I work the overnight shift for Emergency Roadside Assistance (ERS). Most of the far and few between calls I have seem almost like a fever dream, as only the most random people call at 3:00 am for service.
At 3:30 one morning, I get a beep in my headset signaling a new call.
I give my introduction and the guy is talking to someone in the background. Aside from someone speaking over me, this has to be my next pet peeve. If you call somewhere, pay attention to the call. Don’t have three conversations at once while on call.
Me: “Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?”
My hand is hovering on the “end call” button as I’ve been waiting for close to two minutes for a response.
The man comes on the line, sounding frustrated and tired.
Customer: “I have to have my car towed home.”
Me: “Okay, I can help. To place the call, I need your membership number first, please.”
The man sounds confused for a moment but gives me the number.
I locate his account. He already has a call for a tow and the driver is on scene. I stare at my monitor for a few seconds, preparing myself for some idiotic situation.
Me: “You already have a call in and a driver on scene. Is there something wrong?”
Customer: “No.”
I mute the mic and sigh, steeling myself for more stupidity.
Me: “Um, okay, so what’s the issue?”
I hear shuffling and a different voice comes on the phone.
Driver: “Hello? This is the driver.”
Now I’m really confused as to why he passed the phone, but okay.
Me: “Hi, this is [My Name] with ERS. Is there something wrong? I’m not quite sure how to help the member.”
The driver sounds just as confused.
Driver: “Frankly, miss, I have no clue why he called you, I told him everything was fine. I’ll pass the phone over if that’s okay with you.”
Me: “Yeah, no worries.”
The member comes back on the line.
Me: “All right, sir, how can I help you?”
I try once more, praying that he finally tells me.
Customer: “The driver is here.”
Me: “Okay, was there anything else I could do to help you?”
The guy sighs heavily and starts speaking loudly.
Customer: “How can I help you?! You’re not making any sense, ma’am. The driver is here.”
At this point, I just mute the mic to laugh because he stunned me into silence for a couple of moments at how random it was. I stare at the screen in disbelief.
Me: “Okay, so everything is fine?”
Customer: “Ugh, yes! D***, customer service in this company is trash.”
And he hung up.
I was still trying to understand what the h*** he had called about. But asking how he could help me threw me for a loop.
It may have been that the automated system contacted him and he was confused as to why. This scenario actually makes a lot more sense than someone calling and not knowing their request. It was confusing for all involved!
