to have had a bit of a rant at a call centre worker?

[TinfoilHattie]

Ordered flowers on Thursday for mother's day - due to be delivered today. Website stated "guaranteed tracked delivery". Email at 4pm saying Royal Mail couldn't deliver so they were out for delivery with Yodel. Nothing arrived.

Called company, waited 25 minutes on hold listening to "your call is important to us" messages, and when I did finally get through the operator was trying to tell me the guaranteed didn't really mean guaranteed and that the flowers would be there on Monday. Maybe. And that I could get a refund. Maybe.

So I ranted at her and said I was extremely unhappy and she was doing nothing to keep my custom.

And now mum will probably get half-dead flowers at some point next week, and I have to try to organise something else, on a Satruday night at past 8pm. Mum lives 100 miles away so it's not like I can pop round with a bunch from M&S in the morning.

[ShowMePotatoSalad]

So long as you were not abusive in any way then YANBU. The call centre worker is the representative of the company and so it stands to reason that you would log the complaint with her.

I normally say "I know that this is not personally your fault but I need to tell you I am very unhappy with the service I've received. Please can you pass that on to the relevant dept and get them to contact me ASAP" etc etc

[Curlyshabtree]

Mhmm I doubt it was the fault of the person you spoke to. Although I understand your frustration it is not pleasant to get ranted at....( I work in a call centre and was ranted at today for something completely out if mine and my company's control. It was awful)

[SparkleTwinkleGoldGlitter]

YANBU unless of course you were nasty/abusive. They company failed to deliver as advertised

I hope you can sort something else for your Mum tomorrow, unfortunately I've no suggest as to what at short notice but I'm sure some wise Mumsnetter will be along

[Asmoto]

YANBU to be angry. YWB a bit U if you really did 'rant' at the call centre worker - I doubt it's within her power to authorise a refund, and they're probably given a script they have to use in these situations. I'd suggest emailing the CEO with details of your experience - he/she won't read it, but you might get a decent response to your complaint.

I hope you manage to get something else sorted out for your mum!

[TinfoilHattie]

Was not abusive. Did not swear - although was sorely tempted. Did perhaps tell her that she needed to check the meaning of "guaranteed" and that I was extremely unhappy.

Having looked on social media there are lots of people having similar issues so she has probably had a long queue of ranty people this evening. Bad customer service and unwillingness to suggest solutions, instead trying to make out that the customer is at fault really winds me up though.

[ImFuckingSpartacus]

It wasn't her personally that guaranteed you anything, or failed to deliver your flowers.
YABU for having a rant at the poor cow who anwered the phone.

[Ginmakesitallok]

Yanbu to rant at the person on the phone - who else would you complain to???

[Asmoto]

It's probably not 'unwillingness' on the agent's part to suggest solutions, but lack of authority to offer them.

[Asmoto]

Gin it's possible to complain without ranting.

[sherazade]

Sorry if I've missed this somewhere , but 'guaranteed tracked delivery' doesn't specify a timescale does it ?

[TinfoilHattie]

Website says "any named day" and the email says "tracked delivery on 25th March".

The standard delivery option said "In most cases, orders arrive on the nominated date, but they could arrive 1 working day after the nominated delivery date. If you need a guaranteed delivery date, please select one of the other delivery options."

Which is what I did. I think they have been swamped with mother's day orders and just can't cope - but no excuse really.

[sherazade]

Oh dear . I'd be furious !

[KungFuEric]

I'm always curious, which company was this? I like to know who to avoid for future reference.

[Goodythreeshoes]

It's always worth visiting Trustpilot or similar OP. For future reference, can you name the company?

[Trb17]

As a side note, google florists local to your mum and get on the phone tomorrow to see if any can run a delivery round to her. At least then they'll be fresh too.

[TinfoilHattie]

Appleyard London.

And I usually do look at Trustpilot or similar but it's like everything - you're more likely to post a review when you've had a bad experience, people who are happy don't post so reviews are one-sided. Will just have to phone round florists in Mum's home town tomorrow and try to get something delivered. (and hope they don't laugh at me trying to organise a delivery on mother's day)

[ToffeeForEveryone]

Google florists closest to where your mum lives - give them a call in the morning, see if they will do a same day order and delivery locally.

And do pursue for a refund - perishable items delivered late, no longer fit for purpose ...

[Wando1986]

Just phone a local florist to your Mum first thing tomorrow for them to deliver, tell them the budget and what colours and then pay over the phone???

[GreenPeppers]

For those people who are saying that the OP is BU to have a rant at the person a t the call center
Who do you suggest she is complaining to?

Unfortunately, that's the role of whoever is at the call centre. It's crap I agree. They are not responsible of the problem but they are responsible to take the complain, hear the customer and whybthey are so unhappy (that means listening to them ranting) an then coming up with a solution (which will be whatever the company has told to say - yes but they should still offer a solution).

There is a major issue atm with call centre being the only people you can talk to/get hold off. No supervisor etc... No customer complain as such. If on the top of it, when there is an issue you absolutely need to be nicely nicely to the person the phone, where do you take your complain???

[Gabilan]

out for delivery with Yodel. Nothing arrived.

Nothing arriving is unfortunately the norm for Yodel. I actively avoid them although you can't always know that a company will use them. Their Twitter feed is littered with "oh we're sorry". It must be so disheartening working for them.

I've worked in a call centre. Being ranted at for things completely beyond your control is an unpleasant part of it. I always try to be nice to get call handlers and get them on my side - then they tend to be really helpful, if they can.

So YANBU to be angry. Taking it out on a call handler is a bit U.

[Asmoto]

Green The words 'complain' and 'rant' are not synonymous. The call centre worker is responsible for taking the complaint, but that doesn't mean she deserves to be ranted at.

[Iactuallydothinkso]

I used to work in a call centre. As a representative of the company/organisation then I fully expected to get the brunt if a customer was unhappy. No I didn't fuck up your order or forget to do whatever it is but it is my job to decide what to do with the bad experience a customer may have had. It's a mark of the company how professional their call handlers are. Just don't swear or repeat yourself endlessly. I heard the first time and I've explained what I can and will do and probably what I can't. If I'd had your experience I would be extremely unhappy and ask to speak to the manage and write a letter of complaint.

[harderandharder2breathe]

Yabu for ranting. It is actually possible to complain without ranting at an innocent call handler who I'm sure would much prefer that your flowers had arrived as scheduled as well so you wouldn't be ranting at them

[Mummyoflittledragon]

I had this with Mother's Day flowers a couple of years ago. Delivery guaranteed on the Sunday. They arrived on Monday instead. Why would I pay through the nose for a delivery after the event??

[FuzzyOwl]

I think YABU for ranting but reasonable to log a complaint. Generally I find you get an awful lot further by being nice and polite to call handlers, which you can do whilst making your point clear and getting the situation rectified.