For a short time, I worked in a call centre that dealt with the insurance perks for a large bank account. One perk was travel insurance. As any call centre agent will tell you, I had a script to follow. Especially when it came to setting up insurance cover, we had to know specifics.
This particular call was dealing with travel insurance, so we had to know if it was a business trip, how many people were going, all that jazz. This call came from a very gruff Scottish-sounding man, and coincidentally, this was around the time my sanity was depleted, and I was ready to quit.
Me: “Good afternoon, [Bank Insurance Name], you’re through to [My Name], can I take your account number, please?”
Angry Scot: *Sighs.* “It’s [number]. Now hurry up and help me, I’ve been on hold for nearly half an hour!”
Me: “I apologise for your wait, sir. I’ll move through this as quickly as I can. Can you please just confirm your first name, surname, and date of birth?”
Angry Scot: *Exaggerated sigh.* “I want travel insurance for my holiday.”
Me: “No problem, we can do that for you. I just need you to confirm your account details so we can move forward.”
Angry Scot: “It’s [Name]. Birthday is [date].”
Me: “Thank you for that. Now, I understand you want to set up the travel insurance for your upcoming trip. I can do that, I just need to run through some standard questions with you if that’s alright.”
Angry Scot: “Just give me the insurance!
Me: “To validate it, we need to run through these questions. I’ll try to get you sorted as soon as possible, but these questions are mandatory.
Angry Scot: “This is ridiculous! I waited on hold for nearly an hour, and now you want to ask me some f****** questions! Just give me insurance.
Me: *Trying to keep my cool, but already feel my last shred of sanity packing up to leave.* “I understand, sir. However, as I explained, we cannot put this insurance in place without these questions.”
Angry Scot: “F****** ridiculous! Is there anyone else I can talk to?”
Me: “Unfortunately, all other agents will ask you the same questions. I promise that this will not take long if you just answer the questions relating to your trip.”
Angry Scot: “This is ridiculous.”
Me: *Internal sigh.* “Okay, sir. Can you please start by telling me how many people will be travelling?”
Angry Scot: *Loud sigh.* “It’ll be the whole of f****** Scotland! What do you think?!”
I don’t reply. I stay silent and stare patiently into space, allowing the silence to stretch between us until the customer seemed to realise his sarcastic replies weren’t getting him anywhere. After about thirty seconds, he finally speaks up.
Angry Scot: “It’s me and the wife.”
Me: “Thank you, sir.”
We go through the rest of the questions with minimal sarcasm, and only a small flurry of colourful Scottish dialect thrown in. All in all, the call took about fifteen minutes. It would have been significantly less if the guy just cooperated to begin with. Who knew that cooperating with call centre staff would actually get you somewhere?
