Bad Customers Need To Be Cancelled
Due to the ongoing health crisis, corporate has amended our gym’s cancelation policy to allow us to cancel accounts over the phone. This call occurs on the day that monthly dues are pulled.
Me: “Thank you for calling [Gym]. This is [My Name]; how can I help you?”
Member: *Already yelling* “I wanna know why I got charged when I called three times to cancel, and I want my money back!”
Me: “Let me look into that. What’s your phone number so I can look up your account?”
The member gives me her number. I find her account and immediately see several red flags. She has another account in RFC, which means she stopped paying until it went to a collections agency, and she owes almost $100 on that account, so there’s no way she’s going to get any more money back from us. Two other red flags are the absence of a cancelation document on the active account or notes detailing two of her claimed previous conversations, so just one note from one conversation. Still, people make mistakes, so I give her the benefit of the doubt regarding previous calls.
Me: “It’s showing me that your account is still active, I don’t see any cancelation document, and I only see a note from one previous call. Do you remember who you spoke to the other times?”
Member: *Now screaming* “I told that b**** to cancel me out! Put her on the phone!”
Me: “The note she left says she asked you if you wanted to cancel—”
Member: *Interrupting me* “I TOLD HER I WANTED TO CANCEL!”
Me: “And that you hung up on her without answering. Without verbal confirmation that you wanted to cancel, she was not able to cancel your account.”
I begin the usually quick process of canceling her, forgoing the usual “Would you like to freeze, instead?” questions. She continues screaming.
Member: “PUT THAT B**** ON THE PHONE! I TOLD HER TO CANCEL, AND I WANT MY MONEY BACK! I’M NOT PLAYING AROUND! GIVE ME MY MONEY!”
I finish canceling the account, barely keeping my temper but maintaining a tone of calm professionalism.
Me: “The email address we have on file for you is—”
Member: *Interrupts again* “I DON’T F****** CARE WHAT EMAIL YOU HAVE!”
Me: *Still calmly, reads off email* “Is that correct?”
Member: “YES, BUT I WANT THAT B**** ON THE LINE! SHE NEEDS TO GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!”
I am tired of hearing my coworker disparaged like this. She’s a great worker, she always does her best to help members out, and she’s also my shift lead, so she knows what she’s doing.
Me: “[Member]?”
The member keeps yelling.
Me: “[Member]!”
Member: “What?!”
Me: “[Member], you’re going to stop screaming at me, you’re going to stop swearing at me, and I won’t be putting my coworker on the phone to be verbally abused by you. I’ve completed your cancelation and a confirmation email is on its way to you, which is why I confirmed the email address. Now, regarding a refund, my assistant manager is here and I can put him on the phone. Would you like to speak with him?”
Member: *Finally quiet* “Yes.”
Me: “All right, one moment, please.”
I put her on hold and explained the situation to my manager. He took over, listened to her scream again, and told her in no uncertain terms that she would not get her money back because we’ve been open for four months and there’s no proof that she actually tried to cancel before screaming at my shift lead. She was naturally quite angry, but since she’s canceled, she’s not our problem anymore. To my knowledge, she hasn’t called back again.