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Just for the record, I’m a lady myself. I work for the NHS in the UK, on a Covid hotline, and a lot of the callers are entitled babies who use disgusting, insulting language. This is a call I just had a little over a few hours ago. NOTE: we have to stick to scripts pretty strictly, and I was also on the late shift. Also, our hotline is very obviously for basic requests. We don’t have access to medical or personal records, we can’t change details, we also aren’t in charge of the app that we can log faults with. Again, I must reiterate: our line is very obviously only for the most basic of requests. This lady wasn’t having it.
*Call incoming.*
Me: Hello, you’re through to (hotline name), is it ok if I begin with a contact number?
Caller: Yes, sure, it’s (*gives number*).
Me: No problem, and can you confirm whether you’re calling to ask a question, request a (specific hotline request) or to log a fault with the app?
Caller: Log a fault with the app.
Me: Ok, so how can I help you there?
Caller: Yeah, so it’s a bit of an emergency. My mum is coming back from (home country) tomorrow morning, and we can’t access her files on the app. She needs her proof of vaccinations to get into the UK. But we had to change the number to get a code, but now it’s saying we have to wait 24 hours for it to be verified?
Me: Yes, once you change any details on the app, it needs to be verified for security reasons, and this may take 24 hours.
Caller: But she’s coming back tomorrow morning.
Me: Yes, I’m sorry, but verification has to finish. There’s nothing we can do to expedite it on this service.
*Silence for some seconds.*
Caller: I’m sorry, what?
Me: Yes, sorry, there’s nothing we can do on this service. I can try logging a fault to the app team, but they may tell you the same thing that I have.
Caller: I’m sorry, did you just call me ‘sir’?
Me: Er, no? Apologies, I said that there was nothing we could do on this SERVICE. Apologies about that confusion.
Caller: I’m not a ‘sir’, I’m a woman. And I need access to the app.
Me: Again, I’m sorry, we can’t expedite that on this service. I can try logging a fault for you, like I said, and the app team would contact you via email.
Caller: I need to speak to a person, not a robot. You’re like a robot. You’re not very helpful.
*Silence. At this point, I’m getting extremely irritated as it’s been a long day and I’m already dealing with a lot. But I continue, and make myself sound happy and unbothered.*
Me: Ok, what I can do is give you the number for (team that runs the app).
*NOTE: I’m actually breaking protocol here, we’re not allowed to read off anything other than the QA document we’re given. I also know that the number I’m giving her is offline currently and doesn’t open until tomorrow. Just pettiness at this point, really. And I really just want to get rid of her.*
Caller: Ok.
Me: *Calls out number.*
Caller: Ok, thank you, SIR.
*I remain silent as she is obviously expecting me to say something back. A few seconds pass and I refuse to say anything. It’s like I’ve left the call.*
Caller: Ok… Bye?
*Hangs up.*
Stay tuned for the next weird, ugly, rude or infuriating call I get, because I get an abundance of them on this line. It’s pretty rough sometimes.
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