Can your supervisor help me?

So, I work inbound tech support for a major nationwide ISP/Cable/Phone provider.

Recently, I got one of those calls.

The kind where the very first words out of the caller’s mouth are ” I want a supervisor!!” Followed by out of context ranting.

Of course, no account auto pops, so I have to gradually coax her address out of her, along with various pieces of why.

Eventually, I get the account pulled up and start reviewing the notes while she continues to rant and list her many grievances against my company.

Turns out, she has no account. There isn’t currently an active acct at her service address.

There are, however, 3 cancelled accts, all in her name and all disconnected for non payment.

There are also plenty of notes and flags on her acct from previous techs imploring billing/sales/retention reps to PLEASE, for the love of god, STOP transferring this person to tech support because she doesn’t have a freaking active account.

We can’t troubleshoot services that don’t exist.

However, she was also one of those “won’t take no for an answer”/ cause of all her own problems entitled control freak type of customers.

She was well aware that her service was straight up cancelled due to non payment and had been told multiple times by multiple depts that NOBODY could or would reinstate service for her until she paid her sizable past due balance.

And yet, she persisted.

And so, despite all common sense and company policy ect, she was being repeatedly transferred around in a circle between depts because people just wanted to get her crazy ass off the phone.

I informed her that I am in tech support and neither I or anyone above me in my dept could possibly reinstate her service without payment. Payment that she flat out refused to make. Because “it’s not my fault that you didn’t receive my payment. I paid my bill, you need to find it” ect.

Of course, I eventually got a team lead over. I apologized in advance to him. Explained the situation. Showed him all 3 accts she had previously had at that address. He laughed and said ok, send her over to me once I get back to my desk.

This entire process, from getting her on the line, to coaxing her address and situation out of her, to explaining that we are deff not the dept to help her at all, to her refusing to be transferred anywhere else, to getting a lead to look over her acct info and agreeing to take the escalation. All this took about 20 minutes.

During those 20 minutes, I repeatedly explained to her that neither I or any supervisor in my dept could help her.

She didn’t care. Wanted a sup anyways. MY sup. Absolutely NO transfers to any other dept.

Then, just as I get back on the phone to tell her I’m about to transfer her to the sup she’s been asking for all this time, she responds by saying “But do you think he will be able to help me?”

……

Me: (surprised pause) “Honestly, No. As I have stated previously, I am in tech support. My supervisors are all in tech support. Nobody in this dept can help you. We cannot reactivate a cancelled acct.”

(Former) Customer: (sobbing noises) …. (Repeats the same bullshit spiel of why my company is mean and how it’s not her fault she owes us almost 2 grand across 3 cancelled accts and never pays for shit)

Me: “Soooo…Do you want me to get someone from billing on the line so they can investigate the “missing payment” or……?”

Former customer: (rants a lot about Wtf and wastes more time before finally letting me transfer her to the poor TL who has to listen to her repeat all this shit for literally no rational or productive reason)

But sure, cry some more about how you’ve had to spend 6+ hours on the phone with “us” today and gotten nowhere….