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cainxinth | on: Bored of eating your own dogfood? Try smelling your own farts
I’m the kind of person that just assumes customer service is going to be bad. I gird myself whenever I have to call a company and just deal with their gauntlet with patience, knowing the trick is to outlast them. It costs them money every time you call. I’ll often tell them I know that and assure them I will continue calling until the matter is resolved. It’s not fun, it’s just the way things sadly are.

My old man, however, still feels some kind of righteous indignation when he spends his hard earned money and doesn’t feel he’s getting what he paid for. He loves to give a piece of his mind to the companies that mistreat him, and he always says “And I hope my comments are being recorded for quality assurance!”

justonceokay | parent | next
The new feature of the iPhone where you can put a phone tree on hold until a person answers is very nice. I had a kerfuffle with Delta airlines along with a few thousand other people some days ago. I had to hold for 2.5 hours, but I spent it catching up with my dad and then my phone rang when the CSA was ready for me. I was so fresh and bright on the call I got an upgrade pretty much just for not being a bitch.
throwaway173738 | root | parent
Does that actually work reliably? I’m going to use that next time I have to call an insurance company.
justonceokay | root | parent
It reliably worked for me exactly 1 time I used it, so 100% success rate with unknown variability.
jmbwell | parent
I get it. I also know customer service is a pretty low paying job for something that involves being yelled at all day

I get as frustrated as anyone, but it’s not the fault of the person whose job it is to take my call.

I remember once on the phone with Comcast I just explained the situation and jokingly said look, if it helps, feel free to tell ‘em I’m yelling and screaming. The guy laughed. An engineer called me an hour later with a firmware update for my modem.

Sometimes there’s no winning. But sometimes it helps if you can put people on your team

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sgarland | root | parent
Yep. When I’m frustrated on the phone with a rep, I always make sure to say something like “I understand this isn’t your fault, but I’m very frustrated with X.”

It seems to ease the tension a bit, anyway.