Customers calling from all corners of the hills with horrible connections. At least half the time when I say, “I’m sorry could you repeat that” I get and irate/sarcastic “Do you even know what product X is?!”

People are becoming bigger assholes every day.

Cell phone connectivity can be pretty bad in the rural areas near you (I have been there, had to drive a couple of miles from my friend's house to get a usable connection).

If you have a customer with a bad phone connection and an equally bad attitude, maybe you could make hissing, static noises in the back of your throat just before you drop the connection.

I used to deal with people on the phone everyday, most of the day and after a short time of "pissing people off" when connection, background noise on either end or whatever, made me miss something important, and my asking them "could you repeat that", I led off with, "Oh, sound dropped out, could you please repeat?"

<Forrest Gump Voice>"...and just like that,... people became nice... and.... help-ful again..."</Forrest Gump Voice>

I had no idea some people took offense when none was intended, but that small change has been working for me for many years.

Now, certifiable assholes. Well, they are gonna be full of piss and looking for a leg to wet, no matter what.

Back when I answered phone calls from people I didn't know as part of my job, there was many a call I was forced to end with, more or less:

"....could you repeat that last part? hello? I'm sorry I think we must have a bad connection, I can't hear anything on my end. Let's try again, please call back." *click*

Almost every time it really was a bad connection.

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
When did “could you repeat that” start to mean you’re stupid?

I think it started here at home a few years ago, when my wife would try to talk to me while walking away from me.

Or you ask them to repeat & they only give you the last 25% of the message, which was the part you heard, and repeat the same part again when you ask "what?".

Worse, when you are on a call and provide information that the CS rep ignores, like "Hi my name is Biff O'Bannon and I'm calling to x"

Only to be replied with "could you give me your name and why you are calling"

They can't or don't listen or it's on a call script for inbound and deviation isn't allowed.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Worse, when you are on a call and provide information that the CS rep ignores, like "Hi my name is Biff O'Bannon and I'm calling to x"

Only to be replied with "could you give me your name and why you are calling"

They can't or don't listen or it's on a call script for inbound and deviation isn't allowed.

Then you get transferred & have to start over.

In my experience, VOIP and cell phones can sometimes cause issues. I had no idea asking someone to repeat something implied they were stupid. I've wondered if I've said the same sort of thing on call. I think I normally say - we have a poor connection and some of your words are dropping out. I'm not sure I heard everything that you said.