The art of being a customer can be easily summed up with the image that I am about to share. It truly displays what everyone dealing with customer service goes through. There are sometimes that you encounter a great customer who will make all the bad experiences worth it but that happens not so often so you are always on your nerves.
Today’s story revolves around the phone conversations that I have to deal with being in the Customer Service field, I am not even sure why because I am not employeed in the Call Center. But let me give you an overall experience or a simple example. Everyday we get calls from customers asking about their balance, and such, all those calls I forward to the Call Center but sometimes the Call Center (being idiots) forward such calls to the branch. I remember this one time I had a customer call saying “I used to have an account with you guys 5 or 6 years ago and I just wanted to know if I still had it.” I was at the time very busy so I was telling him sorry but you have to call this number and they would help you, but the thing was when I got the call it was forwarded from the Call Center. I was utterly shocked I mean come on, it’s a simple Civil ID number to check if account exists or not. But dumbasses probably didn’t want to work! So that ticked me off. But let me talk about something that happened today.
A customer calls and says ” I am Mr. X, and I am calling from Abroad, I want you to transfer me 10,000KD from my account to my Overseas Account” and I’m like “Excuse me sir, for any transfers or such I will not be able to help you, kindly call the following number and they will help you out.” He goes “But I can answer the questions here and tell you what you need to know, I need the money urgently.” I emphasize that the call is not recorded therefore I am not authorized to do such. He hangs up and calls back after a while complaining that he is calling and no one answered him yet. I told him “Well you have to wait” he goes like “But I am calling from abroad” and I emphasize once more that I cannot help him. I suggest Online Banking but the idiot did not collect his card and thought that when the person who opened the account and told him we can do you any transaction by phone, that she meant the branch and not the Call Center. He kept on complaining and I was about to lose my cool. In the end I transferred him to my Manager and she said basically the same things but after a while he accepted it. What is wrong with me? Am I talking in Chinese that people don’t want to understand what I’m saying?
These are situations I have been put through these past few days and so I would like to hear how would you react if you were in my place?
Situation 1- You are sitting in a class, the lecturer is yelling at the trainees for their nonresponsiveness towards whatever is taught in the other class, and they use the excuse that the other Instructor does not explain things easily when the other instructor is basically dumbing everything down in order for them to understand. So what do you do?
I actually joined in the lecturer’s yelling and told them that its not the instructor giving you tricky questions in the quizes and exams, but instead its you guys wanting to be spoon fed every single freaking bit of new information. Then they respond by saying that, “Not everyone understands things as fast as you do, mashalla” and I’m like we’re all here in our 20s, what do you think you are? In primary school? Seriously you should at least have a sense of understanding by now.
Situation 2- As a student you refuse to allow others to cheat off your exam, so immediately you are labelled as a nerd, one that is selfish and uncooperative, when you actually have a system you are basing your beliefs and actions on, which is, I worked hard to understand this information, to share it with others during an exam would be unfair to the time and effort put in my understanding it, so why should I?
So what do I do? Since I basically share that same opinion, I take my exam paper, close my ears off to any other sound, look down on the paper only and refuse to look up or around, finish answering as best as I can, and call over the Instructor to hand the paper to him. I might finish first but I would be protecting myself from leechers, which is exactly what they are. They say that even if the Instructor saw, he can do nothing! I say that he can do and will do something.
Situation 3- You are sitting in your last class of the day, when “habla” and another girl start talking in the Haleema Boland way, yet with an even worse accent (i.e. Spoiled brat talk, stretching words and softening your voice to an embarrassing level, to one where you can only use with your significant other) and talking to the instructor in that way “Siiiiiiiiiiiiiir, Buuuuuuuuut I don’ttttt knoooooooow what haaaaappeneed here!” What would you do?
I as a female became embarrassed because first and foremost this is not a work voice at all, the boys in the class got embarrassed and one of them tried to shut them up but of course they didn’t get the hint and continued on, I guess now that specific person has blacklisted them in his head.
Situation 4- When an Instructor tells you to wear Formal Suits, you were non-formal and not even Smart Casual wear, what would you do to the person that does that? Since alot of them are not even following any of the dress codes laid out. But I bet they are being screwed in their daily reports. (P.S. Stockings with holes on the backside of your heels is not something professional or cool, and it shows that you are a messy nasty person)
So yeah, sorry for the long post but I just wanted your thoughts on these situations.
I hate the flu, I loathe it, hell I even despise it. It is ruining my life and I am not one that prefers medicine or doctors and such, so whenever I get sick, its panadol for a tiny bit and that’s it, I depend on the natural courses of life to heal me. I take Vitamin C daily, which is Fresh Orange Juice for breakfast everyday but I stopped taking Panadol. Today however was a different day, because by midday I was about to collapse from the heat that was hitting me.
Before the end of the day I started feeling that it was extra hot when I wasn’t wearing that much, it’s just that my high necked sleeveless shirt under my suit jacket was getting to me, so by the time I went to pick up my sisters from Grandma’s house to take them home (oh and by the way I dropped them at school today as well) and by that time my head was feeling so heavy that I felt that I might collapse. I reached, sat with Grandma for a bit then left and barely made it home in time. I headed to my bed because if I didn’t sleep I would’ve collapsed. And that is about it why I hate the flu.
Many issues have developed with “habla” girl,which make me feel as if I am talking to a wall or as if I am associating with a dumbo freak but I am learning to not give it any attention or any importance in life. For example, a few days before the “habla” situation she goes to me “Jacquiiiiiiii (substituted for my real name) you have a white haaaaaaaair!” and I turn to look at her and say “I’ve got 3, so?” trying to embarrass me. Then the situation with “habla” happened trying to hint that my coat is “manly-like” hence why she went and gave it to a guy in the other class. But what happened this week was? Today, I was waiting to order and she was in front of me, she finished and moved to my side whereas I moved forward, I ordered, and in front of the guys she goes “Jacquiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii what is this red thing on your face near your chin??” and I go like ” Nothing why” she’s like “Nooo there’s something red here..” and I’m thinking “Wtf is wrong with this hoe!?” In the end I gave her a major skip and went on to order.
It’s funny how one week she gives me attitude but the week after when we start the Systems course, which I excell in she becomes all chummy like and starts to love calling my name to ask for my help (which I offer because the instructor asked me nicely to help him explain to the dumbasses who don’t get anything). Until last Wednesday when she didn’t want to call me by my name claiming that “she overused it and was afraid I would get mad” so she instead called me “Yaaa… Come Help me” and I answered back that “I have a name, use it, I love my name so use it please.” So all in all, I have weirdos in my class but most are starting to fear and respect me!
So Respect Jacqui or you’ll get a kick in ya bum! But I am still loving the whole experience, it is sooo enlightening!
I am thinking of coming up with Lesson’s of the Week or Day depending on how I want to work these out and giving out information on things I learned during the week since they are really really interesting. One thing you should know is that people are a never ending supply of entertainment, no matter who the person is they always give you some quality entertainment, whether its by how they act or what they say it’s always hilarious to hear and unbelievable to see. Last Week’s lesson was something that I had to learn in a weird way, and that is no matter how old you are you are still as childish and as idiotically sensitive as you were when you were a weee child! For example, a situation that happened to me this past week included the following:
We switch classes at 12pm and so once that switch takes place usually the Instructor gives us a few minutes to go to the Restrooms or stretch out our muscles and such. What I did was leave the class I was in and head to my next class, I headed towards my usual seat and took off my winter coat and put it on the back of my chair and placed my books in front of where I sat. I headed towards the Instructor to ask if I could perhaps head to the Restroom and he granted me that of course. I go and finish and come back to find my Jacket missing and another chick sitting in my seat, at first I didn’t notice the jacket but then I found it on the chair directly across from where I sat, and it appeared that, that chick took my jacket and books and gave them to a guy in the other class simply because “I thought they belonged to N” [N is a guy by the way] (said in a whiny voice not suiting a 29 year old). I replied laughingly, “What the hell, why did you move my stuff! Even if you thought it belonged to N Why did you move my stuff?!” all jokingly and not displaying any signs of anger, I continued to say “Are you a dimwit or are you a dimwit! Why did you move them!”
I dropped my purse to the floor and I stormed out of the room, mind you not angry at all and headed towards N and he told me that someone just came up and gave him these and he kept them on the desk. I thanked him and went back to the room and I saw her still in my seat, I then asked “Are you going to get out of my seat or shall I sit in your place?” and she slowly got up and moved to the seat where she usually sits and pouted. I situate myself and organize my stuff around me then I turn to her and appologize if I hurt her feelings or anything because I didn’t mean to piss her off or anything. And she responds “Its okay, but Jacqui dimwit was uncalled for, why did you call me that?” and I respond “I didn’t mean it that way it just slipped out.” She pouted the rest of the class period until the lunch break where she stormed out and sat on her own not with the girl’s group and pouted some more until the next day, but I had appologized and I did my share, whether she accepts it or not is not my problem.
The key point is that no matter how old you are, you still might have a childish mind in your head. Another point is that I believe this job is not the job for her because if she got ticked because I called her a dimwit, the customer will for sure call her a dimwit, dumbass, animal, idiot, incompetent, impertitent lousy lazy ass employee that doesn’t deserve the paycheck that is given to her.
So in one sentence the lesson is: Not everyone is as mature as their age might imply, and not everyone can work in a job dealing with customers, most likely customers who love to complain.
P.S. Dimwit is a rough translation of the actual word I used which was habla.
a Kuwaiti Gadget Freak who is obsessively in love with Apple Products so much that she probably has everything made by Apple. Currently she's being a lazy bum and putting off writing and everything else but when she does this is her space where she likes to vent and release everything, so welcome to it. A blogger for the past 8 years and still loving it.
