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I used to work for a cable company, a big one in the US, and we took calls exclusively from NYC. This was 2010, and there was a pretty major storm that hit New York, I think it was a hurricane that moved north, and was downgraded to a major storm system by the time it hit the city. Regardless, the city was hit hard. Trees down everywhere, utility lines down with them, flooding, the works. We were SLAMMED with calls, hundreds in queue. So I take a call, the guy on the other end is clearly annoyed by the wait, an d just the general, shittyness of the day. “my cable is out”, so i response with some customer service crap, apologizing and expressing how frustrated I would be in the same situation, blah blah, but trying to be genuinely understanding and help him out, knowing I probably cant do anything. Knowing the situation my first question, do you currently have power? “no, my power is out” he says. so now if you cable box has no power how do you even know the cable is out?? but anyway, i keep that to myself, and ask if he has called the power company to get an eta for when the power will be back? he replies “ya, io called them, they said lines are down everywhere and it might be a few days, possibly even a week, crazy right?”, so now i know i cnat help, but i try to still appear helpful, and say, “oh wow, are any down near you?”, he replies “ya right in my back yard, my tree is down, and it took out all the cables connected to my house, power and tv cable, that’s how I know my cable is out, the power lines are sparking and everything”. So at this point I’m thinking, why the hell did you call me and not 911!!!!? he then asks, so can you have a technician come by today and reconnect the cable, I really wanna watch TV. How this guy is not getting that he wont be weatching tv for probably a month or more is beyond me, but ok, time to lay it out “Sir, first you need to end this call, and call 911 immediately and let them know there are live electrical wires downed in your yard right now, that is an extremely dangerous hazard. They will respond as soon as they can, since there is stuff like this all over the city, and make it safe, once the fire department has singed off that its safe, your power company will then come and repair your power, I would expect that process to take 2-3 weeks given the wide spread nature of todays events. Then once you have power again, you can give us a call and schedule your cable repairs I would expect the entire process to take about 6 weeks, thanks an have a nice day”
We weren’t even allowed to think about fixing the cable until the city and power company signed off saying we were safe to do so.
I wish I could say this was the most entitles person I ever spoke with at the Job, but not even close.
Bonus story: when I worked there I randomly got a call from David Paterson, the governor at the time. He gave my his personal cell and INSISTED i call him after my shift, so I did, we became friends, and I received multiped Christmas card from him, and he offered me a job! i had to decline, because I’m Canadian and not even legally entitled to work in the US, and really wasn’t interested in moving to NYC. If I cant drive 10 minutes or less to a lake for a swim, I don’t wanna live there LOL.
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