.
Me: Great. [At 3AM?]
Caller: Yes. (And she basically wanted everything we offered plus more.)
Me: I suggest you call our dedicated sales team between 7AM and midnight. They'll be able to help you better than I can with an order this size. [I want nothing to do with this... it's a trashy account. The last person at this address left behind a huge bill, and the previous two accounts under your telephone number also left huge bills behind. There's a story here, but I'm going to let someone else figure it out.]
Caller: This is the only possible time I can order.
Me: You're busy between 7AM and midnight, seven days a week?
Caller: I work those hours.
Me: I see. That's a lot of hours. [You work 17 hours a day, 7 days a week? Where do you find time to watch TV / surf the internet / use the phone?]
Caller: It is.
Me: At any rate, I've never been trained in ordering telephone service. So, you'll really need to call Sales. [That's mostly true.]
Caller: Then I don't want telephone service. Just cable and internet.
Me: Unfortunately, I still have to refer you to our sales team. [This looks more like a scam every minute.]
Caller: My sister called at this hour last week and she got service.
Me: I wouldn't know about that. [If you really have a sister, she found a bored, clueless, outsourced rep and now you think you can pull the same scam by calling in at this hour.]
Caller: Let me speak to supervisor.
Me: There will be one here in the morning.
Caller: You're telling me there's no one in charge right now?
Me: A supervisor will be here in the morning. [Yes, I'm in charge... but I've already said everything I have to say... I'm not about to cave on myself.]
Caller: That does it. You guys are #$%$ #$%#$ #$%#$ers. I'm getting satellite TV.
Me: I really suggest you call the sales team after 7AM. [Can I give you DirecTV's number?]