‘Please tell me your account number.’
‘401725983’
Silence . . .
‘Was that, 407125983?’
‘No’
‘I’m sorry. Please answer either yes or no. Is your account number 407125983?’
‘No’
Silence again . . .
‘OK. Speaking clearly, please tell me your account number.’
‘Four, zero, one, seven, two, five, nine, eight, three.’
‘Was that, 407125983?’
‘No’
Silence again . . .
‘I’m sorry. Please answer either yes or no. Is your account number 407125983?’
‘No’
‘OK. Speaking clearly, please tell me your account number.’
‘FOUR, ZERO, ONE, SEVEN, TWO, FIVE, NINE, EIGHT, THREE.’
‘Was that, 401725983?’
‘Yes’
‘I’m sorry. Please answer either yes or no. Is your account number 401725983?’
‘Y E S’
More silence . . .
‘OK. I have your account now. In just a few words, please tell me the purpose of your call today.’
Ah success at last . . .
‘Account enquiry.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. In just a few words, please tell me the purpose of your call today. You might like to say account enquiry or account balance.’
‘A count N quiry!’
Lengthy silence . . . has the call been disconnected?
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. In just a few words, please tell me the purpose of your call today. You might like to say account enquiry or account balance.’
‘ACCOUNT! ENQUIRY!’
More silence . . .
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. In just a few words, please tell me the purpose of your call today. You might like to say account enquiry or account balance.’
‘A C C O U N T E N Q U I R Y!’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that . . .’
‘ACCOUNT! ENQUIRY! – ACCOUNT! ENQUIRY! – ACCOUNT! ENQUIRY!’
Silence again . . .
Golden, lengthy silence . . .
‘OK. I can tell we have an understanding issue here. I’ll just transfer you to an operator.’
Here I used to think it was because of my accent 🙂 very well written
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No.
You’re not alone, but rather, you’re standing in a room full of other account holders trying to ask a question. 😊
Clare
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I really despise automated customer service, because 9/10, I get transferred to a live person anyway. Why aggravate the customer?
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I totally agree – WHY?
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Ah, it is nice to know I’m not the only one. Thank you for writing this post!
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I guess we all have ‘those calls’ some days.
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HAHAHA…been there! Your phrasing and emphases really capture the rising tone of frustration.
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Thanx Heid,
I was hoping any other descriptive words would be completely unnecessary.
Clare
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