During my small stint at a call centre, I learnt many things and the following call is one of those great experience....This my One Night @ Call Centre (No relation with Chetan Bhagat ;))
Read On....
I: Hi, this is Ronnie at America Online, how can I help you today?
Lady: I want to speak to your supervisor.
I: Maam I have the complete authority to resolve your concern and let me assure you that I will take care of every thing.
Lady: (Interrupting) I don’t want to speak with u… get me a supervisor on line…
I: Maam I will surely do that for you however first I need to protect your privacy and security (how stupid I would have sounded at that time, I cant even imagine)…in order to transfer this call to my supervisor.
Lady: All right, go on..
I: Fine maam, may I know the…
Lady: (Interrupting)
Well, I want to cancel my account (now before I could proceed with my script, she went on without a pause of breath!)…. You know you guys have cheated me, I called up to cancel my account about an year back and today I receive a bill of 30 dollars!...what u guys think of yourself that u can charge an old lady for a service she never used and she would pay?
(A little pauses lasting not more than few milliseconds and I grabbed that!)
I: I am sorry to hear that maam but I am going to do everything I can to help you, once again, my name is Ronnie, may I have yours….?
Lady: (she gave me some name that matched with the contact on the screen).
I: In order to help you today, I need to pull up your account and ask you a few questions to protect your privacy and security (It’s mandatory to inform the member about privacy and security as per the guidelines), is that ok? (It was more of a verbatim and still I need to read that despite of the fact that she was so irate that she wouldn’t listen to me at all)
Lady: Do it fast, ok?
I: sure Maam, may I know the answer to the account security question that says (some question that I don’t remember now)
Lady: I don’t remember that.
(The verification part took good 15 minutes where she kept on giving wrong answers and became more irate and finally I had to verify her on the basis of her address and phone number after taking permission from my TA (Team Assistant))
I: Thank you for helping me verify your account (Thank you to my TA otherwise I would have died on the floor verifying a non verified account!), Now since you’ve mentioned that you would like to give up your AOL membership today and I can certainly help you with that, are u moving to a high speed. DSL or any other internet service provider (Again a stupid question however being a newbie at the floor, I had to follow the verbatim)
Lady: Where is your supervisor? I want to speak with him. I was on line with some supervisor when the call dropped… now I want to speak to a supervisor.
I: (Since we were not allowed to transfer any call to the supervisor until situation becomes out of control, I continued…). Maam let me assure there is nothing my supervisor would do differently and I have the complete authority to resolve your concern.
Lady: Get me your supervisor
I: Maam..
Lady: (Interrupting)... Supervisor!
I: Yeah but...
Lady: (Interrupting)... Supervisor!
I: I apologize for all the incon…
Lady: (Interrupting)... Supervisor!
Before that may I know the
Lady: (Interrupting)... Supervisor!
Lady: Supervisor!
Lady: Supervisor!
I: (now completely frustrated and perhaps more irate than the lady), All right maam, can I place this call on hold while I transfer you to a SUPERVISOR!
Lady: Alright, do it fast!
I: Thank you (After pressing the hold button, I literally banged my headset and went to look out for my TA. After explaining the whole situation to him, the response I got from his side was “Ramit, you got to learn and handle these situations, there’s nothing which I can do differently, go ahead and give your best shot!”
(Shot! Or get shot?)
However after gaining all the courage in the world, I continued the call
“Thank for being on line maam:
Lady: am I speaking to a supervisor?
I: (Well I almost gave in and thought of saying at that moment in time, but my senses regained conscious and I was saved from committing a blunder)
Well maam He has just left for the day and I just had a look in to your account and it’s not a major issue and I m definitely going to help you with that…
(Silence for almost 15 seconds gave me a hint of silence before the storm)
Lady: Alright, though I don’t think you will be able to do anything here, anyways lets go on..
I: (Relaxed, as if I have got a new life!), Right, thank you so much maam, now may I know your concern please?
Lady: I cancelled my account an year back and still I m receiving charges of 30 dollars from my bank account!, what u think?
I: (This time I interrupted)….Maam give me a quick moment while I process your details..
Lady: Alright
(After going through her records, I figured out that she accidentally reactivated her account 3 months back online)
I: Maam I really apologize for all this inconvenience (and explained her the whole situation)….
Lady: What?, u r trying to say that I reactivated my account?, do I look like an idiot to you?
I: (well yes maam, I would love to say yes!). Maam I completely understand your concern and had I been at your place, I would have felt the same way and let me assure you that you are completely right at your end however there is something which probably we both don’t know, so let’s try and figure that out.
Lady: (This time a little more relaxed) what is that?
(well after going in to rounds of arguments, finally we came to a solution)
I: Maam may I place this call on a hold while go ahead process your request (Actually this is the best way to take a breather and come to your senses)
(After 40 second or so…)
I: Allright maam, lete o ahead and help uoy with this, I will go ahead and canel your account and I will make sure you get your 2 month’s money back in to your account.
(That’s what is allowed as per rules if there is no usage in past 2 months).
Lady: 2 months? You are tryung to say that I will lose out on one month’s fee which u guys took out before asking me?
I: maam I understand your concern however this is the maximum I can do for you.
Lady: Get me a supervisor on line…that is why I didn’t want to speak with u at the very first place
I: Maam according to the federal laws (this is apowerful word we can use and members usually do take it seriously but as u must have realized, this member was different, read on…), this is all I can do to help you and let me assure you that no body else would be able to help you with more than what I m offering to you.
(What that lady says now shook me in and out and actually forced me to share this experience with you all)
Lady: (in a soft voice)… allright go ahead, I understand that you will not be able to help me with third month’s refund. It might be just a financial transaction for you guys…. And believe me; I am not yelling at you all this while, I was irate at your company and not at you….. (Now sobbing). I don’t know what life has in store for me? My husband died last month, I m living alone here and I don’t have (crying loud now...) enough money and these people (this is the first time she separated me from company) have robbed me
(I, in a shock and awe with no idea about what to say and do...)
I: Maam I am really sorry to hear that and I apologize for all this inconvenience and maam I understand that there are few things which are beyond business and money which forms the core of every person’s heart and that is his emotions and as listening to all this, I could feel the pain and the agony and I really feel sorry for not been able to help you, I wish I could do more for you….
(I don’t know how all this came to my mind and I kept on saying..!)
Lady: (Now much calm and soft now….), No sonny (wow that was something touchy)….i understand your point and thank you so much for your assistance. This 5th call here and this is the first time I got to a consultant who could really understand me and help me.
(Now that was flattering!, I wish my TA could listen to all this)
I: Thank you so much maam and this is what I have done for you…. (Recapped the solution and stated in about how n\much time will she get all her money back)
I: Is there anything else mai I assit you with today?
Lady: Not really, u have been of great help and I really appreciate that.
(Read the full disclosure and took a 15 min badly needed break after the call)
Though I don’t work for this call centre any more but I am sure this experience would always remain with me.
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