As some of you may know, I work at a call center. So, dealing with jerks on the phone is something that comes with the territory. Recently I've noticed that talking with man-jerks is WAY worse than talking with woman-jerks. Man-jerks seem to think they have some kind of "intimidation factor" over me because they're some big, important, intelligent man (like that really scares me or something) and I'm just a poor little college girl who is, of course, completely incompitent. Take this conversation for example:
(The conversation, of course, starts out rather cordial...)
Me: This is Katie, how can I help you?
Man-Jerk: Hi, I'm just wondering how the credits show up on a transcript for a university class.
Me: Well, for example, if it is a 3-credit course, it will show on the transcript as 3 credits.
Man-Jerk: (immediately getting agitated) No, but, what I'm ASKING is will it show up as a semester-credit or a quarter-credit?
Me: I'm actually not exactly sure--
Man-Jerk: (cutting me off) "I'm not sure" is NOT GOING TO WORK for me, do you UNDERSTAND?!?
Me: Well, what I was about to say is that I'm not exactly sure, which is why I'm going to go find out for you.
Man-Jerk: Oh. Fine.
Me: I'll just put you on hold real quick while I ask, is that ok?
Man-Jerk: Fine.
(I go ask a supervisor, who tells me that our transcripts do not specify whether it is a "semester" or a "quarter"-worth credit. It just lists the course, the grade, and the number of credit hours.)
Me: (back on the phone) Thank you so much for holding, sir. I just spoke to a supervisor who informed me that our transcripts do not specify whether or not it's a semester or quarter credit hour. It just lists the amount of credits. For instance, it might say "Chemistry 100, A+, 3 credits."
Man-Jerk: [obnoxious sigh] But that DOES NOT answer my question...
Me: But you see, sir, because our students are allowed to take one year to complete their courses, we can't assign something like a "semester" or "quarter" amount of credit. Some students may finish their courses very quickly, while others may take the whole year to finish them.
Man-Jerk: [another obnoxious sigh] THAT DOES NOT HELP ME. Can you transfer me to your survey?!?
Me: [in a faux-cheerful voice] Sure thing! I'll transfer you!
(I transfer him to our customer service survey, where I am sure he totally bashed me and said I was ineffective in helping him with his problem.)
You see, here's what bugs me about this. He kept telling me I "wasn't helping him," when I ANSWERED HIS QUESTION. It just wasn't the answer he wanted, which is why he flipped out. I felt like no matter who was helping him and no matter what response he got, he wasn't going to be happy. It's like he was out to get whoever answered his call.
Jerk.
3 comments:
Ah, customer service. I totally know what you mean. When I worked at a water park as a supervisor, people used to do that to me as well. Eventually, I told them I was the highest they could go in complaints. Only then did they start listening to me!
I hate when people take on the "I know I'm right" attitude with customer service reps. At least you can laugh about it now, right?
I like to think about people like that this way. The only thing worse than having to take a call from a man-jerk, is having to live your entire life in the body of a man-jerk, or perhaps having to live in the body of his wife...
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