Jekyl and Hide: Did I step out of line too?

[Spawned]

Ok, so this was call el numero uno of the day. And perhaps that's why I kind of lost it for a second.

Let's just do a dialogue, shall we.

Me:
SC: Jackass of the day.

Things to keep in mind before I start this call, both the customer and myself are on ET. It is the winter and 3:52 PM at the start of the call.

Me: Thank you for calling Some Bank's online banking. My name is Poor Sap, may I have your name please?
SC: Jekyl Hide
Me: And how are you doing this evening Mr. Hide?
SC: It's not evening yet, I am in NC and it is 10 til 4.
Me: (In that you say toe-may-toe, I say tuh-mot-oh way). Well it's evening to me, what can I do for you?

Basically the situation is this: Customer has a Line of Credit which he claims over the last couple of weeks it said online was due 3-1-07 for 50 dollars. He got charged a late fee for missing the 2-1-07 payment and he called the credit division to question this. They inform him that there was a payment due and then connected him to me to see why the other date was displayed. I take his word at face value like I have to, apologize and place him on hold as this is a unique issue and I want to obtain supervisor advice. A supervisor tells me what I do know, if he checked it anytime after 2-1-07 it would say 3-1-07 and that there is nothing we can do because our logs show it right.

Ok so here is where it gets sucky.

Me: Mr Hide, thank you for your patience in holding. I have researched the issue and our logs show that the information is correct and we receive the information direct from the credit division and I cannot do anymore. I will connect you back to them for you to discuss it with them and see if they can possibly resolve the issue and refund the fee. However it is not in my capabil...
SC: Whoa-hold-it-whoa-hold-it. I have already talked to them and they connected me to you and I have been on hold for a long time. Let's just cut the bouncing me around and just help me.
Me: Sir, I am sorry about the inconvencience, but we receive the information directly from them and it is showing it right.
SC: I know what I saw and it said 3-1-07.
Me: Sir if you checked it on 2-2-07, then it would say 3-1-07 as it was already late...
SC: Look, I know what I saw and the representative told me that you were having problems and now I want a resolution.
Me: Sir, I am showing that the information was received by them and there is nothing more I can do, other then to connect you to them to see if they can give you a courtesy. However, the information is displaying correct now, and we show it has always displayed correct.
SC: Look, you need to just admit there is a problem here. The other rep said you were having problems, and you need to admit that you guys don't have your act together. I just want this resolved so connect me to your supervisor.
Me: Sir I ca...
SC: (Cutoff 1 with Rant 1 followed by 3 second silence)
Me: Sir I can...
SC: (Cutoff 2 with Rant 2 followed by 3 second silence)
Me: Sir I can...
SC: (Cutoff 3 with Rant 3 followed by 3 second silence)
Me: Sir I...
SC: (Cutoff 4...)
Me: Let me speak sir! (In heightened tone with frustration, was I out of line)

Followed now by the customer attempting to lecture me and how if he owned a company he would not allow a representative to scream at a customer. Then going on about how he can see why there are problems with poor rep's like myself. At this point I corrected him and pointed out that I am a top performing rep. Blah blah blah. The eventual ask to speak to a supervisor, the response of a call back and that I could connect him into the right department, another request for supervicor, another call back issued, told to stop playing the games and hiding behind a call back. Finally telling him that he is more then welcome to talk to a supervisor when one is available to call him (not wasting a supervisor's time on an issue we can't resolve with a 86 person que). Followed by a no just connect me, give me your name and center so I can complain, and believe me I will complain, about you later speech.

Connect him and tell them he is more then welcome to lodge a complaint against me at his leisure.

--

I don't know, did I get to angry at the cutoffs?

[Jester]

He wanted you to resolve an issue, and would not take anything but the answer he already had in mind. And would not let you speak. You were not in the wrong in any way. He was. Remember: The Sucky Customer is Always Wrong!

[Spawned]

Fair and wise Jester. Thank you for not allowing me to dishonor myself in allowing me to believe an SC was right.

[captainvegetable02]

I think you handled that very well. In my days as a bank teller, I had more sucky customers than most of my retail jobs combined, including numerous SCs each day that had a complaint about one problem or another, demanded an explanation for the bank's policy regarding that problem, and interrupted me the second I opened my mouth to politely explain, much like your story here. On a particularly bad day, I'd had enough of a customer who had been screaming at me for 10 minutes and wouldn't let me get a single word in to explain something very simple. Finally, I practically shouted at him, "Sir, you have demanded NUMEROUS times that I give you an explanation for these charges [or whatever his problem was]. Every time I have tried to do so, you have RUDELY interrupted me. If you cannot act mature enough to listen to my answer to the question that you have asked repeatedly, I have NO reason WHATSOEVER to listen to ANYTHING you have to say, and I don't understand where you got the idea that being excessively rude to me was going to motivate me to go out of my way to help you." He stared at me with his mouth gaping open, listened quietly while I (finally) explained his problem, realized that he was at fault, and left. I never got in trouble for going off on him either. My co-workers that overheard were actually pretty proud of me that day.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I feel sorry for people in customer service, who have to put up with people yelling and being abusive. I don't think you were out of line at all.

I work in credit card security, so I don't have to put up with crap. If someone interrupts me, I can firmly tell them that they need to listen and let us speak. if they get abusive or start yelling, we give one warning, and then disco. We can also tell them exactly what the notes on their account say...which is nice. 'Well sir, I'm showing that the last rep did hang up on you, because you screamed at them and used unacceptable language with them. They were not rude, apparently you were.' You'd be surprised how fast this shuts people up!

[The Gatekeeper]

I had a very similar situation last week at work. Since I was leaving the next morning for the Mt. St. Anne's trip I forwarded the call with the recording to my supervisors (note the plural ) with an appology for snapping. To be perfectly honest I don't think it was that bad. However one of my supervisors (The Controller) is a micromanager and turned it into a huge deal, or so I found out as I was getting ready to leave for the day.

So lucky me I got to spend my time off worrying about what lies in wait for me when I go in this morning. Hopefully I'll just get a lecture and some humiliation. joy.

[chainedbarista]

no, spawned, i think you did very well; considering, as jester said, he had only one answer that he'd accept, and it wasn't what you were giving him, he would have found any excuse to complain to divert responsibility.

he owed and chose not to pay-first strike

he attempted to shunt the blame elsewhere-strike two

he refused your help because it wasn't what he wanted to hear-strike three.

i'd have told him the same, i'll get you the contact info for my supervisor and let the account notes tell the story.

he was a jackass, pure and simple.

[Crazyredhead]

You did the right thing, you were not rude, he was. I was always taught that interupting someone is rude. When I worked on the phones and another dept would be able to help when there was nothing that I could do, and he wanted a sup, I would place him on hold, call that other dept and request a sup and explain to him/her the problem, then I would connect the two.

[Knightmare]

I had a customer like that.
One day at RadioShack, a customer came in with a cell phone he purchased about 3 months before. He was having problems with his bill (I don't remember exactly what. This was about 5 years ago. I just remember his attitude).
Now, we at La Shack had NOTHING to do with billing. We could answer a few basic questions, but we had no authority to change anything, didn't know the complex way they figure out taxes and charges, etc.
In a nutshell, his bill was about 3 times more than what he signed up for. He came in, called us liars, cheats and crooks, and wanted us to take care of it. I pulled out his contract and looked at the plan he signed up for. His bill also showed the same plan. However, the bill also showed the other services he used but didn't sign up for; text messaging, picture mail, ringer downloads... all the expensive stuff. And he used these services constantly, which added up quickly.
As I was trying to explain why his bill was so high, he cut me off with a rant. I'd get another 3 words out, and again, a rant. 3 more words from me, another rant. Last time, 3 words, his rant. Then I just sighed, and looked at him. And looked.
And looked some more. He got a bit uncomfortable.
SC: "What?"
Me: "..."
SC: "WHAT?!"
Me: "Do you want my help or not?"
SC: "YES!"
Me: "Then quit interrupting me so I CAN help you, okay?"
SC: "But why is my bill so high? TELL ME!"
Me: "If you stopped intterupting me, I'd tell you why. Now, the reason why.."
SC: "Just fix it!"
Me: "Ok, look. I'm trying to help you, but you don't seem to want my help. You just want to yell at me. We set you up on the correct plan. You signed the contract saying it's the plan YOU chose. YOU didn't want any of the other services, but you used them anyway, and at a premium price. There, I helped you. Now if you need anything else, the nearest [cellphone company store] is in [a city an hour's drive from the store]. They can answer all your billing questions there, since they own the service you're using. Thank you, have a good night."
He grumbled and left, never to return.

Anyway, sorry to highjack the thread. I didn't meant to. But you were in now way wrong. I HATE it when customers interrupt you when you're trying to help them. I can understand it happening once. More than that is unacceptable.

[Enigma]

Absolutly right, there's a point where their ranting is wasting your time and theirs.

If they ramble too long, or start cutting me off at every turn, I usually say something to the effect of "Sir/M'am, you called in to get my help, and I while I understand your frustration, nothing will get done if you keep interrupting me. So you can either sit there quietly and let me help you, or you can hang up the phone"

Not to mention he was in the wrong anyway.

[Erin]

Ooooh!!!

Interruptus Asshatius!!

I HATE THAT!!

When I used to work at a telemarketing company ("The Most RESPECTED Name In Teleservices..." yeah right...sure they were) My biggest pet peeve was when someone would interrupt me. I absolutely hate people who interrupt me.

I no longer have any patience with people who interrupt me. It's one of the biggest reasons that I want to get a job where I dont ever have to deal with people. (going back to school to get my medical transcriptionist certificate...If I dont like what I'm hearing...I can turn off the tape!)

[SCSlave]

You did absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing. You handled it better than I would have. I have a tendancy to stop talking after being interrupted a million times by a rant---like Knightmare's story. Don't call in or come in ranting/raving at me, interrupting me, and being completely rude and then expect me to help. I'll let it slide a few times, after that---you better sit down and shut up if you want my help. I mean, seriously, you CAN'T do anything if all they're doing is screaming at you....they're essentially not allowing you to help. So screw 'em. You get paid the same if you help them or not.

I'd like to say that to some SC that's behaving like your SC. "Look, I get paid the same if you're helped or not...now do you want my help? Or would you like to go back to the rock you crawled out from under?"