An unexpected promotion?

[kitanzi]

*phone*: ding ding ding
*me*: Thank you for calling (my employer), this is Larissa. How can I help you?
*female caller*: Oh, God just answered my prayer!

ROTFLMAOASTC! I have been called many many many MANY names while working in telephone customer service.... but being called God absolutely leaves me in hysterics! My tongue still stings where I bit it! *G*

Comments

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

ROTFLMAOASTC!
You know, last time I posted this phrase in my LJ, people gave me the hairy eyeball and I had to keep explaining it over and over. For the record, has the cat recovered? -H...

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, of course - I used my deitylike powers and now the poor widdle kitty is all better!

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

I must admit that I have said things like that to customer service people on the phone just because I wanted to give them a smile. I've done enough "phone work" that I know how annoying it can be.

But, hey - in my opinion "thou art god" ;-)
Hugs

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

*G* It's certainly much preferred to screaming and swearing and telling me that I've condemned their kids to go to bed hungry!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I bet she'd been shunted around an automatic phone menu for a while and was just expressing her relief to have contacted a creature with the capacity for human judgement and flexible response. Maybe she'd also sat on hold for twenty minutes, her thoughts interrupted every 45 seconds by a recording telling her how important her call is to the company. Every time that human voice comes on she has a soaring moment of hope--perhaps *finally* she has reached a human being. And every time except the last, if she hangs on that long, that hope is cruelly dashed--it's only the recording, trying to assure her that even though her call is not important enough to the company for someone to actually answer it, she should keep waiting. I've been known to say some version of "Oh thank God!" myself when I finally reach a (blameless, I know) human being, and I'm not very religious.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it was something like that, actually... the sad thing is, she still hadn't reached someone who could actually help her with her particular issue but she remained very sweet about it. It just amused me greatly for the inadvertent implication - and because it contrasted with the more usual abuse.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me on re-reading this that I ought to mention that I realize the people who finally answer the phone did not set up or authorize the phone system, or any of its menus, or pick or set the timing for the irritating message, or indeed have any choice in the question of whether it was wise and courteous to gratuitously waste the customer's time. And I try hard to be polite to them because everyone they talk to at work must be as irritated as I am.

I simply understand and sympathize with the spontaneous expression of relief that perhaps the ordeal is nearly over.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah... and I too, actually. I've been on the other side of it, and honestly if I COULD give these people the information they need I would, but bluntly - if you are a consumer rather than a business and you reach my department, literally the only thing I can do for you is explain that you have the wrong department, and you cannot get a person who CAN help you until you first get a consumer copy of your credit report, because that's the only way to get the right phone number. I would give that number if I had it, but that's exactly why we are not given it. I'm not kidding... and I have to explain that easily two dozen times a day to upset people who have often already been shunted in circles through the automated system and either have not listened when it explained that to them, or just wanted a person to talk to badly enough anyhow to disbelieve it. I spend a good chunk of my day repeatedly explaining this with varying degrees of goodwill to people who have equally varying degrees of civility. It's a rare day when I don't have at least a couple of them swear at me and hang up after several minutes of circular argument and insistence that I must be lying. *sigh* You don't want that rant, believe me. :) This lady was actually very sweet, and if I could have helped her, believe me, I would have.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but that's the part I don't get. Why won't your bosses just give you the phone number to pass on? Surely it would increase your productivity to be able to say, Oh, I can't access that information, but the number you want is 123-4567 and the people there will be able to help you. Elapsed time 10 seconds tops. Instead you're stuck going round and round for several minutes with unhappy customers, while people you *could* help languish on hold.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Well, I work at a credit bureau (not, strictly speaking, FOR them - I'm a long term temp) and their rationale is they need to make sure the consumers calling in have a current copy of their credit file when they dispute something on it, in order to make sure that they're not wasting everyone's time arguing about something that was changed months or years ago. The way they do this is to change the phone # for the consumer division regularly, and make sure that the only way to ge the current number is to get a current consumer copy of the file directly from the credit bureau. Therefore, they don't give us the phone #. This appears to be procedure for at least all the three most major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. I'd happily give people the number if I had it, for exactly the reasons you gave (plus it would save me a fair amount of abuse) and that's exactly why they DON'T give it to us.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Oh. Now I get it. It seems kind of harsh for all concerned, but at least I understand the logic behind it. Thanks for explaining.

Yours--Cat

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

You're more than welcome. :)