Not Call Centering On The Problem

CONTENT WARNING: Injury Detail

This was in about 2012, and a lot of businesses have started redirecting store numbers to call centers automatically, something I’ve grown to hate. As I am browsing this big box store with one of my friends, an older man in the aisle steps on a toy that had been left on the floor by a child, slips, and slams his head into a shelf on the way down.

My friend and I go over to help him immediately, he has split his forehead open above his left eye. My friend runs to find an employee while I help the man. She returns with a washcloth that still has a tag on it, and I use it to apply and hold pressure to the head wound, stopping the bleeding.

Me: “Employee!?”

Friend: “Can’t find one, because of course not!”

Me: “Dial 911 on your cell.”

She takes her phone out, slides it open, and calls 911. As she’s going through the process of doing that, I pull out my phone and flip it open, dialing the number for the store (I memorized it because… I don’t have a reason, I just did okay?).

Once the line is ringing, I throw it on speaker and place the phone on the floor, adjusting my hands to keep pressure on the wound.

Call Center Guy: “Hi, you’ve reached the customer service center for [store], how can I help you?”

Me: “Hi, I need to be patched back to the store, please.”

Call Center Guy: “No, I can assist you with anything you need. What’s going on today?”

Me: “I am dealing with an emergency, I need to speak to someone IN the store, please.”

Call Center Guy: “No, just tell me what you need.”

Me: “I am handling a physical emergency inside the store location. I need to speak to an employee who is here, please.”

Call Center Guy: “I’m sorry, but this is the customer care center. If you need an employee, you can visit the store—”

Me: “—I’m in the store.”

Call Center Guy: “—and speak to one.”

Me: “No, I need to speak to the onsite staff, please.”

Call Center Guy: “Sorry, I can’t help you with that.

Me: “Sorry, maybe you are misunderstanding, I am dealing with a physical, medical emergency, in the store location, and I need assistance from someone onsite.”

Call Center Guy: “Look, I can either help you or I can end the call here.

My friend finally slid her phone shut and snatched my phone off the floor, speaking in a sticky-sweet voice that somehow managed to also portray an icy coldness.

Friend: “Okay, BUD! Then can you please go wait outside the [Town] location for EMTs to arrive and escort them to the toy department where we have a man with a head injury?”

Call Center Guy: “I—”

Friend: “—We have stopped the bleeding, but can you please grab a first aid kit and a bodily fluids spill kit on the way? My friend is also going to need to be evaluated because he is touching blood without gloves.”

Me: “Oh… oh s***!”

Friend: “Yeah, but it was needed, [My Name].”

Call Center Guy: “Let me get you in touch with the store.”

Lo and behold, she was put through to a manager who immediately sent what seemed to be every single employee to assist us. EMTs arrived within fifteen minutes and were escorted to us as requested.

We saw the old man from time to time; he always smiled and waved at us.