November 28, 2006

No, I'm not dead

Well, Dear Reader, for the past few weeks I've been doing a technology refresh for our call center. Basically what that means is I've been swapping old computer hardware for new hardware. As of today, I've built 80 desktops and 3 laptops. I know how one of Santa's elves might feel.

The interesting part of this is I got the chance to listen to lots and lots (and lots) of calls from insureds filing claims. Let me tell you something folks, I heard some really funny stuff like:

"Uh, Ma'am, so you're saying it was your cow that got hit by the car? And how did he get out of the front yard again?"

"Let me give you your claim number for future reference. Ready? OK, it's 'P', as in the letter 'P'."

"Uh, yes sir, I think I have a cute voice too. Um, no sir, I can't tell you where I'm located, but thanks for asking."

"The adjuster's name is Keith...Keith...his NAME IS KEITH. KEITH. KEITH!! It's Keith. The adjuster's name is KEEEEIIIITH! Ma'am...Ma'am...Ma'am...the claims adjuster's name is KEITH! Yes ma'am. His number is 501...501...Five...OH...One... His phone number is FIVE. Oh. ONE! It's the same area code you're in ma'am. Yes ma'am, it's area code Five Oh One...Five. Oh. One."

Personally, I couldn't do that job. My mouth would get me fired pretty quickly. "Ma'am, if you'd crank up the hearing aid, you MIGHT be able to hear me better."

Comments

We recently had a customer service division of our company moved into our office. One of my coworkers sites closer to them and can hear the calls over his cube wall. Every few weeks, he'll tell me how insane he'd go if he had to deal with those kinds of calls.

Posted at November 28, 2006 02:56 PM

I've done it before. You grow numb to it.

Posted at November 28, 2006 10:47 PM