Oh noes, Sabbath woes!
Sometimes little bits and pieces of my job make it far more interesting than it should be. Anyone who knows me really well knows how much I hate the phone. So of course I just HAVE to have a voice that's made for it or radio. Several times a day I get hung up on, or have people comment that they thought I was a recording due to the smooth baritone delivery that I roll out with every time I pick up. Apparently it's the last thing that some people expect to hear on certain occassions as I found out when I was handed the phone by a confused employee of mine. He explained a bit of what was going on and I picked up as everyone in the front of the line froze and looked at me. Because hey, this had trainwreck written all over it. And so it begins and went a little something like this:
Me: "Good afternoon, and thank you for holding. I apologize for the wait, how may I be of service to you on this fine day?"
Caller: "Umm... Hello?"
Me: "Hello again. What can I do for you?"
Caller: "Yeah, I have a complaint!"
Me: "Really? I'm sorry to hear that... Is there something I can help you with here?"
Caller: "Yeah, I've been calling and trying to get in there for weeks to pick up a Wii. Every day I call and each time you get them it's on a Sunday and that's a real problem because it's against our church to work on the Sabbath!"
Me: "I'm sorry you feel that way, but our business hours reflect all cultures and religions equally. If an employee wishes not to work on the day that thier religion defines as a sabbath day, then they do not. But we will continue to keep our doors open so that others of different beliefs may continue to work."
Caller: "Well that's not the problem! How can I buy one if you only sell them on Sundays? You're discriminating against Christians!"
Me: "But we don't only sell them on Sundays."
Caller: "Oh yeah? Well tell me this! Didn't it come in on a Sunday? Wasn't that the first day they were released? How could I buy one on that day if it's the Sabbath? And I have called every day since then trying to find one and now that I hear you have some, you're telling me that you're holding them for Sunday! Again!"
Me: "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but we have sold them on other days as well. Allow me to explain... The ones we sold on that day were reserved weeks in advance over the span of a few weekdays. If you had come in then and reserved one, we would have sold it to you on Sunday, or within 48 hours or you would have gotten your money back. We also recieved a shipment and sold them just last Friday afternoon the moment they came in to those who were in the store. Most of them were people who actually showed up almost every day asking. And finally we're only holding onto them for the shopping rush that comes with this Sunday. If there's anything to blame about our selling habits, I'd have to say it's the fact that so many people decide to shop on these days which as you may know are the days most people have to go out and make purchases for the holidays. We're not discriminating. We're making sure that we can help people during this stressful time of the year and hopefully make the lives of a few people a little easier."
Caller: "Listen, you're not..."
Me: "But rest assured! We will be getting more in. Yes we're holding them until this ONE sunday for a reason. After that they will be first come, first serve the moment they come out, just as they have been at every other store before now. Now then, what else can I help you with?"
Caller: "I demand to speak with the store manager!"
Me: "The store manager? That would be me, sir."
Caller: "Then I demand to speak with the regional manager!"
Me: "As for the regional manager, he's in the back room right now. In fact, he's probably on the other line making calls. Would you care to wait five minutes?"
Caller: "I know who and what you are."
Me: "I would imagine so, as both are on my nametag."
Caller: "Goodbye."
Me: "Thank you for calling, and Happy Holidays."
-----
"I know who and what you are?" Please, go troll somewhere else. The whole call took about two minutes out of my life that I will never have back, but I wonder if it was worth it. Was it fake? Was it a joke? Why did he pronounce Wii "Double-you, eye-eye" if he still claims to have called every day? It boggles the parts of my mind that care! All seemed to have gone well though. I didn't have to give him anyone's number and it was almost refreshing in a way. Once I hung up, someone who was being rung up at another register pointed and said "Now that's what you call customer service." Someone else said "No, that's what you call a professional snow job."
Hehe... "Snow job." George Orwell would be so proud of me. Happy Holidays everyone.
Me: "Good afternoon, and thank you for holding. I apologize for the wait, how may I be of service to you on this fine day?"
Caller: "Umm... Hello?"
Me: "Hello again. What can I do for you?"
Caller: "Yeah, I have a complaint!"
Me: "Really? I'm sorry to hear that... Is there something I can help you with here?"
Caller: "Yeah, I've been calling and trying to get in there for weeks to pick up a Wii. Every day I call and each time you get them it's on a Sunday and that's a real problem because it's against our church to work on the Sabbath!"
Me: "I'm sorry you feel that way, but our business hours reflect all cultures and religions equally. If an employee wishes not to work on the day that thier religion defines as a sabbath day, then they do not. But we will continue to keep our doors open so that others of different beliefs may continue to work."
Caller: "Well that's not the problem! How can I buy one if you only sell them on Sundays? You're discriminating against Christians!"
Me: "But we don't only sell them on Sundays."
Caller: "Oh yeah? Well tell me this! Didn't it come in on a Sunday? Wasn't that the first day they were released? How could I buy one on that day if it's the Sabbath? And I have called every day since then trying to find one and now that I hear you have some, you're telling me that you're holding them for Sunday! Again!"
Me: "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, but we have sold them on other days as well. Allow me to explain... The ones we sold on that day were reserved weeks in advance over the span of a few weekdays. If you had come in then and reserved one, we would have sold it to you on Sunday, or within 48 hours or you would have gotten your money back. We also recieved a shipment and sold them just last Friday afternoon the moment they came in to those who were in the store. Most of them were people who actually showed up almost every day asking. And finally we're only holding onto them for the shopping rush that comes with this Sunday. If there's anything to blame about our selling habits, I'd have to say it's the fact that so many people decide to shop on these days which as you may know are the days most people have to go out and make purchases for the holidays. We're not discriminating. We're making sure that we can help people during this stressful time of the year and hopefully make the lives of a few people a little easier."
Caller: "Listen, you're not..."
Me: "But rest assured! We will be getting more in. Yes we're holding them until this ONE sunday for a reason. After that they will be first come, first serve the moment they come out, just as they have been at every other store before now. Now then, what else can I help you with?"
Caller: "I demand to speak with the store manager!"
Me: "The store manager? That would be me, sir."
Caller: "Then I demand to speak with the regional manager!"
Me: "As for the regional manager, he's in the back room right now. In fact, he's probably on the other line making calls. Would you care to wait five minutes?"
Caller: "I know who and what you are."
Me: "I would imagine so, as both are on my nametag."
Caller: "Goodbye."
Me: "Thank you for calling, and Happy Holidays."
-----
"I know who and what you are?" Please, go troll somewhere else. The whole call took about two minutes out of my life that I will never have back, but I wonder if it was worth it. Was it fake? Was it a joke? Why did he pronounce Wii "Double-you, eye-eye" if he still claims to have called every day? It boggles the parts of my mind that care! All seemed to have gone well though. I didn't have to give him anyone's number and it was almost refreshing in a way. Once I hung up, someone who was being rung up at another register pointed and said "Now that's what you call customer service." Someone else said "No, that's what you call a professional snow job."
Hehe... "Snow job." George Orwell would be so proud of me. Happy Holidays everyone.