Phoning it in - Part three
I tend to give providers of customer service a bit of slack when they aren't living up to my expecations.
Having worked in the tourism industry for my adult life, I know that somethings are not in your control as an employee and having a customer get upset with you because of that can really be a pain in the ass.
I was minutes away from becoming a pain the ass for a catering manager at the funeral home.
I needed to check in with her to make sure she knew all of our arrangements and today was my first opportunity to speak with her.
As we neared the end of our conversation she says to me, "Well VW, it looks like we are all set and your reception will be ready to go right at 1:30."
It's at this point where I can feel myself about to lose it. My father's services are scheduled to start at 11:00 and go for an hour. Does she really think people are going to wait 90 minutes for the start of a reception?
"I'm sorry. Did I just hear you correctly? 1:30?"
"Yes, didn't you and your counselor agree to this time?"
"Ummmmm.......no. Do you really think I would agree to a time that would make my father's 89-year-old parents wait for 90 minutes for the reception to begin?"
"Welllllllllll....that's what we have scheduled for you."
John McClain from Die Hard is now firing automatic weapons in my brain. I could go off at any time.
"Look, here's the situation," I said. "You have a problem here and I know you can fix it. I'm going to get off of the phone right now. And I'm going to give you the next couple of hours to get together with whomever you work with to brainstorm a solution. In two hours, you are going to call me back and have proposal that will work for me and my family. Does that sound fair?"
The dead air on the other side of the connection was quickly filled with a polite, "Yes, Mr. VW."
I didn't have an answer yet but there was no doubt in my mind that a solution was just a couple of hours away.
VW
Having worked in the tourism industry for my adult life, I know that somethings are not in your control as an employee and having a customer get upset with you because of that can really be a pain in the ass.
I was minutes away from becoming a pain the ass for a catering manager at the funeral home.
I needed to check in with her to make sure she knew all of our arrangements and today was my first opportunity to speak with her.
As we neared the end of our conversation she says to me, "Well VW, it looks like we are all set and your reception will be ready to go right at 1:30."
It's at this point where I can feel myself about to lose it. My father's services are scheduled to start at 11:00 and go for an hour. Does she really think people are going to wait 90 minutes for the start of a reception?
"I'm sorry. Did I just hear you correctly? 1:30?"
"Yes, didn't you and your counselor agree to this time?"
"Ummmmm.......no. Do you really think I would agree to a time that would make my father's 89-year-old parents wait for 90 minutes for the reception to begin?"
"Welllllllllll....that's what we have scheduled for you."
John McClain from Die Hard is now firing automatic weapons in my brain. I could go off at any time.
"Look, here's the situation," I said. "You have a problem here and I know you can fix it. I'm going to get off of the phone right now. And I'm going to give you the next couple of hours to get together with whomever you work with to brainstorm a solution. In two hours, you are going to call me back and have proposal that will work for me and my family. Does that sound fair?"
The dead air on the other side of the connection was quickly filled with a polite, "Yes, Mr. VW."
I didn't have an answer yet but there was no doubt in my mind that a solution was just a couple of hours away.
VW
posted by JVW at 10:19 PM
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