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No specific story today, just sort of a rant. I’ve had so many calls recently with the same type of customer that it’s impossible for me to choose a specific call. So I’m just going to vent.
I work for a bank. We finance and lease cars. Recently, there was a hurricane. Many of our customers were impacted and their cars were totalled. So recently, we’ve had 4x the average number of calls per day. Not only are the customers calling in, but so are the insurance companies to begin the claims process with us. Our hold time right now can be over an hour and a half at our busiest.
I am so sick of starting every call with my “Thank you for calling \[bank name\], my name is ScrapDraft, how can I help you?” in the friendliest of tones and being met with one of the following:
“An HOUR AND TEN MINUTES. You have GOT to be kidding. How many people are working there?!”
“WELL THE FIRST THING ILL SAY IS I CANT BELIEVE YOU MAKE US HOLD THIS LONG JUST TO TALK TO YOU”
“I WANT TO SPEAK WITH A SUPERVISOR. IM DISGUSTED BY HOW LONG THE HOLD TIME IS”
All of which are followed by at least 5 minutes of complaining before they actually tell me why they are calling in.
Listen up, dingleberry. I have no control over the hold time. I am doing my god damned best to get through these calls as quickly as possible. I’m very aware of the hold time because I’ve talked to 40 people today already who have ALL complained about it. Right now, I am the only effing person on the planet that can help you. And starting off your conversation with me by bitching is the absolute worst and dumbest thing you can do.
Because now, I already know you’re going to give me a negative survey, so I have no incentive to help you. And by ranting and crying about the hold time for 20 minutes, you are actually making the hold time WORSE for everyone else in line behind you. Chances are, if all of the customers in front of you hadn’t cried like you are now, you only would have been on hold for 20 mins. So shut up. Tell me your problem so I can fix it. And we can go about our day.
And no, I’m not going to get you to a supervisor. There’s literally no reason. They’re aware of the hold time. I’m not going to let you waste their time, too. You think you’re the only one complaining? What do you think they can do about it? Magically summon 40 employees to hop on the phones? We’ve tried hiring people recently and they quit within 2 weeks because they can’t stand the verbal abuse coming from people like you.
I get it. An hour and a half hold time is painful. But we’re dealing with THOUSANDS of people like you in the same situation due to a natural disaster. And complaining about it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help you. The second you complain, I no longer have any incentive to go above and beyond for you because I know that nothing I do will result in you leaving a positive survey. And you’re just making the problem worse by clogging up the phone lines with your tears.
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