What to say to calm down angry users?

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: XFILE
come on..how about some polite answers that wont get me fired?

Here's one I learned in a class a few years ago: disrupt their speech. If someone calls you up and is talking 90 miles an hour and you just jump in tempo with them they will keep going. If you speak -s-l-o-w- then it will cause them to do a 'brain double-take' in order to follow what you are saying. If they are loud, speak softly. Once you've got their attention then you can address the problem.

 

[Maverick]

yeah practice on ATOT, there's a lot of angry people here that turn everything into flame wars.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
I'll tell you what the verizon person says tome when I finally get off hold...

(it's been over 90 minutes - thank god for speakerphone...)

:|

Some ATOT'er just hung up on me. Unfvckingbelievable!
:Q

 

[Moonbeam]

CPA, there is something wrong with my video card I think. All I got from that one sentense was this:

Once again, Moonbeam, you **** an entirely good post with your last statement(s) Looking over it I do see that while it did indeed merit a complement of some sort, I could havemade it even better. I should have said this:

"You can practice here on ATOT by reminding everybody that Gore won. "

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: yakko
I just keep telling them to calm down until they are so mad that they hang up on me.

I used to just hang up on them, but I did while I was talking.

User: "This $%*(&#@ machine sucks! Your company is no good! I lost all my files!"

Me: OK, Sir, this what we need to do. First tell me <CLICK>

 

[ElFenix]

i had some nutball who screwed up and bought the wrong ram for his p4 back in may (he uses rdram and only got 1 stick). it says on our website that you need two. so instead of getting it, seeing it was wrong, and calling tech support or returning it, he waits. round about august he gets around to ordering another stick, but for some reason the new supplier's (samsung) ram doesn't work with the old one (hynix). they're both pc800 non ecc so i'm not sure whats up. so then he starts yelling at me when i tell him i can't honor the price he got back in may (its gone up $30), and then procedes to say its my company's fault. i want to tell the guy hes the idiot that bought 1 stick of ram when it says he needs 2, and that he didn't return it back when he saw it didn't work, but of course i can't, so i send him over to tech support, who would be able to send out the ram for free.

some woman this morning decided i was rude when i told her there was no way i could guarantee something would be there for her daughter's birthday on sunday (its actually illegal to guarantee delivery dates). she demanded to speak to someone else, so i warm xfered her to customer service.

 

[y2kc]

<---thanking my lucky stars I got promoted out of the call center. But when I was taking calls i'd just let them talk,scream ,yell until they were tired. 90 percent of the time (once they realized they were getting no resistance) they'd back off and apologize, "I know it's not your fault.....". If I had a nickel for everytime I heard that...

 

[HiTek21]

Just because I work here doesn't mean I have to care =P

 

[NogginBoink]

Firstly, there are some customers who will not be reasonable no matter what you do. For these customers, the best you can do is agree to disagree.

For the rest, I usually agree, "you're right. This problem should not be happening." Let them vent a little and take their side of the argument.

Even if they did something stupid, I give them an "out" to blame my company. When the blame is off of them (for doing something stupid) and onto someone else, the customer is now in a position where they can fix the problem and not be threatened.

No one should have to take abuse over the phone. I usually let them vent a little, then warn them about verbal abuse and that I *will* disconnect the call if they continue. I've never had to do that yet, although I've come close a few times.