Damage Control

Sometimes Mother Nature lands a blow that we can only accept and do our best to sruvive.  Here in the call center we are given the very best information available but sometimes we are just caught unawares.  On a particular evening a lady called in screaming and shouting.  It took several minutes for the operator who took her call to even get to the bottom of her anxiety as she was out of control.  He tried really hard to calm her but she would not settle down.  The manager of her self storage facility had left a voice mail message that he needed to speak with her about something important.  She was in an inconsolable state of rage.  My coworker tried to mollify her and tried to get her name and phone number for nearly 40 minutes.  Exhausted, he turned to me and asked if I could take over.  I took a deep breath and waded in.

Her rage was not proportionate to the situation.  She screamed and screamed that her whole life was ruined if her things were damaged.  She demanded the manager’s home telephone number.  We had no contact information other than the store business line number.  When I explained that I was at a sister facility, a reservations center, she again screamed at me, Oh yes, take the money and then to Hell with the customer!  I bet that manager has stolen our things and run off to another state.  I really wanted to suggest that she be sedated but that would not have been appropriate.  She screamed and ranted on and on accusing, threatening, cursing and shouting.  No matter what answer we gave or what offer of help we suggested she tried to turn it to another argument in the manner of a stereotypical mother-in-law on a popular TV series. She finally decided to call the home improvement business next door to the storage facility and was advised by their staff that there had been some flooding and water damage.  She called again screaming and shouting.  Three of us tried to calm her and get through to her that we had no after-hours numbers at all.  We were grimly determined to be well mannered and kind to no avail.  She was going to shout through the night.

I apologized for her upset and her anxiety but planted my feet and would not budge on the fact that we were not going to be abused any further.  She did not call back that evening but did call the next morning screaming and cursing at the morning crew.

What could have brought this situation around?  I can honestly say that after 43 years in customer service that I do not know.  Perhaps if the manager had advised her of the problem she would not have been so upset but something tells me that no matter how it was handled it would have ignited the same firestorm.  There are just some people who are not happy until any situation is drowning in high drama.  I feel sorry for them because they cannot see how much easier life would be if they would just treat people reasonably.  I feel sorry for the store personnel who had to deal with her the next day.

Ninety nine percent of our callers can be reasoned with but some cannot.  Such is life in customer service and the storage business.

Written by Kay Johnson in the PhoneSmart call center.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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