Taking Account Of How Many Times You Delete Accounts

We have a lot of people who come in with tech issues, and I get why they do. We sell phones, and we sell wireless service; hence, if you’re having an issue with your phone or your service, you bring the phone to us so we can troubleshoot.

But then, we have people who come in to ask us for help with their Facebook or WhatsApp. These are the two main apps people come in to ask us for help with, and I use neither of these apps.

A lot of the time, people come in acting like they’re helpless, don’t know how to read, and don’t know how to Google search. A lot of the “troubleshooting” I do is literally just Googling the issue. I will do my best to help so long as the customer is being polite and respectful.

When I moved to my current store from a different location, one of the first interactions I had was with a couple maybe in their mid-fifties who came in with a HUGE SENSE OF URGENCY about the fact that the wife had made two different Facebook profiles.

Wife: “I just can’t figure out how to log into the right account!”

She couldn’t log into the one she actually wanted to be logged into? Simple enough. I logged her out of the first account and then went to log into the other one she wanted.

Wife: “I don’t know the email for that account!”

Me: “The password?”

Wife: “That account has a password?”

Oy vey.

I selected usage of the recovery phone number and showed her the last four digits.

Me: “Recovery instructions will be sent to this number.”

Wife: “But why? Why that number? That number was discontinued a long time ago! I thought you worked in phones?!”

Me: “Then I don’t know what to tell you. Without the email, password, or access to the recovery number, I can’t log you into that Facebook account.”

Of course, she tried to get me to log her back into the account we had just logged her out of, and she knew none of the security details for that one, either.

Wife: *Screaming* “You’ve deleted everything! You’ve ruined everything! Now I have no Facebook, and it’s all your fault!”

My manager came over to try to de-escalate the situation, and in doing so, he began to secretly record the interaction in case it got too out of hand. This lady was so rude, and she was whining like her not being able to log into Facebook was literally the end of the world.

My manager was able to solve the issue somehow. (Miracle Man, I tell you what.)

The couple left, and I didn’t see them again for months until the other day. As soon as I saw them, I was like, “F***…” I had to at least see what they needed; it may have been an actual issue that I’m expected to solve per my job description.

Welp, guess what they came in for?

FACEBOOK SUPPORT, AGAIN!

Wife: “I made too many Facebook accounts! I don’t know how to log out and delete the extra ones!”

Yup. Again.

I took her phone, and I Googled “How to delete a Facebook account.” A ton of articles popped up. I put her phone back in front of her, and she glanced down at it and sighed.

Wife: “I don’t know what to do!”

Me: “There’s an entire list of articles explaining how to delete Facebook accounts on your phone.”

Wife: “I need you to do it.”

I very calmly folded my hands and put them on the counter in front of me.

Me: “I can’t help you with that. The last time you were in here, you yelled at me for ‘deleting’ your account and ‘ruining everything,’ so I’m not going to mess with this.”

She just looked at me dumbfounded.

Wife: “I never said that. Sorry, no, I never said that.”

As my manager had made a recording of the incident, and I had it saved on my phone (for those “you won’t believe what happened to me at work” conversations), I was able to quickly pull the video up and show her saying exactly that.

Her husband, realizing that his wife was not the kind of person who would de-escalate this situation, jumped in quickly.

Husband: “Well, what are we supposed to do?”

Me: “You can try the [Electronics Chain Support Team]. They know how to troubleshoot apps. We are here to help with your service or technical issues with your phone. We are not obligated to provide service for apps.”

They ended up leaving. Somehow, the lady didn’t scream at me or anything — I think she was shocked that we had evidence to shut her down so totally — but they were clearly frustrated that I refused to help them.