telephone professionalism..

L

littlegubby

Guest
I am not very well educated (as spelling errors will confirm) However, I am so sick to death of the bad manners of people on the other end of a phone line. I am talking about business people or their Representatives... have they any idea how important to their business the impression the person who answerers the phone is.
for example: the other day I had reason to contact a large builders providers to enquirer what their vat no. was.. a fairly simple question you may think? the moron who answered me didn't know what a vat no. was.. and instead of, politely, asking me to wait while she found out.. she sharply answered me that she could not give it to me.. when i asked why, she replied cos she didn't know what i wanted; then she asked me for my name.. I gave it to her (why) explaining that i had a receipt from her company but i could not decipher the vat no...
she repeated that she didn't know that that was and waited, i think to see would i go away.. then, after a sigh, she said " I suppose i better get someone else for you" god I nearly
screamed!!!!! who employed her.. ??? is her father the boss??

ps.. god bless spell check.. hope it works
 
My office is just off reception and I can hear everything that goes on. The receptionist, despite working a number of years for the company, still gets the company name wrong and thats on the rare occasion that she answers the phone. I've often heard her answer a call, realise she knows the caller and launches into a full scale chat with them even though they didn't ring to talk to her. Her phone manner is completely non-existent. How she's still with us is anybody's guess.
 
I am not very well educated
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Education doesn't equate to manners, decency, and consideration for others, which are facets that you seem to hold dear.

If only there were more decent people like yourself in this country, it'd be a lot better place.
 
Bully.

I worked for a financial institution for many years and I never answered the phone unless the manager was about. Every time I answered the phone it meant sorting out someones problem. I worked in a branch so it was easy to refer queries to our head office by simply saying that our computers were down. It always worked. We then got a change of manager who copped on to what I was doing. It made my life hell because he made me feel inadequate and useless.
 
Re: Bully.

It always worked. We then got a change of manager who copped on to what I was doing. It made my life hell because he made me feel inadequate and useless.

You mean when someone finally pointed out to you that it was part of your job it made you feel inadequate? :\
 
Re.Bully

I worked for a financial institution for many years and I never answered the phone unless the manager was about.
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We then got a change of manager who copped on to what I was doing. It made my life hell because he made me feel inadequate and useless.
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MissDunne, are you taking the p**s? He should have sacked your ass for not doing your job and/or not working in the best interests of your employer.
On the point the littlegubby raised, I agree, many people have a very bad phone manner. In fact many people who are paid to have a good phone manner have a bad one.
As for your lack of education; same here!
 
Education doesn't equate to manners, decency, and considerat

Education doesn't equate to manners, decency, and consideration for others, which are facets that you seem to hold dear.

If only there were more decent people like yourself in this country, it'd be a lot better place.

Yeah - calling somebody who has poor telephone skills a moron is very mannerly, decent and considerate all right... :\
 
Education doesn't equate to manners, decency, and considerat

________________________________________________
Yeah - calling somebody who has poor telephone skills a moron is very mannerly, decent and considerate all right...
________________________________________________

Well, if the conversation went as described, then while moron might be a little harsh, you'd have to accept that the person is not exactly firing on all thrusters here!!

" what's a VAT number?" Still being in the building trade might account for that oversight! :lol

Regards,

OpusnBill
 
I only want to ask a simple question, please don't transfer.

I contacted FBD insurance to ask if it was possible to get a house insurance quote from their website. The lady answering the phone didn't know so I was transferred to customer services who didn't know who transferred me to the IT department who referred me to someone senior in marketing. He then contacted a branch office to ring me to give me a quote (couldn't be done on line). Eventually I got the quote, €100 euro dearer than my cheapest quote. Do staff members ever look at their own company's website?
 
telephone vs person

my own pet peeve is when the person you require information from keeps answering the phone instead of dealing with the person standing in front of them. OK, so I'm not as loud, insistant, or annoying................. but I'm *there*, waiting patiently....

In my own case, I have occasionally taken the phone off the hook so that I can deal with the person standing there looking for infromation from me in peace. (I do put it back on afterwards! )
 
The phone is for someone else.

This constantly happens in branches of First Active and EBS. The counter staff are required to answer the phones, yet ever notice the millions of staff strolling around off counter beside fax machines and photocopiers, its as if they don't hear the phone ringing.
 
Re: The phone is for someone else.

The Guards in Lucan seem to be past Masters at this sort of behaviour. I went in there recently, and there was four of them gathered around a copy of the Star while I was left waiting for them to bother to come over and see what I wanted.

Chief Wigam would have been proud !!
 
Re:NOelC

N0elC; I often hear that the Gardì are paid for what they might have to do, not what they do every day. i always thought that this referred to the chance that they might have to put their life on the line but now that you mention it your story seems to be the most probable explanation of the saying...
 
Re: Re:NOelC

My all-too-frequent favourite example of unprofessional telephone manner is those customer service agents who ask for my account number and when I start spouting off the number, they immediately respond 'Hold on, hold on' and I have to wait another 30 seconds while they bring up the relevant screen. Jeez- why did you ask me if you weren't ready for the answer....
 
Phones

Bridget, I'm with you. It drives me nuts when counter staff break off from dealing with you to answer a phone!

You counter staff reading this...Stop It! Now! A human being is more important than a bleedin' phone.
 
A Joke!

Rang the college where I studied for my degree last week to obtain information needed for further exams. Conversation went like this after I explained I needed a copy of the course syllabus for the years I studied and the reason I needed them-to apply for exemptions from a professional body.

secretary: No..... (followed by deafening silence)
Me: No?? (incredulous)
Secretary: No
Me: I'm sorry, just no?!?!
Secretary: Just no
Me: Is there any reason? These details are hardly confidential?
Secretary: We just dont do it.
Me: well, ive just explained the reason i need them, they are not confidential and you cannot provide me with a valid reason for not sending this out, so I should entitled to access to my course syllabus, dont you think?!?!?!?!?!
Secretary: Look it, email ******@*** and see how far it gets you. Goodbye..Followed by dial tone.

Now i understand these places have policies and procedures but is there any need to be sooo unhelpful and (I feel) v.rude about a simple enquiry?
 
Taking things personally.

I discovered recently that I had overpaid my subscription to my trade union for over a year. I rang the lady in charge of subscriptions to find out how this happened. She said that it was MY fault that I was being overcharged as I should have been aware what the correct subscription was. I pointed out that I had completed an application form and direct debit form when I joined and that it was her department that was deducting the subscription from my salary every month.

She continued to insist that it was my fault for not being aware what the correct subscription was.(there are four different classes of subscription). I eventually received a cheque in the post without explanation as to how the refund was calculated and without apology.
 
Re.Taking things personally.

She said that it was MY fault that I was being overcharged as I should have been aware what the correct subscription was
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And if you said a word to her she'd have the union on you...
 
Sorry I disturbed your day!

I rang the revenue commissioners on Friday last regarding licencing laws. After hanging on for about 10 minutes I finally got through. When I said that I had a few general questions the answer I got was "I hope it doesn't take too long because we are very busy here".
 
Re: I hope it doesn't take too long because we are very busy

This type of response just goes to show that may people live by the belief "
if it wasn't for my customers ringing me all day, I would get a lot more work done!"
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