Calling an Angry Customer - Curious Update, Post #30, #47

[Amara]

If this is a national bank I would like to know the name of it.

[mmswm]

I agree with everybody else.  There's no way the employee should be making that phone call, even if she wanted to.  Actually, she should be expressly forbidden to make the call.

And, I also agree that the real problem is with the teller system software.  Privacy laws being what they are, it should require an extra action to print the balance, and not be the default setting.

[BeautifulDisaster]

No way in Ehell would I do this. Luckily my manager would never allow it.

I DO get called upon to call angry customers a lot. But these customers are angry before they even get to us (I work for a third party company that handles service work for other companies). The customers I call are usually angry/frustrated that the Widget they bought and spent lots of money on is not working, or with the process of trying to get it fixed and/or replaced. Sometimes damage has been caused to other items they own due to the malfunction of the Widget. And some of these Widgets cost thousands of dollars once all is said and done.

I can sound sweet, yet firm on the phone while being understanding of why they're upset. We may not be able to fix it, but we're going to do our very best to help them. I used to dread these calls, but I've begun to enjoy them. In some ways I sound like I'm twelve on the phone, and its slightly funny to hear someone (usually a man) get all wound up and ready to yell and then just...deflate.

[Girlie]

This is not a national bank.

To give a small update: My co-worker tried to call the customer back yesterday. No answer, and no returned phone call. Our manager said she has to try again today and again on Monday. 

On a more positive note, after this debacle, the bank IT team took ten minutes out of their busy day monitoring internet usage for the approximately 70 employees that we have and changed the default setting so that the option to print the balance isn't available any more. They hung signs instructing that anyone wanting a balance must specifically request one and show i.d.

[Craftymom]

I'm very sorry, but not only has your CW to call once, but to KEEP calling till she gets her tushie chewed by irate SS customer?

Your manger is NO manager, and this should be escalated up the chain to someone who can point out to her that this is just plain wrong...

[dirtyweasel]

I'm not understanding what the manager hopes to accomplish by having your coworker talk to the irate customer? 

[gen xer]

I'm with all the other ones - she should not call and subject herself to more abuse...which you know is going to happen.  Customers like that need to be shut down.

There is a certain type of person that the more you placate them or indulge them the worse their behaviour gets - "Look they're all tripping over themselves to kiss my patootie!  I should get even more ridiculously angry and make even more ridiculous demands!" 

[Katana_Geldar]

The manger should be the only one handle it, not the staff member. I used to work in insurance a d a customer like that would be given a warning from senior management, told not to abuse the staff, and told if they continued to act in this way hey would only be communicated with in writing.

People who do this make me wonder. Do they know that they become a by word among the staff as that abusive rude person?

[otterwoman]

When I was management, not only would I have stepped between an angry customer and my employee, I would have the employee leave the area. My people didn't get paid enough to get yelled at, nor did they have the authority to throw people out of the store. That's what I was there for. I would NEVER tell an employee to call an angry person just to get yelled at. That's ridiculous.

[MissRose]

If a customer demands a call back via an email and they want a manager of any kind, we send the email to the manager's bin and inform the group so they can handle it from there.  Also, if a customer becomes irate during a call and demands a supervisor, we must locate one for them, and an available manager must take over the call without issue.

[TootsNYC]

This is not a national bank.

To give a small update: My co-worker tried to call the customer back yesterday. No answer, and no returned phone call. Our manager said she has to try again today and again on Monday. 

On a more positive note, after this debacle, the bank IT team took ten minutes out of their busy day monitoring internet usage for the approximately 70 employees that we have and changed the default setting so that the option to print the balance isn't available any more. They hung signs instructing that anyone wanting a balance must specifically request one and show i.d.

I would SO throw management under the bus, if i were that coworker.
I'd be saying, "I'm so very sorry this happened--I've been dreading it for years, because the computer system was set up to default like this. My coworkers and I have known for years that sooner or later, one of us was going to get tagged by it, and the balance would slip through when the customer didn't want it. We've been arguing for months to get them to change it, because we knew that  customer was going to be affected. We couldn't get them to act.
  "I'm very sorry that you were the customer affected, and I do apologize. if there's any silver lining, it's that your experience has *finally* gotten them to pay attention to us. And I wanted you to know that the IT team has changed the software--it took them only 10 minutes, which is far less time than you've spent in bringing the problem to their attention--and WAY less time than we've spent arguing for the change.
   "I really am sorry that you were affected by this, but I hope it will help to know that they have definitely fixed the problem and it won't be happening to anyone else."

I'd be apologizing for management.

[starry diadem]

I would SO throw management under the bus, if i were that coworker.
I'd be saying, "I'm so very sorry this happened--I've been dreading it for years, because the computer system was set up to default like this. My coworkers and I have known for years that sooner or later, one of us was going to get tagged by it, and the balance would slip through when the customer didn't want it. We've been arguing for months to get them to change it, because we knew that  customer was going to be affected. We couldn't get them to act.
  "I'm very sorry that you were the customer affected, and I do apologize. if there's any silver lining, it's that your experience has *finally* gotten them to pay attention to us. And I wanted you to know that the IT team has changed the software--it took them only 10 minutes, which is far less time than you've spent in bringing the problem to their attention--and WAY less time than we've spent arguing for the change.
   "I really am sorry that you were affected by this, but I hope it will help to know that they have definitely fixed the problem and it won't be happening to anyone else."

I'd be apologizing for management.

I love you and want to have your babies.  This - points upwards - is brilliant and puts the blame squarely where it belongs.

[YummyMummy66]

This is not a national bank.

To give a small update: My co-worker tried to call the customer back yesterday. No answer, and no returned phone call. Our manager said she has to try again today and again on Monday. 

On a more positive note, after this debacle, the bank IT team took ten minutes out of their busy day monitoring internet usage for the approximately 70 employees that we have and changed the default setting so that the option to print the balance isn't available any more. They hung signs instructing that anyone wanting a balance must specifically request one and show i.d.

I would SO throw management under the bus, if i were that coworker.
I'd be saying, "I'm so very sorry this happened--I've been dreading it for years, because the computer system was set up to default like this. My coworkers and I have known for years that sooner or later, one of us was going to get tagged by it, and the balance would slip through when the customer didn't want it. We've been arguing for months to get them to change it, because we knew that  customer was going to be affected. We couldn't get them to act.
  "I'm very sorry that you were the customer affected, and I do apologize. if there's any silver lining, it's that your experience has *finally* gotten them to pay attention to us. And I wanted you to know that the IT team has changed the software--it took them only 10 minutes, which is far less time than you've spent in bringing the problem to their attention--and WAY less time than we've spent arguing for the change.
   "I really am sorry that you were affected by this, but I hope it will help to know that they have definitely fixed the problem and it won't be happening to anyone else."

I'd be apologizing for management.

Ditto. Love it.  And when she calls today, if she does not get a live person, this is the message I would leave on the machine.

[Mal]

As much as I love Toots' answer: An angry customer is rarely interested in the goings on behind the counter, plus it's never a good idea to reveal leaks in privacy management to a customer. This might do more harm than it does good!

[bopper]

The employee should apologize at the time of the error and after that management should take over.