4 ms·

Having worked customer support as one of my first jobs, I have a feeling a lot of people use it just to have an emotional punching bag to take out their frustra

Having worked customer support as one of my first jobs, I have a feeling a lot of people use it just to have an emotional punching bag to take out their frustration on others, or as a buffer for unpopular corporate policies which customers don't like. Corporation adds a policy that's unpopular with customers? No worries, customer support is there to take the anger and complaints

cafard 4y ago
Yes, I've been on the phones, and talked to one or two such customers. However, chatbots are just another unpopular (result of) policy on top of whatever else the customers are unhappy with.
LarryMullins 4y ago
When talking to human customer support, I'm happy to be superficially pleasant even if I'm having a bad day with their company, and I like when they treat me the same. Just because one of us is having a bad day, doesn't mean we should go and ruin the day of another person. Even if I hate their employer, the discussion I'm having is person-to-person, not person-to-corporation. Being superficially pleasant is a genuine courtesy to the other person. But when the corporate representative is a bot, not a person, I know the superficial pleasantness cannot be explained by one person earnestly trying to be pleasant to another. No, in this case the pleasantness is wholly artificial and I don't appreciate it in the least.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > , the discussion I'm having is person-to-person, not person-to-corporation. The only way to have a person to corporation discussion is to file a lawsuit. At least that I know ofm
wintermutestwin 4y ago
"I am really frustrated with your company and I know it is not your fault" "take your time" "thanks for doing what you can" "I hope your next call is easier" Being nice to the poor CS person is easy and sometimes results in better service. There is no reason to take your frustrations out on them as no one in the company that could make a difference will ever hear about it.
- hutzlibu 4y ago
  "There is no reason to take your frustrations out on them as no one in the company that could make a difference will ever hear about it." That depends, if enough support guys get yelled into depression and quitting, someone higher up eventually has to make a change. But this is obviously very a dark path and so far, my support tickets did not feel important enough, to actually ruin other peoples life for it. But it sucks, that you seem never get through to someone who actually is responsible for all that mess.
xen2xen1 4y ago
Never shoot the messenger, unless you're a jerk. There's a lot of jerks. Then again, there was that one time with my ISP...
saganus 4y ago
I remember reading some time ago about a cinema chain that used a technique they called "bullfighter" or similar, that was designed to reduce the customer's anger by having several layers of staff handle the issue. With each new "layer" the customer got a little less angry, until it came to a point where the customer would be in a more reasonable state, and then a solution would be provided which made the customer happy. The dowside was that the first few staff members that had to deal with the customer would receive the bulk of the anger which I imagine wasn't fun. But by making the customer feel like their issue was being "escalated" (even though the layers would actually be staff of the same rank), by the time the customer was sent to an actual manager, they would be more receptive to a solution.
- trentgreene 4y ago
  The irony is that chatbots and automated phone support dont function like this — instead, they amplify anger. By the time you actually get to a human, you’re not just frustrated with the original issue, but the massive (and often bigger) pain of dealing with the terrible automated support system.
  - saganus 4y ago
    Ah yes. Sadly that is the case.
Mezzie 4y ago
I've also worked a lot of customer support/customer facing jobs. When I'm the customer, I've taken to outright saying on the call that I blame corporate/their management. Let enough customers get wise and maybe it'll change.

cafard 4y ago

Yes, I've been on the phones, and talked to one or two such customers. However, chatbots are just another unpopular (result of) policy on top of whatever else the customers are unhappy with.

LarryMullins 4y ago

When talking to human customer support, I'm happy to be superficially pleasant even if I'm having a bad day with their company, and I like when they treat me the same. Just because one of us is having a bad day, doesn't mean we should go and ruin the day of another person. Even if I hate their employer, the discussion I'm having is person-to-person, not person-to-corporation. Being superficially pleasant is a genuine courtesy to the other person. But when the corporate representative is a bot, not a person, I know the superficial pleasantness cannot be explained by one person earnestly trying to be pleasant to another. No, in this case the pleasantness is wholly artificial and I don't appreciate it in the least.

ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> , the discussion I'm having is person-to-person, not person-to-corporation. The only way to have a person to corporation discussion is to file a lawsuit. At least that I know ofm

wintermutestwin 4y ago

"I am really frustrated with your company and I know it is not your fault" "take your time" "thanks for doing what you can" "I hope your next call is easier" Being nice to the poor CS person is easy and sometimes results in better service. There is no reason to take your frustrations out on them as no one in the company that could make a difference will ever hear about it.

hutzlibu 4y ago
"There is no reason to take your frustrations out on them as no one in the company that could make a difference will ever hear about it." That depends, if enough support guys get yelled into depression and quitting, someone higher up eventually has to make a change. But this is obviously very a dark path and so far, my support tickets did not feel important enough, to actually ruin other peoples life for it. But it sucks, that you seem never get through to someone who actually is responsible for all that mess.

xen2xen1 4y ago

Never shoot the messenger, unless you're a jerk. There's a lot of jerks. Then again, there was that one time with my ISP...

saganus 4y ago

I remember reading some time ago about a cinema chain that used a technique they called "bullfighter" or similar, that was designed to reduce the customer's anger by having several layers of staff handle the issue. With each new "layer" the customer got a little less angry, until it came to a point where the customer would be in a more reasonable state, and then a solution would be provided which made the customer happy. The dowside was that the first few staff members that had to deal with the customer would receive the bulk of the anger which I imagine wasn't fun. But by making the customer feel like their issue was being "escalated" (even though the layers would actually be staff of the same rank), by the time the customer was sent to an actual manager, they would be more receptive to a solution.

trentgreene 4y ago
The irony is that chatbots and automated phone support dont function like this — instead, they amplify anger. By the time you actually get to a human, you’re not just frustrated with the original issue, but the massive (and often bigger) pain of dealing with the terrible automated support system.
- saganus 4y ago
  Ah yes. Sadly that is the case.

Mezzie 4y ago

I've also worked a lot of customer support/customer facing jobs. When I'm the customer, I've taken to outright saying on the call that I blame corporate/their management. Let enough customers get wise and maybe it'll change.