Drawing on Assholeology, the new book he co-authored, Chris Illuminati explains in this Asylum post ways to get better customer service by, to put it kindly, being the squeaky wheel.

Lesson 1: Don’t take no for an answer, he writes:

One of the 10 Demandments of Being an A**hole is never taking the word no for answer. Never let a customer service rep tell you that you can’t do something, you can’t return an item, or that it isn’t possible to accomplish what you’re requesting. Tell them matter-of-factly you’re not leaving or hanging up until you get results.

If they do tell you no, try another person. Most companies don’t spend the time to perfectly train every single person that walks through the revolving door of customer service. Keep calling until you find someone unfamiliar with protocol and willing to do whatever you ask to get you off the phone. Tell them that you spoke with someone else and they said it was possible. Lie. It’s fine, we’re all going to hell.

Consumerists, which flavor of behavior have you found gets you farther with customer service — sweet or sour?

How to Get Better Customer Service by Being an A**hole [Asylum]

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