While working as support for a phone company in Sweden, I had a customer who could not use the Internet. They had bought a package with unlimited data. I checked their connection, plan, and service, and I found out they were in the Netherlands.
Me: “I’m sorry, but the ‘Unlimited Sweden’ package only works in Sweden.”
Customer: “Well, that’s quite upsetting. We thought we could connect to Swedish transmitters because we’re both in the EU!”
One day in the telephone support trenches, I got a call from an older gentleman who needed help with his satellite TV receiver. He explained that he’d called several times before, but no one had been able to help him, and now he wanted to make an appointment for someone to come to his house and fix his TV.
I quickly realized what the problem was, and the relatively easy fix. However, the customer was not particularly tech-savvy, and a little hard of hearing. He was very polite and never raised his voice at all, but whoever he’d talked to before must have decided that it would take too long to help him over the phone. This was the kind of call centre that valued short call times over good customer service.
The reason I got into customer service in the first place is that I genuinely like helping people, so I decided to take the time I needed to help him fix the issue without having to send out a technician. It took a while, and a few trials and errors, but with combined effort, we managed to get his TV working again and saved him a costly repair fee.
Customer: “Thank you, you’ve been so helpful. I’d like to do something nice for you.”
Me: “There’s really no need for that. I’m glad I could help you.”
Customer: “Do you like music?”
Me: “Yes, very much.”
Customer: “Wait a moment, I’m going to put the phone next to the record player.”
He then proceeded to play me a big band jazz song over the phone. I sat and listened with the biggest smile on my face.
My average call time for that day went completely down the drain. Worth it, though!
This story contains content of a medical nature. It is not intended as medical advice.
A customer comes into my office to drop off his car after his rental. It snowed this morning about a good five inches.
Customer: “I think I have to go to the doctor.”
Me: “Is everything all right?”
Customer: “I can’t feel my arm; I think something is wrong.”
Me: “Did something happen on your way over?”
Customer: “No.”
Me: “Why are your sleeves all wet?”
Customer: “I don’t know. I was just clearing off some snow before I got here.”
Me: “With the scraper?”
Customer: “No, my arm.”
Me: “Sir, snow is cold. When you are exposed to cold for long periods of time, your body will become numb. Please use the provided ice scraper in the future.”
My husband and I were very excited to go to the movies. We did it all the time before having kids, but after, we never really had the time. This time, we were child-free for a few hours to see this movie we were both very excited about.
Because of the new rules after the global health crisis, we weren’t allowed to bring our own snacks, as they needed to get money back in order to survive after their losses, so we ended up spending quite a lot of money compared to our own income. But it was worth it, we thought.
A few scenes into the movie, the screen went black. We still heard the sound, so at first, we thought that maybe it was supposed to be black, but it just kept going. We were wondering when the staff would fix it, but no one did. Seeing as we were in the middle, we were quite happy to see someone go out to tell the staff. The image was fixed, and they rewound the movie. It was annoying, but they did fix it the best they could.
Then, it happened again. They were quicker to go and get the staff this time, and they did come after a while to fix it so we could actually see the movie and not just hear it, but this time, they did not rewind. So we decided we should get our money back for the tickets.
We went out and found the one service desk they have. Once it was our turn, we went up to the girl standing there.
Husband: “Hello. We were watching the movie when everything went black, twice, and we didn’t even get to see the whole movie.”
The girl listened and seemed to understand, but then she just stood there, waiting, not saying anything. We were waiting for a response but she was avoiding eye contact.
A man entered the service area and she let him by, and he printed something and went away again. She was still just standing there.
Me: “Um… Excuse me? Are you waiting for something, or…?”
She just nodded, still not looking at us. Then, the man from before came in again.
Girl: “Um, they also need help.”
Man: “Oh, you were also at that movie?”
Me: “Yes.”
Girl: “I thought you were printing it out for them.”
He hadn’t even been there when we explained, but we realised now that he was probably the manager and the only one who could fix it.
Man: “Oh, I am so sorry for the inconvenience.”
Then, he printed something and handed it to us: two new tickets.
Me: “Um, would it be possible to get our money back, instead? We aren’t sure when we’ll be able to go the movies again.”
Man: “Sorry, this is all we can do, and we are so sorry.”
With that, he left again. The girl still hadn’t even looked at us or said a word to us. We were rather confused not to get any information on what they could do or offer before they just shoved tickets into our hands. Well, at least we got something.
This is my father’s story. He’s the kind of man who always checks his receipts after a purchase before leaving the store. If he finds an error, he tells the cashier. He does this even when it means he is supposed to pay more than he did. This causes the employees who have been around for a while at our local grocery store to be very trusting of him.
He takes some studies later in life. He studies on the subway on his way home, and then he stops by the grocery store to shop. While he is there, he notices one of the newer employees keeping an eye on him, but he doesn’t give it much thought. As he goes to pay, however, the new employee comes up.
New Employee: “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Dad: “I am? Did I drop something?”
New Employee: “No! I mean, aren’t you going to pay for what you have in your backpack?”
Dad: *Confused* “My backpack? I don’t have any groceries in my backpack.”
Cashier: “[New Employee], it’s fine.”
New Employee: “No, I saw you put something in your backpack! You need to pay for it.”
Dad: “I didn’t put anything in my backpack.”
New Employee: “Yes, you did! I saw it!”
Cashier: “[New Employee], it is fine. He didn’t put anything in his backpack; he said so. That will be [total].”
New Employee: “No, he did! I didn’t see what it was, but it was about this big.” *Shows with her hands* “Open up your backpack so I can take it out.”
Dad: “No. I am not letting you mess around in my bag. I keep my expensive college books in there! Some of them have very fragile pages.”
Then, it dawns on him: the book he read on the subway. He had forgotten to get it back into the backpack, so he did it while he was in the store.
Dad: “Oh! Do you mean this?”
He opens the backpack and shows her the book. It’s the correct size.
New Employee: “Yes! Oh…”
The cashier repeats the total and he pays. As he goes to pack, he also checks the receipt.
While he does so, he overhears the cashier and the new employee talking. The new employee says the cashier should trust her, and the cashier then explains exactly what he is doing right now with the receipt and how he has come back to pay more when they’ve made errors.
My dad confirms there are no errors today.
Dad: “Thank you, and I’m sorry for confusing you. It is a good thing to prevent theft. Have a nice evening!”
