I want my shoes back!

English is my 2. language so please ignore my multiple spelling errors.

I shared a story in tech support, but I think my other stories will go better her. A little background: I take calls from a call center, but I do not work in a call center. I can sit at home and I’m only on duty when the phone calls. I’m not sure about the english worktitle, but I think it’s just called being on call? Anyway, I work for a tanning saloon in north Europe, where we need sun to survive the winter. The tanning saloons is self served and people can pay either with bank card or app. The goverment is strict and have an 18 years old limit, so we cannot accept cash anymore since there’s not anybody at the saloon. If our costumers need help, they call me. In most cases I can help, but like 1% of app-problems with the old app they need to call app/tech-support for the app or with other problems I get one of the franchiseowners or other personal to call them.

So to this story. It was early morning, and the first costumer called. She had been tanning the evening before and had forgot something at the center. A bag of shoes, this happens and I’m trying to figure out where she had been and which room. Here comes the crazy part.

Costumer: “I put my bag with the shoes inside the trash bin. But I only placed them there temporary, and then I forgot them.”

Me: “If you put it inside of the bin, there’s a big possibility that they’re already been thrown away because they were placed inside of the bin”

Costumer, a little annoyed: “But there were hardly anythin inside the trash bin last evening, how could you throw away trash when their almost empty?”

Me: “Because of the strict cleaningrules that we have to follow because were a company, we have to throw everything away even though it’s not very much”.

Costumer starting to get angry: “But then you have to check if it’s thrown away, I want my shoes back!”

Me: “We do not clean ourself, the cleaning rules are strict so we have a cleaning company cleaning for us. The time they clean differs as they have a lot of saloons to clean and depending on how many have used the center, it will be cleaned at different times. Since it’s only the franchise owner that have the contact for the cleaning company, it will take time to get in contact with them this early on a Saturday. Everything forgotten the cleaning company will take care off, but not what’s thrown away in the trash bin”.

Costumer, annoyed and angry: “But where do they throw it away? I need to know so I can go look myself”.

Me: I’m sorry, but I don’t know that as that is not a part of my tasks. Only the hired cleaning personell know that.”

Costumer, visible angry but not shouting: “I also need the know when the garbage truck is arriving so I can be there before them”

Me: “I’m sorry, but there’s no way of me finding out who drives the garbage truck, there’s a whole other company and their getting everybodys garbage. Not just ours- I have no idea where to even start to find that out”.

Costumer, finally starting to shout: “But I want my shoes back!”

Me, trying to be as calm as possible. Even though I find the costumer very unreasonable: “I’m so sorry, there’s really much I can do since you put them inside the waste bin. The only thing I could do is contact the owner, but it may take some time to get an answear since it’s an early Saturday”

Costumer just hangs up.