interpret the "tone" of this message..... (1 Viewer)

[Erik.Ha]

I think the original tone is fine, but regardless of HOW you write it, "you can't please all of the people all of the time..."

My guess is the REAL problem was that she had to contact the help desk in the first place and was already p.o.d and you became the target of that frustration... Plus, She has way too much time on her hands, if she's getting into an argument over symantics...

 

[Ted Lee]

good insight guys. i did change it up a little, but i still intend to keep the message stern.

i agree a lot with erik - this chick simply had too much time on her hands. by the time i was done dealing with her, the other guy, and my lead, i had probably spent a good 45 minutes. 45 minutes wasted.

i know customer service. i get more kudos then just about anyone on my team. even my manager is always impressed with how well people seem to like me -- so i know it's not me. i've been doing this job for about four years now ... i know my shizzle!

unfortunately, i can't really specify in my message how someone should go about doing their request .. the best i can do is tell them to contact the helpdesk. that's because of the complexity of routing for my company. i support the tool itself, not the processes people have in place.

stopping this message is not an option. if i don't let them know, they'll bookmark the url and use it over and over - it's already happened in the past.

i get that some people just don't get the clue and i'm okay with that. i was really just kind of curious as to what normal people (i guess that would be htf ) thought of it.

thanks for giving me your thoughts...i appreciate it!

anyway, here is my *slightly* subdued version. [/b]

go figure...

 

[Sam Posten]

Ted, the best advice I can give you is to please read the Bastard Operator from Hell and emulate him as much as possible!

http://bofh.ntk.net/Bastard.html

 

[Seth Paxton]

This is the key. You simply have to evaluate what your primary objective is. Perhaps a pissed off customer is worth the general improvement of the help center and the overall improvement will provide more satisfaction in total to many customers, enough to offset one or two that are pissed.

But it might be otherwise as well. If you make an attempt to really understand what your true goal is and how your various choices will affect that goal, then it becomes a lot easier to look at the negative results and say "well, that's the price of making this choice, but its still the best choice".

That could mean more repeat offenses but overall warm reaction by customers or it could be getting rid of the repeats by ticking off a few.

 

[MarkHastings]

I hate to bring up the cliche, but:

THE RULES:
1.) The customer is always right
2.) If the customer is wrong, see rule #1

Now that's not to say that there are customers that are never wrong, but the point is, you're not supposed to tell them they're wrong.

 

[Ted Lee]

i can buy into that in a retail environment. you're there to ensure that the shopper is happy, comes back, etc.

but, if they're an internal customer, then screw-it. they need to learn the correct process so that they don't keep inundating another department. after all, an interal customer is another company employee ... and isn't the ultimate goal to make the company successful?

i'll let them slide the first time (i do believe no one comes to work to screw up on purpose), but when they keep doing it over and over - that just drives me crazy!

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't think the "rules" apply anymore since too many customers try and abuse the "rules" to rip-off the store.

In most retail environments, there's generally always another customer to be gained for everyone you show the door. As long as it's not a constant barrage of rudeness to everyone, I have no problems with telling specific, difficult people to get stuffed.

 

[Scott_J]

Mark, when I started working for Stop & Shop in September of '98 when I was in high school, I had to go through 3 days of their new-hire training. Of those 3 days, the only thing I remember more than 5.5 years later is their, much truer, version of the "customer is always right" adage - "The customer is NOT always right, but IS always the customer." That's the slogan I've followed during my time working retail.

 

[Ted Lee]

holy f'n crap ... i just can't win. i just had to respond to another hostile customer who tossed me an aggressive email and cc'd my boss.

mudder fudders!!!

in short, i was asked to test someone's pager via my application. it was successful (paging logs confirm that), but the customer never got it.

so i ask the guy to check with his provider. he sends his email to this other guy who just blows me up in email -- accusing me of making changes to the system, telling me i need to do all the research, blah blah blah.

the kicker is my system is working perfectly. man ... i had to hold back BIG-TIME!!! i swear, on the next one, i'm gonna go postal.

i'm just not in the mood for this bullshit anymore.

i did toss in this little ditty.

 

[Nathan_R]

Users are losers. Go get 'em, Ted. I have the same type of automated reply going on and I know where you're coming from, albeit my customers are all *internal* ones. I resorted to this when my esteemed customers refused to read and/or acknowledge the huge, bold red message on our ticket homepage stating the original polite response.

 

[Sam Posten]

Nathan, if you had read BOFH you would know that it's spelled 'Luser' =)

Sam

 

[Andy_G]

Jeez Ted, even your revised text is supercilious.

 

[Ted Lee]

bah! that's as far as i go. if i don't keep it at least somewhat stern, they're not gonna listen.

so, i've already sacrificed my position. what, do you want me to start using caps next?

 

[Sebastian]

Ted,
You REALLY need to EASE up on the caps!!!
The use of caps in your reply says to me "idiot, idiot" LOUD and CLEAR!
I am not sure what you do but if I recieved an reply like that, the company just lost my business without me saying a word.
That's why your repeats have decreased because you are probably losing customers, depending on what you do of course.

Edit: BTW, I am by no means sensitive either.

 

[Cees Alons]

Ted,

Even in a more harsh message - what's wrong with Dave's opening sentence "Thank you for using our trouble ticket system. Unfortunately...."?

Harsh may be equal to unpolished, but it doesn't have to be equal to impolite, isn't it?


Cees


PS And don't even think of changing that to "Thank you for trying to use our trouble ticket system."
C.

 

[Lew Crippen]

 

[Ted Lee]

hmm...good point cees. i guess i could toss it in there...but it's the only system they have access to (i actually admin four different apps) but they only need to worry about this one.

maybe i'll toss in some generic "thank you...unfortunately..." thing at the beginning.

i did knock it down from three sets of caps to just one. i'm gonna keep that just because it stands out and (i think) drives home the point.

sheesh, you guys are turning me into a softie....

 

[Lew Crippen]

That is not quite the word that comes to mind.

 

[Ted Lee]

now now lew.

i didn't say anything about the wind leaving my sail, or the lead missing from the pencil, or.....