I’m being trained at my first call center job as a customer service representative. My trainer is telling me about difficult customers.

Trainer: “One irate customer disliked another representative’s answer so much that he drove across state lines to talk to her face-to-face at [Sister Call Center]. He got really aggressive about trying to talk to her, so we had to get the cops involved!”

Because of customers like that, I always lied about where I was located any time someone asked where my call center was, no matter how nice the person was.

My mom works in a customer service position that helps veterans and sometimes active-duty service members. She basically just directs them to websites, phone numbers, and resources they need to do certain things.

The funny thing is, my mom can be an entitled “the customer is always right” type (she’s the same mom from this story). She wholeheartedly believes that you should know every detail of your job and the product you sell even if it’s a part-time minimum-wage job that you’re working seasonally while still in high school.

Sometimes she isn’t a total nightmare to go places with, but sometimes it’s pretty funny when she just does not give a f*** about other people’s feelings and it’s not at the expense of some poor worker but rather another difficult person.

Mom receives a call from a man who claims to be a high-ranking officer. When she tells me this story, she doesn’t remember what his question was, but as is required, she must open a “case” for him before she can do anything, which includes receiving his first and last name and phone number in case the call gets disconnected.

Mom: “Thank you for calling [Customer Service]. How can I help you?”

Officer: “I just have a question I need you to look up for me about [subject]. I’m trying to prove something to my friend here.”

Mom: “Sure thing! I’ll have to start with your first or last name, and your phone number in case we get disconnected.”

Officer: “What? Why the h*** do you need that? I just need you to answer my question.”

Mom: “And I can very well do that for you. But I won’t be able to look anything up until I have your name and number.”

Officer: “That’s ridiculous! I just need you to look up [information] about [subject]! Why is that so hard?! You don’t need my name for that!”

Mom: “I won’t be able to—”

Officer: “Listen! I am an officer of [Military Branch]. I make more money in a week than you make in a year! You don’t need my name; you just need to tell me what I want to know!”

Mom: “I understand that, but I won’t be able to do anything without your name.”

Officer: “YOU DON’T NEED MY NAME TO LOOK SOMETHING UP FOR ME! I JUST NEED TO TELL MY FRIEND HERE THAT HE’S WRONG, BUT I DON’T HAVE THE INFORMATION ON HAND! I OUTRANK YOU; DO YOU REALIZE THAT? I CAN HAVE YOUR JOB IN MINUTES WITH A SINGLE PHONE CALL, AND—”

Cue more cursing, threats, and rank-waving. Eventually, the guy stops to take a breath.

Mom: “…Are you done?”

Officer: “YES!”

Mom: *Cheerfully* “Okay, I’m just gonna need your name first.”

Officer: *Click*

It is here my mom reveals to me that her training supervisor was listening on another line, considering this was just her second day on the job.

Supervisor: “Wow, you’re a lot better than I am… I would’ve hung up on him.”

Mom: “I thought it was funny.”

I’m not sure if this job will humble my mom or force her to live up to her own expectations of customer service. I guess we’ll see.

Related:
Mom On A Cold Tin Roof

I work as a supervisor for a company that provides television service in the United States and a few other countries. The company that owns mine also owns a few others, including a “sister” cell phone service company that we have no direct communication with.

Today is a busy day, so all hands are on deck. This means that supervisors are taking calls until the queue is knocked out. On my third call, I encounter a woman who angrily begins by saying:

Customer: “My cable bill is too high! I want to sign up for cell phone service so I can get a discount!” 

We have no direct connection with the cell phone provider, nor have we ever offered a discount on our services for customers who use said provider.

I ask her to clarify, and she snaps back:

Customer: “I want to get a cell phone through [TV Provider] so I can save on my bill!” 

Since some television providers do offer cell phone service, I first verify that she is, in fact, our customer.

Me: “Ma’am, we don’t offer cellular service, but I can give you the number for [“Sister” Cell Phone Provider].”

Customer: “No, I don’t want cellular service from them; I want it from you so that I can save on my television service!”

I advise her again that we do not offer any phone service directly, but I add that if she wants to lower her bill, I can go over her service with her and see if there are any savings to be had. 

She then starts yelling, claiming that we do offer cellular service and that she wants to talk to a supervisor.

Me: “I am a supervisor, ma’am. I’m willing to dial the number for [“Sister” Cell Phone Provider] to save you time.”

She becomes outraged.

Customer: “You’re lying! I’ll just call back; someone else will give me cell phone service. You’re losing a sale because you’re stubborn!”

Me: “You are welcome to call back anytime and we will always try to help, but, again, we do not offer cell phone service.”

At this, she screamed at me and ended the call. 

I sighed, made notes on her account about the encounter, and went on to my next call. I REALLY hope that no one else has to deal with her level of stubbornness anytime soon.

Our utility company has a policy where we can only add someone’s name to an existing account if they happen to be the customer’s spouse; otherwise, they need to set up a new account.

A customer with us calls (and sent an email to us a few days back) asking what needs to be done to put his son’s name on the account so that he can obtain proof of residency. When I relay our policy (and have to do so several times over so he’ll get the hint), I get this.

Caller: “What if I’m his spouse?”

Me: “…Excuse me?”

Caller: “What if I’m his spouse? Can you put his name on now?”

Me: “Uh… didn’t you tell me he was your son?”

Caller: “What if I lied? Can you put him in now?”

For obvious reasons, I did not put in his request; I instead told him to have his son call us to set up service and we could take it from there.

I work in customer service for Danish customers; however, it is situated in Stockholm together with Swedish customer service. A customer calls in regarding a delayed shipment. It is always sad when this happens, but it does happen.

It turns out the shipping company sent the package in the wrong direction; it is in Norway! I offer to place a replacement order to have it to her as soon as possible. She does not like this; she wants the items the same day, and as I continue to tell her that isn’t possible, the magic words are said.

Customer: “I want to speak to your manager.”

Me: “Very well. You should know my manager doesn’t speak Danish, but he can speak English.”

Customer: “Then give me his manager.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but he doesn’t speak any Scandinavian language.”

Customer: “I want your Danish manager.”

Me: “I don’t have a Danish manager.”

Customer: “Yes, you do! I have spoken to him many times! He is the top manager.”

I realize who she is talking about; he is not at the top, but it might seem that way considering he is at the top of the sales department, which is in Denmark.

Me: “Oh, perhaps you mean the sales manager? Well, he isn’t here, but I can give you his number. You should know, though, that he is not my manager.”

Customer: “Well then, I don’t want to speak with him! I want to speak to your manager!”

Me: “Very well. I’ll get him for you.”

Customer: “And he has to speak Danish!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but he can’t—”

Customer: “I WANT YOUR DANISH MANAGER!”

There is a moment of silence.

Me: “I’ll get my manager for you.”

My manager takes the phone and replies in English.

Manager: “Hello, I’m the manager. What can I help you with?” *Pauses* “I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t understand what you are saying.” *Pauses* “Ma’am…” *Pauses* “Ma’am…” *Pauses* “You know what? [My Name] can help you much better than I can. If she can’t fix your problem, neither can I, and she can understand you.”

He hands the phone back to me.

Customer: “I said I wanted your Danish manager!”

I give her the number to the Danish sales manager, telling her he is Danish and a manager. I also ask if I should proceed with the replacement order, but she says no, so I don’t. I do, however, keep working with the shipping company to reroute the package to the right country.

The next day the sales manager contacts me regarding a customer trying to contact him because [My Name] needs to get fired. Since he has no one there by that name, he assumes she means me, and he wants to know what happened. I tell him everything in detail, as well as the status of the package.

Sales Manager: “All right, I’ll call her.”

The day after that, he calls again.

Sales Manager: “So, the customer wants her order delivered today. Can we do that?”

Me: “No, she refused a replacement order; otherwise, it would’ve been there by now. I can place one now.”

Sales Manager: “No, she wanted you fired, so we won’t do her any favours.”

This was Thursday. Next Monday, the customer calls again.

Customer: “Your manager couldn’t help me, so I was hoping you could help me with a replacement order.”

Me: “Absolutely. Let me just check on your original order first. Let’s see… Yes, it will be delivered today.”

Customer: “Really?”

Me: “Yes, I’ve had them reroute it. A replacement order would’ve been there four to five days ago, but at least now you will have the items before the end of the day.”

Customer: “Oh… Well, I’ll need to call your manager again so he won’t fire you.”

Then, she hung up and I went on about my day. My manager never got any call, so I assume she called “my Danish manager”.