Let Me Help You While I burn To Death

[TelephoneAngel]

Like every big company in the UK, we have regular fire alarm tests in which the whole building has to be evacuated within a certain time, there is no time to talk to a customer, pick up your belongings or anything else, the fire alarm goes, you say sorry to your customer, you put the phone down, you leave the building, you can be carded otherwise.

Now, usually the waiting time on the phones in the middle of the day is around 40 minutes, but after an evacuation or other problem it really can be a good two hours for obvious reasons.

I had just picked up the phone when the fire bell rang, I knew it probably was not a real fire, but I still had to leave the building.I felt sorry for the customer as I could not help her right them, and that was my mistake, trying to help her.She must have heard the fire bell, it was shrilling right above my desk.

The customer was calling from a withheld number.

me "I'm sorry I have to evacuate the building, what's your telephone number and I'll call you straight back when we are allowed back in"
customer "I'm not giving you my number and you WILL help me right now, as I'm on the phone"
me "I really will have to call you back, you camn hear the fire alarm, what's your number?"
customer "give me your name I'm going to complain, I just told you you're not having my number and you WILL help me right now"

By now I am the only person left other than supervisor who is not happy with me, she marches over, grabs the phone out of my hand and slams it down, saying "will you just go"

So, for trying to save a customer a long wait on the phone later on I got yelled at by the customer and by my supervisor.

And that is why you should never try to help a customer.

[ShadowTiger]

This is really the kind of story that needs to get published on supervisors' doors.

[South Texan]

...she marches over, grabs the phone out of my hand and slams it down, saying "will you just go"

The only good thing is that if the SC does complain, you can point out the supervisor hung up on the SC, not you.

[MaseMan]

In an emergency situation like that, drill or not, that's when any pretense of trying to help the customer can be abandoned. Your supervisor did the right thing in this instance.

[Nurian]

When I was a super at the call center, we had an alarm going off. One of my people had a caller that kept asking questions. My team member was not the kind to hang up. As every one filed out, she kept saying "ma'am...ma'am. I have to....ma'am." Finally, I got frustrated, took her headset and said into the mic "There is a fire. <Rep> is evacuating. Call back." and I yanked the jack. I looked at my rep and said we should go.

My boss saw me and later commended me for getting her off of the phone.

When there's a fire alarm, drill or no, you have to focus on getting out. It's not about customer service, not about numbers, not about call flow. I guarantee, if there was a fire, your bosses would be more glad to hear everyone got out safely than one got killed because they were trying to save a customer.

[r2cagle]

Ditto -- It's okay to say, "Sorry, gotta go now. Call back later or very quickly give me your phone number. Oops, no phone number, good bye".

[Aisling]

In an emergency situation like that, drill or not, that's when any pretense of trying to help the customer can be abandoned. Your supervisor did the right thing in this instance.

Agreed.

When ignoring policy to help a customer means potentially putting lives at risk, one should always follow policy. Your life, the lives of your coworkers, and the lives of the people who'd come in and try to save you, are NOT worth a few hours of anyone's time.

[Exaspera]

I have done a LOT of reading about 9/11. In one of the passages, a company in the South Tower, a supervisor, despite seeing smoke and papers flying from the North Tower, told everybody to remain at their stations and to continue working. I'm pretty sure they got out, though.

[Magpie]

I have done a LOT of reading about 9/11. In one of the passages, a company in the South Tower, a supervisor, despite seeing smoke and papers flying from the North Tower, told everybody to remain at their stations and to continue working. I'm pretty sure they got out, though.

And here I thought the TA who declared that he'd continue the tutorial despite the chlorine leak was bad. *shakes head*

[Rantsylvania 6-5000]

customer "I'm not giving you my number and you WILL help me right now, as I'm on the phone"
customer "give me your name I'm going to complain, I just told you you're not having my number and you WILL help me right now

What a raging BITCH!!!

When I still worked in a call center one of my coworkers had a customer that demanded that he call the customer back using his personal cell phone! The customer got pissed off when my coworker refused and said that the company would reimburse my coworker....uh...yeah...how about no? The fire alarm is going off and this asshat is demanding that my coworker finish the troubleshooting by using his personal cell phone.

Here, I see the potential for the customer getting the number on caller ID, and calling that employee on the personal cell phone anytime they have an issue.

I have done a LOT of reading about 9/11. In one of the passages, a company in the South Tower, a supervisor, despite seeing smoke and papers flying from the North Tower, told everybody to remain at their stations and to continue working. I'm pretty sure they got out, though.

This is why I wouldn't put my personal safety in the hands of my supervisors.

[wraiths_crono]

I know we had a fire drill at two call centers I worked at. One we found out after was not a drill, was maintenance soldering next to a smoke detector.. had 1/4 of the floor not go because they were told to just keep taking calls it was ONLY a drill.. Tho I did get the jerk award for that day "Sorry there is a fire alarm going off my life is more important than this call BYE!"

[MaseMan]

had 1/4 of the floor not go because they were told to just keep taking calls it was ONLY a drill..

I'm guessing that's in violation of some sort of safety code. Some employers are unbelievable.

[Exaspera]

Is not the purpose of a drill to practice leaving a fire, etc. calmly and with a sense of planned action? So if drills are ignored, a real event will be unnecessarily chaotic resulting in injury or worse. Then an investigation will be made, the guilty parties discovered and once again, they will stand before the cameras and apologize in tears, OR they will run from from the car to the courthouse with a "no comment."

This happens over and over again here. When will folks learn?