No Money, More Problems

(I work at the call center for a small company that does promotional gift cards in the US. Recently, one of our cards has gone on the fritz, and the money was removed from a good number of the cards, and put back into the company’s account. Because of this, my manager has been working tirelessly to load each of the cards manually.)

Me: “[Company], how may I help you?”

Customer: “My card is not working!”

Me: “I’m very sorry to hear that, ma’am. May I have the card number so I can take a look at it?”

(She angrily gives me the number, and I can tell just by the set of digits used that it’s one of the affected cards.)

Me: “Unfortunately, ma’am, due to a malfunction in our system, the funds are temporarily unavailable. If you provide us with your name and number, we’ll be happy to call you back as soon as the card is working again.”

Customer: “I’m not giving you my name! And I’m definitely not giving you my phone number! Can’t you just fix it now?!”

Me: “Unfortunately, ma’am, I’m not authorized to work with card balances, but I’d be happy to transfer you to my manager so that we can get things straightened out.”

Customer: “NO! I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER! JUST FIX IT!”

(She continues to harass me for approximately 15-20 minutes; meanwhile, a crowd has begun to gather around my cubicle. Finally, my manager comes to my rescue, and just nods to me to signal that it was okay to transfer her without her permission.)

Me: “Ma’am, my manager would like to speak with you. I’m transferring you now.”

Customer: “I TOLD YOU I-”

(I transfer her over quickly, and my manager wastes no time answering. Knowing what kind of customer she is dealing with, she answers firmly, and from where I’m sitting in my cubicle I can hear the customer go quiet. I take the next call, somewhat frazzled, and fortunately the person is much more gracious about the trouble they are experiencing. Halfway through the second call, my manager comes to my cubicle again, looking like she’s about ready to quit.)

Manager: “The nerve of that woman. Do you know what she asked me as soon as I fixed it? ‘What am I supposed to do with all this money?'”