Someone very close to me works for a major communications company. He does tech support so his job is to help people who call with problems. You have no idea what he goes through sometimes. There are good days and there are bad days. The bad days, unfortunately, stand out and ruin his whole day. I see no reason for someone calling for help and think they have to take it out on whomever answers the phone. He has no control over your account, but he CAN fix your problem. All you have to do is stop yelling and stop calling him a Mother Fuc### He has a very gentle soul and he is good at his job. When someone has a tech issue, they aren’t going to get it fixed by calling him every other name in the book, yelling at the top of their lungs, threatening his job, and even his life. People, please treat these tech support or customer service representatives like they’re human beings. If you saw them on the street, face to face you wouldn’t call them the horrible names they get called. Trust me, you can get your issue fixed a lot faster by being nice and LISTENING and FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS. If it can’t be dealt with he will send you to someone who can help with what you need. I’m sorry for dwelling on the negative side of his job, but these days they outweigh the positive days. Later one day after having three awful, rude, threatening calls, and not even the same person, he learned from his employer they are now allowed to tell the person on the phone if they don’t stop their belligerence they will disconnect the call, and if it doesn’t stop, they can hang up. Remember, these people are there to help you get your problem fixed. And, they’re human beings with a life outside of your phone call. This is my five minute brain dump for today, and keep in mind no matter how old your kids are, the MOTHER BEAR will always come out. Grrr . . .
#SOCSunday
If you want to do your own Stream of Consciousness Sunday– unedited, five minutes of just writing what’s on your mind, a brain dump, do this:
- Set a timer and write for 5 minutes.
- Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
- Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
- Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
- Link up your post below.
- Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.
Now…
1. Grab the button
(it’s over in the sidebar)
2. Write your post.
3. Link up here. ALL THINGS FADRA
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
10 thoughts on “Tech Support Representatives are Human Beings”
Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I’ve seen people in line ahead of me be very rude to the pharmacist or check out person, etc. What a shame, I say. I wonder if they ever reflect on their rudeness during the day when they go home and have a quiet moment. Probably not. Too bad for them. I agree, we do get further by being nice. Let’s start a campaign! Thanks for stopping by, Fadra.
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Fadra
It’s a lousy job for anyone because I know how people can be. I used to work at a pharmacy and was dealing with sick and grumpy people. And they WERE that rude to my face. I learn long ago you can get much further by simply being nice.
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Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
What you’re saying is happening to my son, too. It’s not only the calls. He comes home so upset with the company sometimes, but when you need a job . . . Yes, it seems like asking if they’d want to purchase or upgrade seems a common thing. I hope their new policy helps and they don’t have to deal with some customers’ attitudes. Glad you stopped by, Kathy.
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Kathy Kramer
My husband used to do tech support and work in a call center. He got so burned out on it (from dealing with both rude people on the phone and the bad working conditions) he got depressed. BTW, even though he was supposed to be tech support, he was expected to sell people things the didn’t need.
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Her Thirties
This was a great post! A reminder, even though I’ve never yelled at tech support, that we all need to be kinder when issues flare up. Thank you for posting.
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Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
You know if anything, I hope enough people see this to make a little bit of a difference. Wishful thinking but you never know. I appreciate your comment. Thanks!
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Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Rebecca,
I’m as nice as can be to people who are helping me in any aspect. I see you understand. I always wish them a good day, and sometimes I can hear the surprise in their voices. If some people only realized they’d get farther if they were kind. Thanks so much for commenting.
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Rebecca
That breaks my heart. Whenever I call customer support, no matter how upset I may be, I try to be as kind and courteous as possible because I know that not only are these lovely people there trying to *help* me, and it’s not their fault that my internet is out yet again, but they also have to deal with others who don’t exercise the same consideration. I’ve gotten some surprised responses after wishing the customer service rep a good day or giving a thank you, and that saddens me. No one deserves to have anger taken out on them like that. Thank you for posting this reminder in your SOC!
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Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
You definitely understand, Jenn. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
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jenn
Yeah, I used to be a telemarketer. They are people too. People get upset/frustrated with the wrong people, sometimes!!!
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