Custy Hell: Idiots Calling

Hello, RHU!

Call me CSRawr.  I work for a big-name company geared towards custy spawn and all the toys, clothes, and miscellaneous things that they do or do not require.

I also happen to be one of the overnight contacts for this company.  We get all KINDS of calls, from the stupid teenagers prank calling (By the way, assholes, we do log telephone numbers and can have your number blocked if you're stupid enough to call repeatedly.), to the grandparents trying to place an order who aren't sure what they're doing and would like help (I don't mind those so much. They're usually pretty awesome about admitting they need help and are more than grateful for assistance), to the idiots who call in because the promo they want to take advantage of isn't working.

This custy falls into the last category.  We recently had a promotion going on for a rather significant percentage off of an order of $125 or more.  Corporate policy dictate that we cannot honor a promotion that has expired, even if the "guest" (our term for custies) has an order time of a minute after it expires.  Our corporate headquarters, the ones who set the timeframe for the promotions, is on the east cost.

This custy was somewhere else.

She had been trying to place an order and was having technical difficulties with the site, for several hours.  And as a result, the promo ended before she could place her order.  So she called in several times before I finally got her, and claimed she was going to have a panic attack if the agent before me couldn't get her the price she wanted.

When she called and got me, she was already nearly hysterical.  I advised the guest of the policy and that I couldn't do anything about the promo or the fact that she was having difficulties earlier in the night.

She broke down into tears and pulled the whole "anxiety attack" spiel on me, accompanied by begging me. Repeatedly.

Meanwhile, I'm sitting at my station, wishing for her phone to disconnect the call, and finally, my supervisor (Awesome lady who doesn't tolerate BS) signaled for me to disconnect the call myself.

I proceed to do so, and the guest is all "No, please, please, please, please" even as I do my closing and click the "end call" button.

The fastest way to get me into a foul mood on a call is to resort to tears and begging.  I do not have time, nor do I give a shit, to hear about how you NEED this item. I do not give two shits about the fact that you've been trying to get through to us for over an hour. If you wouldn't get impatient, hang up, then redial, you'd get through sooner.  Don't try to cry and beg with a phone rep.  Nine times out of ten, they can't actually apply a prior promotion because of corporate policy.  We will do it in rare cases, if only to keep a particularly irritating custy from calling us repeatedly, and even then, it will be a ONE TIME courtesy. We cannot honor the promotion most times if it's expired.

If your order doesn't qualify for a promotion, READ THE FINE PRINT. We state clearly on all of our promos exactly what qualifies and what doesn't.  In the case of this last big promo, there was a big indicator that would appear on qualifying item pages. If the indicator wasn't there, the item itself didn't qualify, even if the brand did. 

I got more calls in the week the promo ran because of that one thing.  Because people did not READ the details before picking out items. I also got a shit-ton of calls the day the promo ended, because it did not work when people were placing their orders, because they couldn't grasp the concept that it ended on that sunday, EASTERN time, when the day went from Saturday to Sunday.  Not my fucking problem that you're on the west coast and it's only 11 PM there.  The promo was over at 8 PM Saturday your time. It started 8 PM the previous Saturday your time. Learn the time zone differences, idiots.

These are why I consider getting a job where I can deal with face-to-face custys.  Then I remember that I can't strangle stupid custys.

--CSRawr, signing off

 

Comments

[Hellbound Alleee]

If you cry and yell over a THING, you SERIOUSLY need to get your priorities straight.

[Dendiana Productions]

As I say on almost a daily basis, "Wizard's First Rule: people are stupid."