I completely suck at calling any kind of customer service line. I used to think it was because I was being kind and sympathetic to the person on the other end of the line. I would think 'It's not their fault X went wrong, they just have got a crappy job in a customer service department, I shouldn't be horrible to them'
It turns out, its actually just because I'm a massive pussy who doesn't like confrontation.
Today I had to call up Vodafone to get my PAC code as I got a new contract with orange (YAY! new phone!).
I'd checked online first about what upgrades vodafone would offer me and I checked in phones4u where I brought my original contract from and their upgrade offers where shit compared to the shiny new contract offer I had found online.
Anyway, when I called up Gemma, the customer service rep I got through to, asked all the usual security questions and then asked me why I was leaving Vodafone. I said I'd found a better deal else where.
I thought she would leave it at that, but instead she just got really shirty with me and the rest of the conversation went as follows
Gemma: Well you didn't check with us first!!
Me: Uh... sorry, well I checked online, and I went into phones4u where I got my phone from...
Gemma: You are aware phones4u are not vodafone?
Me: Oh, uh, yeah... I checked on your website as well, sorry.
Gemma: Well we reward our loyal customers so you will miss out on that loyalty bonus by leaving vodafone.
Me: Oh, um, uh, I'm sorry
What the fuck is wrong with me that I turn into a quivering wreck on the phone?
I should have pointed out that if they valued me that much then they would offer me their best upgrade deal online, instead of making me ring up and haggle with them. I got my new contract online without having to speak to some pushy salesman (which if you haven't guess I'm also not very good at) and it was a lot cheaper than what vodafone were offering online (£28s for an 18 month contract compare to £30 for a 24 month contract and loads more "free" minutes & texts).
Also I'm really not sure what Gemma was trying to achieve by being such a bitch, like I'd suddenly go 'Oh you made a good point by being aggressive and insinuating I'm a moron, I'll cancel my new contract and stay with you!
Of course if I wasn't such a blubbering wimp, I've have said all of this at the time, but instead I just stammered a load of apologies and hung up feeling like a failure.
A quick Google search for a visual aid for this post has lead me to the perfect product for me:
Shame I didn't get an iphone.
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