On the occasion of Customer Service Week (Oct. 5-9)—when Customer Service reps finally get some recognition for their often thankless jobs—we thought it would be a good time to ask our Customer Service team here at BLR about some of their more unusual calls or experiences. We weren't disappointed.
To begin with, let's clear up one thing: BLR is not EPA, nor is it DOL—we get that a lot, and sometimes callers don't want to believe us. Take, for example, the person who called because her town wasn’t helping her make her neighbor fix whatever was oozing out of his yard into hers, and whatever it was, it smelled ...
Endorse My Rocks
Or how about this conversation:
Customer: "Hi, are you the EPA?"
CS Rep: "No, BLR is a private publishing company. We produce HR, Safety, and Environmental compliance and training products. Is there something we can help you with?"
Customer: "Yes! Can you please get the EPA to endorse my rocks?"
CS Rep: "I'm sorry? We are not affiliated with the EPA."
Customer: "Well, maybe you can endorse them. They are a new environmentally friendly foundation base for house building. Plastic rocks—they are very durable and do not leech chemicals into the environment. They provide good drainage and also prevent contractors from having to dig up rocks in the area, therefore providing an extra environmental benefit."
CS Rep: "Sir, I am sorry, but we do not endorse such items. We just publish compliance and training materials. Perhaps you should look up EPA.gov?"
Customer: "Oh, are you sure you can't endorse them? They really are a very good product."
CS Rep: "Sorry, that is beyond what we do. Was there anything else I can assist with?"
Customer: "No thanks. Have a good day."
B-L-R Does Not Spell D-E-A
One of our reps received about 10 e-mails from a person in California giving BLR the location of what he thought was a drug house. He believed prostitution and drug use was going on there. Each e-mail came with increasing urgency. "Hurry up because there are crack pipes everywhere ... You must show up armed, and be quiet or they will see you coming." When the rep explained that we are a publishing comapny with no authority to go to the house, the person got angry and said we were "fueling the fire" and probably involved with the drug house.
Feel My Pain
Then there was the call we received from a woman in a hysterical state, asking what the laws were with regard to limits on hours worked. She explained that her "child" (a woman in her 20's) was working two full-time jobs in California. The caller wanted to know if that was legal, or if there were any laws preventing employees from working too many hours. The rep explained that he didn't know of any restrictions on an employee working too many hours voluntarily, but to check with the DOL. She asked if we (BLR) could contact her daughter's employer and "make" them restrict her daughter's work hours. The rep said we could not. The caller then began sobbing, saying, "I hope you have children one day, I hope you feel this kind of pain!"
'And a One, And a Two ...'
On occasion we put our Customer Service reps in a difficult position because, as much as it pains us to admit it, BLR is not perfect. For instance, one time we accidentally shipped out a few CDs containing polka music instead of the safety training information that was supposed to be on them. You can only imagine the calls we got in response to that. And then there was the glitch in the billing system that resulted in some bills being sent out for 2 or 3 cents—with customers obligingly taping pennies to the invoices and sending them back.
Your Slumber Diva
But pennies are far from the strangest things our reps receive in the mail. Some of the more unusual include:
- Metal bricks sent by some wise guy in one of our prepaid return envelopes
- Pornography and condoms
- Air fresheners sent by one customer with all of his correspondence
- A letter signed by "Your Slumber DIVA! My Business Is Your Pleasure : )"
And the list goes on.
Those Dreaded Ceiling Microphones
Our reps admit that sometimes the strangeness happens right within the Customer Service Department itself, with no help needed from the outside world. Consider this story from one of our CS veterans:
"Back before I was a supervisor, new reps would sit in the cubicle next to me, and I would 'train' them. I was in the beginning stages of going over policies and procedures with a rep, and she must have said something that triggered my instincts … 'Oh, boy—we have a negative one here.' I calmly responded with, 'Oh—be very careful with what you say.' I pointed to the ceiling and said, 'There are microphones up there.' I didn't think in a million years that the rep took me seriously. Years (and I am talking years) went by. She was a good rep, but then all good things come to end, and it was time for her to leave. As I was helping her pack her things, I said something and she looked at me quite sincerely, and said, pointing to the ceiling, 'Oh—don't forget there are microphones in the ceiling.' I did not have the heart to tell her ...."
So here's to you, Customer Service reps—thanks for all the great work you do, and we promise not to make your job any harder by sending out polka CDs or bills for 2 cents—at least not this week.
And, in celebration of Customer Service Week, BLR is making a gift of free training. We invite everyone to come view one of our most popular customer service training courses, "Customer Service Skills: How We Can All Improve." It's free for you to use as often as you'd like. And it's just one of 21 courses that will be included in our new Customer Service Library, which will be available later this fall. So please stop by and take a look.
