Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Friends and family
There are times when we'll have someone call on behalf of a customer, which is usually fine. Sometimes the customer can't speak English very well, or isn't comfortable with their computer, and they prefer to have a friend talk to us. In the end, that's often better. There are occasional speed bumps, such as the friend not knowing the password or having billing information, but on the whole it's probably easier for everyone most times.
However, there are definitely spots where that's not the case. Last week, a gentleman called and asked if he could sign up a new account for his friend, whose English wasn't very good. I said sure. The man who called already had an account with us, so I thought it would most likely be a quick process. Sadly, it wasn't.
He didn't have any information ready, such as his friend's phone number or address, the billing information, etc. At a couple of points, he passed me over to the new customer, the one whose English wasn't great. And you know what? I could understand the guy just fine. He spoke with a thick accent, but his English was good.
Then we get back to the friend, and we get ready to go through the setup itself. "Alright, now you'll need to click on Start, then click on Control Panel."
"Oh, hold on, this Windows is in Spanish! Hey, buddy, where's Control Panel?"
So we ended up fumbling through the setup with a guy who didn't speak the language in which Windows was running while his friend, who did speak the language, simply translated things effortlessly when asked. Why didn't I just get to talk to him?
And on a related note, it's really frustrating when customers call in and have an orgy of sound going on in the background. Yes, life happens. A young child might bang her head and start screaming. That type of thing is understandable. What's not so easily understandable is why you then pick up the child, hold them very close to the phone, and continue talking to me as if there isn't a sonic equivalent to a painful operation going on in my headset. Please: defuse the noisy situation. We'll wait! If you need more time, just say so! We'll save your information and talk to you when you can call back!
And please, think about what kind of environment you're in when you call. It's probably not a good idea to have a TV and radio blaring in the background if it means you can't hear us. Feel free to say "excuse me" and turn them down or off. It's much easier for everyone if you take a moment to address something like that than if you try to strain to hear me over the noise for ten minutes.
It's rarely the actual computer stuff that causes headaches for us. Like any service job, it's the humanity that can be a thrill when people are nice and reasonable, and an endless source of annoyance when they're inconsiderate or not thinking.
However, there are definitely spots where that's not the case. Last week, a gentleman called and asked if he could sign up a new account for his friend, whose English wasn't very good. I said sure. The man who called already had an account with us, so I thought it would most likely be a quick process. Sadly, it wasn't.
He didn't have any information ready, such as his friend's phone number or address, the billing information, etc. At a couple of points, he passed me over to the new customer, the one whose English wasn't great. And you know what? I could understand the guy just fine. He spoke with a thick accent, but his English was good.
Then we get back to the friend, and we get ready to go through the setup itself. "Alright, now you'll need to click on Start, then click on Control Panel."
"Oh, hold on, this Windows is in Spanish! Hey, buddy, where's Control Panel?"
So we ended up fumbling through the setup with a guy who didn't speak the language in which Windows was running while his friend, who did speak the language, simply translated things effortlessly when asked. Why didn't I just get to talk to him?
And on a related note, it's really frustrating when customers call in and have an orgy of sound going on in the background. Yes, life happens. A young child might bang her head and start screaming. That type of thing is understandable. What's not so easily understandable is why you then pick up the child, hold them very close to the phone, and continue talking to me as if there isn't a sonic equivalent to a painful operation going on in my headset. Please: defuse the noisy situation. We'll wait! If you need more time, just say so! We'll save your information and talk to you when you can call back!
And please, think about what kind of environment you're in when you call. It's probably not a good idea to have a TV and radio blaring in the background if it means you can't hear us. Feel free to say "excuse me" and turn them down or off. It's much easier for everyone if you take a moment to address something like that than if you try to strain to hear me over the noise for ten minutes.
It's rarely the actual computer stuff that causes headaches for us. Like any service job, it's the humanity that can be a thrill when people are nice and reasonable, and an endless source of annoyance when they're inconsiderate or not thinking.
# posted by Terry @ 9:47 AM 
