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I'm a supervisor in a technical support call center for an ISP. the bulk of my job is helping the tier 1 techs with anything that they're having trouble with. After that it's escalations for issues related to the network or some of our proprietary devices and applications. Then there are the "I want a supervisor" calls. Managers are actually supposed to take these, but almost always find a way to weasel their way out of them, so we get them. Last night, I got one of these calls.
SC: ID10T
T1: Tier 1 tech
CH: Me
T1: Hey CH. I've got customer ###### on the line demanding to speak with a supervisor.
CH: What's going on?
T1: He's got an e-mail issue but refuses to let me help him. He keeps demanding a supervisor.
CH: Is D available?
T1: No, he's already gone home for the night.
CH: Loverly. OK. Pass him through.
<Brief Hold>
CH: Thank you for holding. My name is CH. How can I help you?
SC: <Condescendingly... In fact his tone through the whole call was this way> Your system won't let me email Craigslist.
CH: What do you mean it won't let you? Does it give you an error?
SC: I never have problems at work. Only with you guys. I try to send an email and it won't go through.
CH: I apologize sir, but I need to know exactly what happens and what the error is. Can I have you try to do it again for me?
SC: I click on the link for this house I'm trying to rent and I put my phone number in the CC box. When I try to send it it comes back with an error.
CH: OK sir. If I heard you right, I've found the first problem. You said you're entering your number into the CC box. CC means Carbon Copy. It's for sending the email to additional people. You need to enter an actual email address in there.
SC: OK. So I type in my wife's email address in that box and now I can't send it.
CH: How were you sending it before? Isn't there a button there that says Send?
SC: I don't understand why it doesn't work with your service. it works perfectly fine at work.
CH: Sir, right now the problem is not with our service. There's something going on with the email client that's being used if you can't find a send button. Do you know what email program is coming up?
SC: No. I just want this to be simple. I don't own a cell phone. I don't use the internet for much. I want things simple.
CH: Sir, when you click on that email link in Craigslist, it launches a program that's on your computer. We need to find out what that is so that we can make sure it's configured right and then it will work for you.
SC: I just want things to be... <I cut him off>
CH: Yes sir, I understand. Things will be if we can get this done. Now, Do you know what Internet browser you use?
SC: No
CH: is it Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari?
SC: Uhh.... No
CH: Across the top of the window should be menu options that say things like file, edit, tools, and help right?
SC: Yes
CH: Ok, can you click on Help for me? Do you see anything there that says About? It could say About Internet Explorer or About Mozilla Firefox.
SC: No, the only thing there says help.
CH: Hmm..... In the top left corner, there should be a little icon. Does it look like the letter E with a ring around it or maybe the earth?
SC: It has an N
CH: OK. it sounds like you're running Netscape, which means you're probably using it's own email client. We can get this going.
SC: You know what? I'm just going to continue to mess with this. Thanks for your time. <click>
I'm used to people blaming us for every little thing that goes wrong with their computers. ISPs are blamed for everything from power failures to global warming. But when they immediately demand a Supervisor, that just irks me to know end.
This caller took all of my effort not to be rude back to him. I seriously need to get out of customer service.
CH
SC: ID10T
T1: Tier 1 tech
CH: Me
T1: Hey CH. I've got customer ###### on the line demanding to speak with a supervisor.
CH: What's going on?
T1: He's got an e-mail issue but refuses to let me help him. He keeps demanding a supervisor.
CH: Is D available?
T1: No, he's already gone home for the night.
CH: Loverly. OK. Pass him through.
<Brief Hold>
CH: Thank you for holding. My name is CH. How can I help you?
SC: <Condescendingly... In fact his tone through the whole call was this way> Your system won't let me email Craigslist.
CH: What do you mean it won't let you? Does it give you an error?
SC: I never have problems at work. Only with you guys. I try to send an email and it won't go through.
CH: I apologize sir, but I need to know exactly what happens and what the error is. Can I have you try to do it again for me?
SC: I click on the link for this house I'm trying to rent and I put my phone number in the CC box. When I try to send it it comes back with an error.
CH: OK sir. If I heard you right, I've found the first problem. You said you're entering your number into the CC box. CC means Carbon Copy. It's for sending the email to additional people. You need to enter an actual email address in there.
SC: OK. So I type in my wife's email address in that box and now I can't send it.
CH: How were you sending it before? Isn't there a button there that says Send?
SC: I don't understand why it doesn't work with your service. it works perfectly fine at work.
CH: Sir, right now the problem is not with our service. There's something going on with the email client that's being used if you can't find a send button. Do you know what email program is coming up?
SC: No. I just want this to be simple. I don't own a cell phone. I don't use the internet for much. I want things simple.
CH: Sir, when you click on that email link in Craigslist, it launches a program that's on your computer. We need to find out what that is so that we can make sure it's configured right and then it will work for you.
SC: I just want things to be... <I cut him off>
CH: Yes sir, I understand. Things will be if we can get this done. Now, Do you know what Internet browser you use?
SC: No
CH: is it Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari?
SC: Uhh.... No
CH: Across the top of the window should be menu options that say things like file, edit, tools, and help right?
SC: Yes
CH: Ok, can you click on Help for me? Do you see anything there that says About? It could say About Internet Explorer or About Mozilla Firefox.
SC: No, the only thing there says help.
CH: Hmm..... In the top left corner, there should be a little icon. Does it look like the letter E with a ring around it or maybe the earth?
SC: It has an N
CH: OK. it sounds like you're running Netscape, which means you're probably using it's own email client. We can get this going.
SC: You know what? I'm just going to continue to mess with this. Thanks for your time. <click>
I'm used to people blaming us for every little thing that goes wrong with their computers. ISPs are blamed for everything from power failures to global warming. But when they immediately demand a Supervisor, that just irks me to know end.
This caller took all of my effort not to be rude back to him. I seriously need to get out of customer service.
CH
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