Let’s state the obvious: people who work in call centers of any kind have to deal with a lot of difficult customers. That’s why it’s a good idea to treat them with respect and be upfront about what you need…

Or else something like this might happen…

An insurance company call center worker talked about how they dealt with a customer who wanted auto insurance, but wasn’t willing to give up any details.

Check it out!

Customer wanted to know how much so I gave her a price.

“This occurred 22 years ago when I worked as an inbound call auto and home insurance agent in all 50 states.

I would sit in my cubicle 8 hours a day taking incoming phone calls from people who could get a discount on their insurance because of who they worked for.

I answer the phone with my normal “cheerful” self and a woman cuts me off and asks me how much her auto insurance will be. This isn’t uncommon so I start to ask my questions.

Okay…

Me: what state are you in?

Her: I’m not telling you.

Me: what company you work for?

Her: I’m not telling you.

At this point I explain that rates vary by state and the discount varies by company (if you coworkers are bad risks you get less of a discount)

Her: I just want to know how much it’s going to cost to insure my car!

Me: what kind of car?

Her: I’m not telling you.

Me: I have to know the year make and model at least because costs vary based on that info.

LOL.

Her: fine, it’s a red one.

At this point I have done my very best but after 10 minutes I have had enough.

Me: well that car will run you no more than 1 million dollars a year.

Her: why so much!?!

Me: well I don’t have much detail and each state, company and car are different. If you were to answer my questions I could narrow that cost down.

Her: that is ridiculous. (And hangs up)

At this point I get called into the manager’s office and promptly get a written warning about how I handled that call and I should have been more understanding to her request.

Yes he was listening to the whole call and it was a legit customer.”

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Now, that’s how you handle an unruly customer over the phone!

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.