Today I'm turning the tables a bit, because this email is about one of OUR less stellar moments.
I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard the soundbite of Miss Teen South Carolina rambling about only-she-knows-what when asked why so many Americans can't find the U.S. on a map.
Well, today's stupid moment reminds me of that incident, partly because of the stupid responses and partly because the people involved also apparently couldn't even figure out the fairly simple maps for the company they WORK for...
This is from a pretty well-written, and, unfortunately, accurate, email describing a comedy of errors the writer and his fellow travelers encountered trying to use one of our services recently.
As visitors, they were trying to get around using the free trolley system. Unfortunately, they were given misleading or just plain inaccurate information by several different people downtown; finally, in frustration, they called our help number. He explains THAT experience in the email:
Your "information" people knew less about the system than we did. All I was asking basically was, will the trolley stop at the stop we were at or where should we go and how do we get the trolley to stop? All I got was "I DON`T KNOW". We tried several times and got the same "I DON`T KNOW" from everybody. One "information" lady thought I said "terrorist" instead of "tourist" when I was talking to her and she got all upset. After I calmed her down she gave me the now familiar, "I DON`T KNOW", to my questions. One "information" person suggested we "watch where the trolleys go and when they stop chase them down".
Well. First...we do NOT train our staff to tell people they Don't Know how our system works--that is really unacceptable. But unfortunately, it was apparently the BEST part of this exchange. Another person doesn't hear him correctly and thinks he is a terrorist. Because, after all, terrorists call here all the time asking how they and their little bomb can get on the trolley to go bomb the convention center. And they always identify themselves as terrorists, of course! Good grief.
But of course, it gets even better. That last line just amazes me...Watch for a trolley and then chase it down when it stops?!?!? I mean, really...it must have been the medication...
I'd think he had made that up, except for one little problem. We tape our calls, and we went back and listened, and sure enough that's exactly what she said...wait for one to stop and then Chase it down! To her "credit" she at least didn't KNOW he had his 85-year old mother with him...
And, the tape is even funnier (in a sad, pitiful way) because he sarcastically "thanks" her for her "help" and she responds with a cheerful "You're Welcome!"
I would like the world to know that not EVERY day is like this for our information staff; sometimes they DO actually provide Help.
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