Stellar is Pissed

[Nylena]

Well, Blank Space/Colonel Caprice, I've been on the other side of this conversation so I know what the person on the other end was likely going through. I work at a hotel and once last week I got a call from someone who had stayed there about a month ago and they were upset because they were quoted the price of the room before taxes were added and not what the full cost would be. Other people have called up to clarify such things before but this woman was pretty nasty about it. I make it a point to tell people who want a room about the taxes(usually an additional $10) to avoid such confrontations, but as far as I know I'm the only one who does. But anyway, getting sidetracked, you can't always blame the person trying to help, even if their help is not very helpful at all because you don't know how it works on their end.

I hope this isn't starting to sound like beating a dead horse. Sometimes I can't rein myself in from saying unnecessary things. I can't make Stellar feel any better about it(though I'd certainly want to) I can only offer some minimal defense for the other person because, being that other person myself, they deserve it, too.

[Shadowmaster]

What about people who just sound drastically different over the phone? Maybe someone has a cold, or a throat problem. Would they not be allowed to cancel? That's just utter nonsense to me.

[Nylena]

Well, y'know, it's like that for lots of people, I'm sure. I definitely know about a few people, adults, who's voices make them sound more like children than adults. At least Stellar doesn't have that problem. That would make telephones the stuff of nightmares, no doubt.

Who knows why the person Stellar talked to didn't take that into account? Only that person does.

I don't know what Stellar looks or sounds like so I can't say whether or not I would have had the same reservations. Stellar is definitely right, though, the personal information should have been enough to take care of any problems as long as the person on the other end of the line isn't just plain paranoid about people, doing the wrong thing or getting fired. Once again, I can only say that, in my job, sometimes it's hard to reconcile what you hear vs what you're looking at so you handle it as best you can.

[Shadowmaster]

That's all true, but had it been someone who had just stolen the info of someone else, I think the least they could have done was cancel the phone service. Like, I dunno, identity theft?

Just seems weird that they wouldn't allow the cancellation, especially with the personal stuff.

[Nylena]

Just seems weird that they wouldn't allow the cancellation, especially with the personal stuff.

*shrug* Maybe she was new. The more I think about what she said, the more it seems to me she was likely a newbie.

[Lucky]

That must of been acword. I would of been have tempted to say "Thanks, That REALY helps my self confindence..."

[Nylena]

Awkward, dear. But yes there's not much so frustrating as telling the truth and not being believed. Caused me to get into so much trouble when I was in school.

[Moonlit Naiad]

My previous job was inbound call center agent for a national cell phone provider, not some rinky-dink organization like Cricket (which, are alleged to have good service for their price), and here's how things are supposed to work.

Provide name and last four digits of SSN. (or a password if one is present on the account). For a personal account that gets you full access to it (minus a few things, like discussing call detail or going over specifics of a bill without the bill being present for the customer), unless there are special instructions on the account to limit what so-and-so caller can do. What the CSR can do, if they feel uncertain about the account, is to call the primary contact number for the account and ask to speak to the account-holder to verify. If you can't verify the password, however, that's mandatory to go to a retail store to reset/unset it. Business accounts operate a little differently, but that's not relevant here.

If you can verify name/ssn4 and possibly address, that should've been enough to do what you needed with any company. You should've escalated to the rep's supervisor. And if she hung up on you, then definitely write in to them, because that is violation of just about every tenet of Customer Service there is. Hanging up on a customer without just cause (abusive language, dropped call, excessive hold time) is an offense warranting termination in just about every interpretation of Customer Service rules.

-

And, I've sort of been in your shoes before, but unfortunately almost the other way around. My voice is unfortunately a bit deep and slightly robotic (at least, to my own ears), and I get too many times that people don't believe that my name is Autumn, they think I'm calling in for a girlfriend's account or something... >.> But I'm not at all shy about pointing out legal name change, and for some of them telling them to go through the notes on the account to find where the name's been changed on the account. I can be very 'in-your-face' about it as a customer should I need to be.

But one thing I can say is I am wholeheartedly tired of people 'mishearing' my name as 'Adam.' My last job was inbound call center, and now I'm in outbound sales (evil telemarketer... sorry... gotta pay the rent somehow...) typical start of a conversation:

Me: Hello, may I please speak to Mr or Miss So-and-So?
Cust: May I ask who is speaking?
Me: This is Autumn from Such-and-Such Company.
Cust: Adam?
Me: Autumn, like the season.

Of course, given how ignorant the bulk of Americans are, they still don't understand that, because they only know the season as "Fall." >,<

Sometimes I think I should've gone with something like Elizabeth or Jennifer or Emily, which are all names I like too... If the rules weren't so specific on must use first name for greetings, I'd go by my middle name just to avoid all that rigamarole. >,< And it'd make it simpler on callbacks too, since there's another Autumn in the company, on the other outbound team.

[Stellar]

Lucky~ Why would I say that? I'm doing the best I can to be womanish, it's a very awesome compliment to be utterly turned down over the phone cause I sound like a girl. It wasn't awkward, just irritating.

Naiad~ Stellar has instantly classified you as 'lovable.' Despite having never really conversated ^_^

After I made my post yesterday morning my number finished porting to my Cingular phone. So, I'm sure Cricket is aware that I'm not paying and they'll never have me as a customer again. Besides that, this whole thread would have been avoided if I didn't decide to choose a cell phone as a means to get a cheap mp3 player XD

P.S. I love the name Autumn, it was on my list of names while I was thinking of a girls name to stick with. April just has more bright colors, sunshine and rain. And that's what I'm made of XD

[Nylena]

I'm doing the best I can to be womanish, it's a very awesome compliment to be utterly turned down over the phone cause I sound like a girl. Besides that, this whole thread would have been avoided if I didn't decide to choose a cell phone as a means to get a cheap mp3 player XD

P.S. I love the name Autumn

it's a very awesome compliment to be utterly turned down over the phone cause I sound like a girl.

Any vocal tips for the rest of us attempting to alter our voices like that, Stellar?

choose a cell phone as a means to get a cheap mp3 player XD

lol, is that really the reason? I must admit, that's the best reason I've heard of for buying a cell.

P.S. I love the name Autumn

It really has a pleasant sound to it. Crystal has always been one of my favorites. Makes me imagine someone that's like a precious gem.

[Stellar]

lol I can't say I have any tips. I've always been soft spoken, so puberty didn't do much to my voice.

Yes XD And with radio shack's price cuts I got 1 gig of memory for my phone for $20, and the thing that makes it so I can plug it into my computer was $10. The phone/activation and all that stuff came out to $30, so i think $60 wasn't a bad price to pay to get an mp3 player and replace my old phone.

Crystal is nice. But I've known a few Crystals, and it jsut never seemed to fit me.

[Nylena]

Naw, you're Autumn, all right. I can tell it's the name for you.

[Rowan]

Naw, you're Autumn, all right. I can tell it's the name for you.

I think you've got something there. That was less like hearing what someone calls themselves and learning someone's True Name.

[Moonlit Naiad]

*smiles* Bright colours are good. ^.^ I remember earlier this year when you had mentioned you were going with April as your 'given' ('taken'? ) name. But Autumn can be bright as well, depending on where you're from. ^.~ Even though I'm from evergreen country vice deciduous country (Washington is "The Evergreen State" even...).

But, *shrugs* Part of why I chose the name in particular is probably best expressed in the closing to an essay I did for school in Oct 03 (that long ago already?)

I am standing up. I am Autumn. I represent change and transition. I lie between Oppression - the heat of summer - and Disdain - the coldness of winter. I am colour; I am vibrance; I am the palette of nature's artistry. My cousin is spring: hope, new life, and yet another representation of change and transition. I am Autumn. I am.

That, and it being my favourite season of the four (five if you live where there are monsoons :p).

April's just the Spring, instead of the Autumn. ^.^

[Nylena]

As a once great and wise person once said......I'm lying, it's just me saying it. "A given name need not be taken."