Aibu to be annoyed with these customers/ bugbears in work

[mollymaid16]

I work for a large financial business and although I'm super nice to customers I have some real bugbears for example.

Me: Thanks for calling 'your bank' can I have your sort code and account number
Cust: oh I didn't think I'd need that (huff & puff), I'll just go get it

Cust: I typed my security details in correctly and it's blocked me I definitely typed them correctly there's something wrong with your system, your bank always does this I want to complain.
Me internally: am no everyone makes mistakes and you typed it wrong ffs just like you done last month.

Cust: you've blocked a large payment I am so angry about this etc etc
Me internally: ok in future if you get scammed or hacked we will just let them take large payments ok brilliant.

How I understand people can be fed up with things the lack of common sense pickles me.

Me: can I have your account number
Cust: reads out card number
Me: no your account number
Cust: is my online Id ok
Me: NO Your account number

Any bugbears from your work place.
Or if your bank is annoying interested to know.

I stayed before exactly what you said that if I'm not the right department I transfer you to the correct department , so please read previous comments as you've not done that correctly and are arguing the completely wrong point.

I was referring to someone who said there should be all department options on the phone. And I never said anything about hold times I am human and I have to call places myself to pay bills etc so yes I understand how annoying it it

Oh. I didn't realise the thread was only about your company. I thought it was a general bitch about customers so I thought I'd give an explanation as to what can cause them to require bitching about.

Me: Thanks for calling 'your bank' can I have your sort code and account number
Cust: oh I didn't think I'd need that (huff & puff), I'll just go get it hmm

I've not had to give my sort code and account number to talk to my bank in about the last 15 years. I'd be very surprised if they asked for it.

I second the complaints about library customers! Ours know if they want a computer they need to put in their library card number. So the sheer number that turn up and demand a computer (rudely)...
have you got your library card?
No.
Ok, no problem, have you got something with your name on it so I can look you up (that's a firm rule but we accept letters, prescription medication, bank cards, anything basically).
Uhh... no, but I can tell you my name is John Smith and I live at 123 North Street.

Well yeah but I could also tell you that I'm John Smith and therein lies the problem.

I'm also responsible for making lots of people phone their bank or insurance company because they want to log in on our computer and turn to me "uhh what's my password?" Or "oh I don't think I have a password I never put one in..."

Trying to recover people's email accounts is like pulling teeth. They don't know their password, they don't know their previous addresses... how am I supposed to know those?

Also used to work in retail and got the usual stupid questions like "I haven't got my bank card with me but I can tell you the number, is that ok?"

Oh and to answer the original Q no you are not being in the slightest bit unreasonable. The general public rarely think before engaging their mouths or their dialling fingers. One of the greatest skills in life is keeping a straight face and a polite voice when faced with stupidity.

These types of threads fascinate me and horrify me in equal measure!

The stupidity and arrogance of people never ceases to amaze me, politeness costs nothing.

Thankfully when on holiday I have never had payments blocked, I just let the cc and bank know where I am going and that was it. I would be panic stricken if it happened to me.

But I have to say phoning some companies does drive me mad when you have to go through the computer generated voice which cannot understand regional accents and after 10 minutes of 'arguing' (repeating yourself over and over and ending up swearing at it!) with it over the questions it asks, you finally get put through to an actual person!

So here you go on one hand people are annoyed that we don't call if there's a block or fraud on their account but when we do call you sent happy about that either.

No one said that, don't be silly. If you are trying to prevent fraud, don't ask for private details! You can confirm somebody's name, tell the there's a suspicion of fraud, the payment has been blocked and to call the bank back to confirm the full details. Are you encouraging customers to reveal all their details to a random person on the phone who could be anyone?

More importantly, don't get annoyed and rude because a customer refuse to give you private information, they are just showing common sense.

These are brilliant.
For social housing I would say it's amazing how many people find lost keys or remember a family member has a copy once they know the recharge cost.

Gardening-no we don't do your gardening unless you are vulnerble/elderly or disabled and have nobody else in the property over 18 and under 60
Caller: can you do my gardening, I have a disability.
Me: (checks account) sorry, you have your son (adult)living with you so you'll need to ask him to do it if you aren't able.
Caller: oh no I couldn't trust him with shears he'd probably cut his own head off or something.

Also people who will not do the very basic things and think social housing repairs should provide things like lightbulbs! Or peeling paint on a radiator...

But what bugs me most of all is hundreds or over a thousand in avoidable repairs because of improper use of a bath or shower, rotting the floor and joists/bath panel. Repeatedly. If you get water on the floor, dry it. If your sealant is gone or tiles are loose, report it asap!

I do love moaning about customers. I feel bad because I know the majority of the time they don't mean it but they can be so very annoying.

What annoys me is when people sound so surprised and confused and when I answer the phone, and are unprepared for the conversation- do you not know you're ringing me? You've dialed, surely you know who you're ringing?

Me: Good afternoon Lovelyholidaycompanyiworkfor
Them: Oh... Um...er....yes.....errrr......... I need to pay the balance for my holiday.
Me: Ok no problem do you have your booking reference?
Them: Oh er no
Me: Ok no worries can you tell me where you're staying and when?
Them: Errrrrrrrr can't remember
Me: (bangs head against desk)

Get your shit together before you ring!! I know people don't know that its so much more complicated to search via surname rather than reference number but it's still annoying.

I'm impressed and awed in equal measure that Ethelb has managed to acquaint herself with every single person who works in banking and finance in the UK, in order to confirm her preconceptions about them.

Fairweathercyclist I have an odd relationship with the leaving/closing times. Technically (personally I feel) if you're open till x time you work till x time. I hate colleagues who think closing at x means get ready and close down at quarter to so that you're literally out the door at x, and if someone comes in 5mins before and honestly couldn't get there earlier I have patience for them but if I have something to do, like you, they need to come back next day if it's a long one and organise their time better. Your colleague probably wanted them off the phone so they could finish...

Mollymaid exactly, different departments are necessary. We can give basic info on a lot of different things but most people want details I can't access and then get annoyed when we say they need to speak to such and such a department because they'll be able to fully explain - mostly because whatever department it is ends up being bloody difficult to get hold of and our office (smug face) is pretty efficient so easier for them to get hold of.

Different departments are necessary but some places do take the mickey. I hate calling a particular part of my own company cause there's eleventy billion options and you still never get through to the right one. But my call centre deals with ALL queries about all products we handle. So you can speak to me about seventeen different things about your account, I'm extremely knowledgable about our products. But I STILL have no info about your other types of account.

I am NEVER rude if I call a customer (which I only ever do in response to them contacting us) if they refuse to disclose their info. I give our number and advise them to check it against correspondence or our website if they're unsure, I give my name and tell them I'm leaving notes on their account so when they call back they can be reassured I'm genuine and the person can handle the enquiry. But no I will not discuss your account without going through security so you can go through it with me now or you can call back, doesn't matter to me. And if you can't be arsed to call us back then we'll send you a letter which will delay whatever it was you contacted us about in the first place. Which you'll then complain about.

• eating. You called me! Eat your dinner before or after. It's fucking gross listening to people chewing. Nothing I deal with is so urgent it can't wait five minutes til you've finished.

Oh and smushing your face into the buttons on your mobile with the sound on HURTS MY EARS with the loud beeping. And I can't hear you over the noise anyway.

With regard to phoning restaurants to see if they're open ( my post, yesterday ) Yes it does make sense to phone to see if they're open , but why not then say ,
Oh excellent there's 4 of us coming for lunch , can we book a table in the window ?
To which we can reply
That's fine , 1 o'clock ?
Or
Sorry , we have a private party in today , so we're not taking any more bookings

I have 2 current accounts. One of them I get straight through to a human who asks for my postcode, surname and initial and has voice recognition software. The other one you have to input sort code and account code before you get several options, none of which are talk to someone. You only get that option if you don't choose any of the others. I much prefer dealing with the first one (FD).

used to work on the helpdesk for internal IT systems, where each bit of IT had an asset number which was logged in the database
Me: hello can I help
(l)User: there's a problem with my monitor, it's not working
Me: is there power?
(l)User: yes, I think so
Me: have you go the asset number, it's on the yellow sticker on the top right of the screen
(l)User: oh yes, but I can't read it too well. It's a bit melty and the smoke is in my eyes
Me: smoke?
(l)User: yes, from the monitor. it's melting too and smells bad
Me: suggest you call local fire warden to help you caller.

Sheesh

I called a place a few nights ago to see if they were open as their opening hours were not online. I thought they'd be closed but they answered, so I asked what time they closed and got "we're already closed". I just thought, why answer the bloody phone then? Surely it's only going to be customers calling late at night?

Of course they answered the phone - it was ringing. It could have been a customer wanting to make a booking for the next day? It could have been a manager checking that X had been done or a member of staff who had left earlier in the day and forgot to mention something was broken/hadn't been turned off/anything else.

I always answered the phone after the shop I worked in was shut because it only took a minute to answer an enquiry or tell the person to come in when we were open

Legal here, biggest bugbears:

Client: "Can I please speak to x solicitor"
Me: "sorry he/she is engaged on the other line right now. Would the secretary/assistant be able to help?"
Client: "No I need to speak to him/her. How long will they be?"
Me (in my head) How long is a bloody piece of string? How the frig am I supposed to know how long a call will take? I will just consult my crystal ball... ah they will be another 5 minutes and 48 seconds!
Me to the client: " I don't know because they are on the phone, can I put you through to their voicemail/take a number and get them to call you back?"
Client: "Yes please.... when will that be?"
Arrrrrggggggg!!!!

Another
Me "Good morning/afternoon solicitors office how can I help?"
Client: "What it is love, can I just tell you?"
Me: "Very sorry sir/madam this is a switchboard which needs to be free for incoming calls, is it about x y z area of law?"
Client: "Can I just tell you the story?"
Me silently bashes head against the wall.

So here you go on one hand people are annoyed that we don't call if there's a block or fraud on their account but when we do call you sent happy about that either.

Of course not. Don't be ridiculous! If there's been a suspicion of anything fraudulent of course I want my bank or credit card provider to call me

But it's absolutely crazy for the fraud department to ask me to behave in a way that could well encourage fraud!! We're always being told not to give our password away, we have two factor security on online banking etc. So why on earth should we be encouraged to provide personal details over the phone when we have no way of verifying the person who's calling us is who they say they are. If we give our details to a scammer we'll be held liable for any fraud because we divulged personal data that allowed them to gain access to our account

Why do I have to argue with the caller that I'm not providing my details as I've no way of verifying his identity, and insist that I'm going to call the fraud line myself? Why isn't it standard protocol to call a customer and inform them there's been unusual activity on their account and to ask them to call the fraud line?

It's directly encouraging people to leave themselves open to fraud. Madness.

I work for a housebuilder. Infuriates me so much when a customer rings because :-

Next doors cat is pooing in my garden
Dogs are pooing on my front lawn
People walk past my house and flick cigarette butts in my garden

And how is any of the above the house builders fault?

I also hate it if I call someone and they can't talk as they are busy/in the middle of something ... don't answer your phone then?