Pest Control And Out Of Control

(I’m work in the office for a pest control company. Part of my job is to answer phones to schedule or reschedule services for customers. Around four pm every day, our automated system calls customer to remind them of upcoming services dates, so we are inevitably flooded with return calls from people who don’t listen to their messages. Most of the calls are pretty routine, but this one broke the mold in a big way.)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Company]. This is [My Name]. How may I help you?”

Customer: “You just called me!”

Me: “That was likely our automated system confirming your next service. Could I have your address to look up your account?”

Customer: “What?! You’re going to have to speak up! It’s loud in the ambulance!”

Me: “Pardon…?”

Customer: “My husband’s on the way to [Local Hospital]! You need to speak up!”

Me: *speaking loudly and quickly, as this is the last response I was expecting* “We were calling to confirm your next service! It’s exterior-only, so you don’t have to be home! Have a nice day, ma’am!”

(I hung up quickly and just stared at my phone in stunned silence as to why someone would prioritize calling back their pest control company over making sure their husband was okay!)