Unfiltered Story #152519
At my company, we must receive written approval from an account owner before discussing billing matters. This particular customer had called a couple hours earlier to make changes, but he was not the owner himself. The previous agent had explained the security policy, and sent him an email with the owner in CC. We were just waiting for the owner’s reply. The customer called back to complain.
Customer: The owner will not see your email until it’s too late. You must make the changes now!
Me: I understand the urgency. We have our resources in place. As soon as the reply comes in, we’ll be ready to go.
Customer: I’m telling you, the owner is traveling. He doesn’t have time to read your emails. He will not be able to reply. We can’t wait for him.
Me: I’m very sorry, but we cannot bypass our security policies. We’ll need to wait for the reply.
Customer: HE WILL NOT REPLY! HE IS TRAVELING!
This continued back and forth for several minutes. I had called up his ticket in our system, to see if there was anything I could say to calm him down. In that moment, the owner’s reply came in.
Customer: …you need to do this now! Our company…
Me: Oh! I don’t mean to interrupt, but it looks like the reply just came in!
Customer: What? No. No, the owner is traveling. If you see a reply, it was just some automated message.
Me: Actually, it’s just what we need. He gave the okay for us to get started and coordinate with you. Everything looks good!
Customer: That’s not possible. He is traveling! He… Ohh. I do see that email.
Me: And it looks like the agent handling your case has seen the reply too. He’s already alerted our finance team to get started. You should get an update…now. Do you see that email as well?
Customer: (dejected) …yes.
Me: Excellent! I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I’m glad everything came through quickly. Is there anything else I can help you with today?
Customer: (angry and sputtering) NO! It’s still a stupid policy! We might have been delayed for days, and that hurts our business! *click*
Question of the Week
Tell us your story about a customer who couldn't understand the most simple concept.
