(no subject)
Well, it's been, uh, 6 months since my last post. I'm still at my phone monkey job, although I'm now in a better department and applying for a supervisory position. Still hammering away at Black Lagoon (we're up to Chapter 11!) and about halfway finished with Ancient Magic. I also participated in Al|together 2006 (see previous post), translated a sweet horror game and had a damn good time. In other translator-y news, I'm on the verge of starting my own small manga group, with everything lovingly translated and edited by yours truly. More on that later.
And I'm no longer in Austin proper. About a week ago I moved to Round Rock, which is just north of Austin, to be closer to work. Since then I've been hemorraging money for movers, electric and water deposits, new furnishings, and a two-night hotel stay because we got our power turned on two days late. I feel like I'm literally oozing money, leaving behind a little trail of dollar bills wherever I go. :/
Seeing as how everyone loves customer horror stories, I thought I'd share a few. I work in the repair department, so about 95% of our calls are customers calling about service. Some of the gems I've gotten:
A woman who screamed at me because her tech wasn't coming in the morning. I don't mean bitched and moaned, I mean threw a temper-tantrum screaming fit on my phone. Then she hung up on me.
A man who indignantly asked if our techs carried compressors on their trucks. (They do not.) I calmly explained to him that compressors are large and expensive ($200-$500), so there's no way for a tech to carry it with him. He then demanded the service be provided for free (?) because the tech will have to order the part. I hit mute and had a good laugh.
This was one of the most bizarre calls I ever had (but it makes for a good story). A guy from Dot Com (our online department) calls up with the customer already on the line. He explains that this woman has a water softener that's just a few days out of warranty, and she needs a tech to go out. I pull up her file and see that it's actually a month out of warranty, and verify the purchase date with her. The customer proceeds to tell me that she's had this problem for six months and she's even had a plumber out to her home. I explain that because it's a month out of warranty, there may be a trip fee unless the tech can verify that it's an ongoing problem. At this point she bursts into tears and goes all hysterial over a $55 service fee. I'm expecting Dot Com guy to back me up or at least calm her down, but instead he starts screaming "that's not how we treat the customers" and saying that I don't know how to do my job! At this point I'm embarassed for the both of us. Not only did I have a hysterical customer on my phone, I had a fucktard employee who didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Thank God he hung up on me or I would've gotten fired for verbally reaming him.
And more recently there was the guy who thought we were UPS. He calls up because his part had been delivered to the wrong address. He demands that I call UPS and have the delivery man come back out that night. My exact words were, "I'm sorry, Sir. We don't control UPS." He says someone at this line told him we could call and have the part delivered to the correct address. I explain that everything after the part has shipped is up to the customer: I could give him his tracking info and the phone number for UPS, but he has to do the rest. He's so belligerent about it that I finally give in and call National Parts to have his two $300 control panels emergency reordered and shipped to the right address. All because this lazy bastard refused to make a 2 minute phone call to UPS.
And I'm no longer in Austin proper. About a week ago I moved to Round Rock, which is just north of Austin, to be closer to work. Since then I've been hemorraging money for movers, electric and water deposits, new furnishings, and a two-night hotel stay because we got our power turned on two days late. I feel like I'm literally oozing money, leaving behind a little trail of dollar bills wherever I go. :/
Seeing as how everyone loves customer horror stories, I thought I'd share a few. I work in the repair department, so about 95% of our calls are customers calling about service. Some of the gems I've gotten:
A woman who screamed at me because her tech wasn't coming in the morning. I don't mean bitched and moaned, I mean threw a temper-tantrum screaming fit on my phone. Then she hung up on me.
A man who indignantly asked if our techs carried compressors on their trucks. (They do not.) I calmly explained to him that compressors are large and expensive ($200-$500), so there's no way for a tech to carry it with him. He then demanded the service be provided for free (?) because the tech will have to order the part. I hit mute and had a good laugh.
This was one of the most bizarre calls I ever had (but it makes for a good story). A guy from Dot Com (our online department) calls up with the customer already on the line. He explains that this woman has a water softener that's just a few days out of warranty, and she needs a tech to go out. I pull up her file and see that it's actually a month out of warranty, and verify the purchase date with her. The customer proceeds to tell me that she's had this problem for six months and she's even had a plumber out to her home. I explain that because it's a month out of warranty, there may be a trip fee unless the tech can verify that it's an ongoing problem. At this point she bursts into tears and goes all hysterial over a $55 service fee. I'm expecting Dot Com guy to back me up or at least calm her down, but instead he starts screaming "that's not how we treat the customers" and saying that I don't know how to do my job! At this point I'm embarassed for the both of us. Not only did I have a hysterical customer on my phone, I had a fucktard employee who didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Thank God he hung up on me or I would've gotten fired for verbally reaming him.
And more recently there was the guy who thought we were UPS. He calls up because his part had been delivered to the wrong address. He demands that I call UPS and have the delivery man come back out that night. My exact words were, "I'm sorry, Sir. We don't control UPS." He says someone at this line told him we could call and have the part delivered to the correct address. I explain that everything after the part has shipped is up to the customer: I could give him his tracking info and the phone number for UPS, but he has to do the rest. He's so belligerent about it that I finally give in and call National Parts to have his two $300 control panels emergency reordered and shipped to the right address. All because this lazy bastard refused to make a 2 minute phone call to UPS.