Nice Callers In A Call Center Is A Christmas Miracle

(I work in a call center for a bank, in their debit card fraud department. Around Christmas one year, my grandmother calls me into the kitchen, very upset with something.)

Grandma: “I tried to buy [Cousin] something from [Business], but they never sent it. I paid for this a month ago, and it never arrived. I just got off the phone with them; they’re saying they have no record of the transaction, but it’s here on my credit card bill!

Me: “Okay. We’re calling the bank and reporting it.”

Grandma: “No, no… it’s a hassle. I don’t want to be on the phone all day with them.”

(This annoys me, because this is how my grandmother is. She’d much rather have something to complain about so people would feel sorry for her, instead of taking care of it.)

Me: “No, come on, here. Sit down. I’m gonna call in and verify you through the robot, and you’re gonna take the phone and tell them you want me to talk to them for you. Okay?”

(She agrees, and after twenty minutes on hold – call volume around this time means normally a 40- to 50-minute wait – we get an associate. She tells them she wants me to talk to them, she has to answer another security question, and I take the phone.)

Me: “Hi, this is [My Name]. I actually work in the debit card fraud department in the [City] call center. I need to report fraud on my grandmother’s credit card, please.”

(It took me five minutes to explain the situation, report the fraud, and get the issue fully settled. When I went in to work the next day, I had a soda sitting on my desk with a little note. Turns out the person I’d spoken to was also in my call center, just on the other end of the room. She said I’d been her nicest and quickest call all day!)