(Rude) Customer Service?

[pam]

I'm an operations supervisor in a call center. My approach to the angry customers has always been to let them completely vent. Let them keep talking. Then when they are done it's my turn. I'm going to say 95% of the time they have got it out of their system and are ready to at least listen. They may not like my response at that time but they were able to vent.

Our policy is if they cuss, we warn them 3 times, then we can disconnect. For example, if they drop the F bomb as part of their conversation we ask them to please not use that language and keep the call professional. However, if something vulgar was said towards us personally, we can disconnect the call after wishing them a nice day.

I deal mainly with people getting social security disability benefits. I have to remind my agents that many of these people are suffering from mental illnesses and other life threatening illnesses. Some pretty interesting stories to tell.

One guy calls all the time. Almost every night. The other night he told us that his toaster was being bugged by the military so he was having to eat soft bread. The agent suggested he go purchase another toaster that the military knows nothing about so he can have toasted bread. Another time he told us that the FBI has his fingers registered and he needed to find a way to get some new fingers.

That's some of the kinds of things I deal with nightly. It gives me a great opportunity to learn patience and some compassion.

Edited January 26, 2012 by pam

[beefche]

However, if something vulgar was said towards us personally, we can disconnect the call after wishing them a nice day.

In a Utah call center, does "oh my heck" and "flip" count as vulgar language?

[pam]

In a Utah call center, does "oh my heck" and "flip" count as vulgar language?

If it did..then I'm afraid the callers would be able to disconnect from me.