Imagine that you open up your email and find a message from your credit card company with the attention-getting subject line, “Important: What you can do now about the recent data breach.” Would you think that Discover had had a customer data breach? You wouldn’t be alone. [More]
misunderstandings
Restaurateur: The Last Howard Johnson’s Is Doing Just Fine, Thanks
By 1.26.17
Yesterday, the news spread across the country that the last still-operating Howard Johnson’s restaurant was not long for this world, with a great big “AVAILABLE” sign posted outside the eatery in the tourist town of Lake George, NY. However, the restaurant’s owner says things are just fine, and claims that this HoJo’s is not closing. [More]
Amazon Student: When A Paying Customer Isn't A Paying Customer
By 7.18.11
When is a discount not a discount? When the product discount customers get isn’t the same thing that customers who pay full price get. See, people finishing up their free year of Amazon Prime as students can sign up for a half-price Prime account for next year. Except they’re not entitled to all of the perks that paying Prime customers get, like sharing free shipping between all members of a household and their different Amazon accounts. [More]
United Removes Passenger From Flight After He Asks Whether A Meal Will Be Served
By 7.20.10
Over at JoeSugarman.com, Joe writes that on his way home from a seminar in Austin, he settled into his first class seat–he’s what United Airlines calls a 1K traveler because he flies over 100,000 miles with them every year–and asked the flight attendant, “Are you serving any meals during our flight?” A few minutes later, he writes, “two armed Austin police officers boarded the plane, looked at me and said, ‘Sugarman, follow us.'” [More]
Dunkin' Donuts Robber Says He Was Just Asking For A Honey Bun
By 6.14.10
Be sure to always enunciate clearly when you’re placing an order, so that you don’t accidentally rob the cashier. That piece of advice comes from a man in Massachusetts who was charged for attempted armed robbery of a Dunkin’ Donuts back in April. He now claims that the cashier misunderstood him. What he really said was that he wanted a honey bun, not “Give me the money, I have a gun.” [More]
What Part Of "Do-Not-Call" Do Skeezy Telemarketers Not Understand?
By 8.25.07
Meet Bluegreen, a Florida time-share company that regularly skirts the Do-Not-Call Lista by offering a $50,000 raffle. By entering the raffle, unsuspecting consumers give Bluegreen – and over a dozen of their affiliates – permission to contact them, even if they subscribe to the Do-Not-Call List. We explain how this is technically legal, after the jump.
Common Call Center Misunderstandings
By 5.20.07
After calling Indian call centers, many people email us to say “You won’t believe what I just heard!” Most of these problems can be chocked up to cultural differences or inexperienced agents who have yet to master the nuances of conversational English. Our call center tipster explains:
When there’s a problem, it’s usually just a misunderstanding, or a cultural thing. Phrases that are used in India, but not the US, that make a customer think the agent is being rude. Or the agent still in an “Indian customer service mindset”. (When dealing with Indian customers it’s all about getting right to the answer, completely ignoring any attempt to make the call personal. Also, to avoid confrontation. Even if they know something’s gonna take 3 months, they always say ‘2-3 days’ Believe it or not, that’s how people like their service here).
Urine Year-end statements, and the story of “Mr. and Mrs. Hymen,” after the jump…
