We're at -4.2.

I hope it gets alot warmer!

To my coworkers (I'm not yet sure which one is to blame--I've received conflicting reports):

Why, why, WHY would I say a orientation session for the new interns was scheduled for a conference room on the second floor of the hospital, and put that location on the orientation schedule, if what I really meant was that it was in the research & training building across the street?! Given that that would be CRAZY, why, WHY did you tell them to meet in the R&T lobby instead of coming to my office to be guided to the hard-to-find conference room, like I said on the schedule?!?!!

I haven't had a bite to eat or a drop of caffeine yet because I've spent my entire morning paging people and chasing the missing interns around the hospital campus. I finally located them and got them to the right place...but WHY did my coworkers think I'd put that room on the schedule if I didn't MEAN it? Yes, we usually use R&T for this, but all the rooms there were booked! I do what I can! What's the point of trying to organize this place if they just ignore what I do?!

The reps. Specifically, the morale of said reps. Usually we are not paid well, have crappy benefits and our job is, quite literally, to get yelled at for eight hours a day.

I'm always glad to read your venting MM. It goes without saying that you are hilarious, but beyond that, it's interesting to hear about the internal workings of CS.

I mentioned here a while back that an IRS rep who had been particularly helpful to me actually cried when I asked if I could say something nice about her to a supervisor. She said that she wasn't allowed (huh?) to connect me with someone on the phone for that purpose, but she gave me an address.

Three days after sending the note off, I got a hand written thank you from a regional supervisor.

Morale, and customer reactions are clearly a problem.

eta: Oh. And how wrong is it that it's acceptable in a seemingly civil society for a CS rep's job to be 'getting yelled at for 8 hours a day'?

I blame the anonymity of our society. People will say things on the phone and on the 'net that I would hope they would never say in person.

And yes, I know asshattery is rampant at airline desks and retail outlets...which I blame on the luxury we enjoy post-agrarian societies and the fact that people don't carry swords anymore as a matter of course...but GOD, I hope it's less so than what we see in faceless communication.

I've changed my mind. If we have a son I want to name him either Shazam or Captain Marvel.

I know a baby named Marvel. Marvel Jem, to be precise. Parents aren't comics fans.

if I ever had kids they'd likely get called things like India or Serendipity or Shazam

Just yesterday I was thinking how lovely Serendipity is as a girl's name.

Cool - Haunted Mansion bash (for those of you in SoCal, and those who might go for a party at the HM.

Is that a wailing and gnashing of teeth (and stamping of feet) I'm hearing from the direction of Seattle?

Morale, and customer reactions are clearly a problem.

Guh. I can't even imagine being CS for the IRS. People hate you anyway just because of where you work.

At Variable Annuity company they had a kind of incentive program. If a customer thought you were the awesomest ever since fire, they could ask to speak to a manager or supervisor and tell them "Joe's the awesomest since fire" and we'd get, like, a cookie or something.

But 99 times out of 100 that never occurs to a customer to do. You do an adequate job...or a stellar, way-above-and-beyond-the-call job...and you get "Well, thanks." *click*

And, natch, we weren't allowed to suggest to a customer that they could tell our bosses what shining examples of humanity we were. But, alternately, if they said something super swell on the recorded line, we could tell our boss "Hey, check out that phone call. They said they wanted to have my babies!"

Then the boss would actually listen to the call (because we can't be trusted. Like, every call we're saying "And then they proclaimed me their king!") and if the compliment was complimentary enough they'd give us, like, a cookie.

The warmth. The camaraderie. The incentive.

The suck.

I can't even imagine being CS for the IRS. People hate you anyway just because of where you work.

Years and years ago I worked for a company that occupied a building that had previously housed the IRS. This building faced a freeway. People would stop on the freeway and throw stuff or shoot at the building. It was loverly. What did I do for that company? Customer service. For a health insurance provider.

Caller: My insurance ran out
Me:You haven't paid your bill in over 7 months.
Caller: But I just found out I'm pregnant
Me: ...

I mentioned here a while back that an IRS rep who had been particularly helpful to me actually cried when I asked if I could say something nice about her to a supervisor. She said that she wasn't allowed (huh?) to connect me with someone on the phone for that purpose, but she gave me an address.

I've gotta say, the IRS reps I've dealt with (and I've dealt with a fair few) have been unfailingly professional, pleasant, and helpful. It makes dealing with their employer much easier.

Suzi, what time on Friday?

Caller: My insurance ran out

Me:You haven't paid your bill in over 7 months.

Caller: But I just found out I'm pregnant

Me: ...

...then I'm guessing you didn't spend your premiums on condoms.

I can't even imagine being CS for the IRS. People hate you anyway just because of where you work.

The IRS in Cincy (well, right across the river in Kentucky) has been overrun by bedbugs.

I am not making this up: [link] (note: the dateline says "Covington, Ohio, but there is no Covington in Ohio; it's Kentucky).