Wi-Fi Bye Bye
(Our office shares a building with a “Social Café.” The Café only hires people with minor mental disabilities or behaviour issues, to train them so they can work in “normal” workplaces. Most trainees flourish in this setting and our office is quite proud to help this café. One of the ways we help them is by sharing our Internet with them, so they don’t have to pay for it. One day, the Wi-Fi is down. We don’t have LAN-ports — or cables — to our guest network, only Wi-Fi. It turns out the problem is not only with us, but various places in the Netherlands. A guest shows up at my reception desk.)
Woman: “The Wi-Fi is not working.”
Me: “Yes, I heard. They are doing their best to fix it.”
Woman: “But the Wi-Fi is not working.”
Me: “Yes, the provider has some issues. We haven’t heard yet when it will be up again.”
Woman: “But I need Wi-Fi to work.”
Me: “I’m sorry to hear that, but there is a technical issue. We’re doing the best we can. If you need Internet, you could go to the public library. It’s about 200 meters away. Maybe they have a different provider.”
(The woman stares at me in a way that makes me wonder if I insulted her.)
Woman: “I came here to work.”
Me: “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do.”
Woman: “If you don’t give me Wi-Fi, I will go to a different cafe and get my business elsewhere.”
(The cafe doesn’t require a drink or snack; you can sit there and do your thing, free of charge. So, if she leaves, we might miss out on a cup of coffee, or less.)
Me: “You could do that. But you’re welcome to stay. We hope the Wi-Fi will be up again as soon as possible.”
(The lady turned away, walking away while tapping on her phone. She stayed for another hour, while the downtime wasn’t resolved until six hours later. I guess she could work without Wi-Fi?)
Question of the Week
Tell us your story about a customer who couldn't understand the most simple concept.