another call center experience..

SPELLING BEE
I work in the call center for AOL UK. I once set up an account for a customer. The customer then asked "How do you spell AOL UK?". I said "AOL UK". She said "Oh", and hung up!



CHATTY CUSTOMER
I work in a call center where we offer our customers the option to receive assistance through a chat program that is accessed from our website. A few weeks ago, one of our phone representatives received a call from a customer who informed us that our chat was not working properly. Concerned that we might be having technical difficulties with this important service, the representative asked several questions regarding the type of problem, intending to notify the proper personnel to have the bug fixed. However, the representative realized the root of the problem when the customer described her attempts to chat from her new computer: "I keep talking to it as loud as I can," the frustrated customer emphasized. "It's just not doing anything!" At this point, the representative broke the news to the customer that in order to chat online, one does normally have to type!



STATE OF CONFUSION
I am a supervisor for a directory assistance (411) call center and we have a customer that firmly believes that New England is a state. Here is how these calls would go:

Operator: What city and state please?

Customer: Uhhhh. . . Lincoln, New England.

Operator: I'm sorry, did you say New England was the state?

Customer: Yes, that is what I said.

Operator: Sir, I apologize but New England isn't a state.

Customer: Yes it is, I am reading it off a paper that says "Lincoln, N-E".

Operator: I am sorry sir, but N-E is Nebraska . . .could it be Lincoln, Nebraska?

Customer: Oh yeah, that's what I meant.

It would be funny if it only happened once, but it happens several times a week, which makes it hilarious!

WHERE'S THE REST OF MY ORDER?
I work in the home delivery enquiries (read: complaints) department of a major UK catalogue retailer. A colleague once took a call from an extremely disappointed woman who had purchased a cat gym/scratching post type of thing. In the catalogue, the product is pictured with two little kittens climbing on it. You can probably guess what her complaint was . . . yes, the product had been delivered, but the two cats weren't inside the box!! The advisor explained politely that the picture was for illustration purposes only and that there was no way that we could send live animals via a parcel delivery service, but the customer continued to rant at him, threatening to report the complaint to Trading Standards, the press, her solicitors, etc, etc. If that item is featured again, maybe we should add the phrase 'livestock not included' to the description!!!

YOU TALKING TO ME!
I took this call in a cellular phone call center.
Caller: I can't make outbound calls on my cell phone.
Rep: Do you have the phone with you?
Caller: Yes, I'm talking on it right now.
Rep: The phone is working just fine. You just called me.
The embarrassed caller quickly hung up.

OTIS WITHOUT HIS WARRANTY
I work in the consumer complaint division of an automotive repair company. It's sometimes difficult to resolve consumer issues at a franchise store. (Since it's not corporately owned, we can't force them to take action. We often have to persuade the manager to make good on a poor repair.) One customer complained that our franchise operator wouldn't replace the transmission in his riding lawn mower. I sent an E-mail to the store manager and received this response:

The customer in question is the town drunk. His driver's license has been revoked for years. I wondered why it was showing such wear, but I still replaced the transmission in his mower twice! Recently I discovered him riding it, along the shoulder of the road, to his favorite "watering hole," which is eleven miles away! 11 mile journeys are not a legitimate use of riding mowers, and I am not going to replace his transmission again!