A Very Understanding Boss With A Not Very Understanding Caller

(I take calls regarding credit card accounts. My shift end time has come and gone, but I am on the phone with a cardholder who cannot understand his very simple bill and is unwilling to be placed on hold to be transferred to a billing specialist. My supervisor is waiting for the call to end, as she can’t leave until all of her team has signed off the phones. She has taken a seat next to me and is listening, giving hints to try to get the customer off the phone. She signals for me to mute the call, and says:)

Supervisor: “Anyone can understand the bills; you just have to figure out a way to say it to get through to them. Let me take over the call; get your things together and get ready to go home.”

(My supervisor then puts on my headset and I run for the facilities, desperately having to use the restroom. I return a few minutes later to my supervisor still on the phone, shaking her head and mock beating it on the desk. She finally tells the caller to take his bill to his bank and have someone there review it with him, as there is nothing else that can be done over the phone, and she disconnects, obviously over the protests of the caller.)

Me: “So, he still didn’t understand?”

Supervisor: “There are exceptions to every rule, and he was a glaring one. If I ever hear you ever used the term ‘idiot’ to describe a caller, I’d probably write you up, but this was as close as I’ve ever come to doing so myself. I apologize. I was wrong; there are some people who just don’t understand!”

(My supervisor was tough, but that day she certainly earned my respect.)