But I frequently get this:
Message left on my voice mail: “Bob, I need to talk to you this afternoon. Please call. I’ll be in all afternoon. If you get my secretary, please tell her I said to put you though, no matter who I’m with.”
So I call and get: “I’m sorry, Mr. Important is unavailable right now, would you care to leave a message.”
Me: “I’m Bob, Mr. Important said to call and ask for him no matter what.”
Secretary: " I’m sorry, Mr. Important is unavailable right now."
Me: “Goodby.”
Because, believe it or don’t, there are a lot of receptionists/desk people who are NOT as conscientious, intelligent and customer service oriented as the OP. If a person is a management type whose job requires that they call other management types all of the time, they frequently run into receptionists and clerks whose standard answer to anything is some version of “I don’t know” and in which one has to play 20 questions in order to get any information at all.
Lots of times, our end of the conversation goes:
Mgmt types: Is your boss in?
Recpt: I don’t know.
MT: do you know when he’ll be returning?
R: No,
MT: Did he leave any information on the Jones file? He called earlier wanting an update on it
R: I don’t know…
Etc.
So, you can see why “I don’t know” as a first off the bat answer, isn’t really as self-explanatory or as clear an answer to the person on the other end of the phone as you seem to think it should be.
Now, granted Blowero wasn’t doing that, he actually DID say something to the effect of “no, he didn’t say when he’d be back, etc”. But to the person who is used to the dullard of a secretary or receptionist (of which there are MORE than enough for us to BE used to that sort), you can see where they’d try to pin down the best info they possibly can.
I have a different kind of annoying call.
Me: Good Morning. Thank you for calling XXXX. This is Congodwarf. How may I help you?
Customer: Hi Congodwarf it’s Annoying Customer with the whiny nasal voice.
Me: Hi Annoying. What can I do for you?
Customer: I need to order this, that, and the other thing. And I need an RGA.
Me: Ok, you’ll need to fax or e-mail it to me.
Customer: You mean you can’t take it over the phone?
Me: No, just like the last 50,000 times you asked, I can not take the goddamn order over the phone. (By the way, I’m more polite than this when he’s on the phone. I’m not a complete bitch."
Customer: Ok, I’ll fax it over.
Me: You do that.
Every single freaking day. He just doesn’t get it. It’s like he wants my permission to send in the damn orders. We’ve had too many customers try to screw us over with verbal orders…“I didn’t order THAT, I ordered THIS”. So, we don’t do verbals. But, I have to listen to his annoying voice every day because he can’t get it through his thick skull that I can’t, and won’t take a verbal order.
Another annoying thing this same customer does is to call me up to tell me that he’s visiting a jobsite in a few days and he’ll need an RGA for some bad parts. Great, wonderful, why the fuck are you calling me to tell me this? You don’t know what parts you need. You don’t know what’s wrong with them. You don’t even know what type of unit they’re coming off of. Send in the damn RGA request when you have all the information. I don’t need an update every time you plan to visit a jobsite.
I like my customers, I really do. I like my job too. But, I can’t stand customers who think I’m going to change the way we do business just because they want me to.
We have a “Global” e-mail system where you can look up someone’s phone number by their e-mail address and give them a call. For some reason, six months ago, someone else’s name got listed at my work number, but I had it changed, yet I still get called. . .
:: RING ::
Me: RED HORSE, Tripler speaking. . .
Them: May I speak with Sergeant Joe Bag-o-dounts?
Me: No, Sgt Bag-o-donuts is not at this number. He’s actually at xt. 2630
Them: Oh, well, can you connect me to them?
Me: No. I can’t do that. I don’t have that capability.
Them: Well, can I leave a message?
Me: No, because I don’t know a Bag-o-donuts in this squadron, and chances are, he’s in a totally different building, with a totally different number.
Them: Well, ‘Global’ says he’s at this number.
Me : Well, :: punch punch ::, ‘Global’ says he’s at a different extension. Maybe you should try there. . .
:: CLICK ::
I get this routinely two or three times a week. The computer room confirms that Joe’s number is changed. I don’t know why the hell people are calling me. . .
Tripler
It confuses me, but it irritates me when they’re arrogant.
I spend a lot of time at my uni’s radio station, which means I have to answer the phone. I get calls from music promoters asking for people I haven’t seen all day. Because I haven’t seen them, I have no idea what their schedules are like for the day. I just don’t know if the music director is going to be in at four. I can take a message, but don’t expect a callback for a few days.
Sometimes the person at the other end of the phone really doesn’t know.
Robin
Huh? I told the client that he was out running errands and that I didn’t know how long that would take. What do you mean “no further information”?
I’ve never heard of errands that take a month, so I guess I sort of expected the client to figure that out. I’m not aware of any meaning of “running errands” that could possible include being on leave for the next month. But who knows? - maybe I’m giving people too much credit for understanding the obvious. If the boss were going to be gone for a month, don’t you think that’s pretty much the first thing I would have said? As for the question of whether he would be gone for a half hour or a longer period of time, that was covered by my statement, “I don’t know how long it will take.”
You know, sometimes you have to realize that people do things, and you aren’t necessarily going to get to talk to whoever you happen to feel like talking to at whatever exact moment you feel like talking to them.
I see your point, and I know this can be frustrating, since I’ve been on the other end of it, too. But it’s almost never the receptionist’s fault; he/she has been instructed by the boss not to answer those questions. So the problem is almost always poor management, and to be honest, my boss is guilty of this. He doesn’t want people to be able to get ahold of him whenever they feel like, because sometimes he doesn’t want to talk to certain people. That’s why he refuses to make his cell phone number available. I don’t even know his cellphone number, and he’s not going to give it to me.
My take on this is, if you’re giving someone your business, and he’s not making himself available to you in a reasonable manner, you simply should be doing business with someone else instead. It really isn’t going to help to browbeat the secretary. If a secretary were actually keeping the boss from getting his calls, in spite of the boss’ wish to get those calls, they’d be fired in a heartbeat. If you’re not getting through to the boss, he’s either not there, or he doesn’t want to talk to you right now.
Excellent points, and while I will typically try to get the most information I can, even if that means having to ask the receptionist several questions, I’m EXTRA sweet about it, you never know who that receptionist IS to the boss.
Ours for example is one of the bosses’ daughters, I can imagine outsiders conversations with her, while sweet, she tends to be just a bit of a ditzy blonde trapped in a brunette’s body 
Years ago, I went to a seminar which was basically a big ole hard sell for their books and products, but one of the things that they stressed was “be nice to the front desk” and I’ve held to that rule ever since.
Yeah, that’s lame. Just for the record, I would never do that. Fortunately, my boss isn’t a real hard-ass, so if the call really sounds urgent, I’ll interrupt him to see if he wants to take it, even if he said “no calls”.
You seem to be confusing “I don’t know what time he’ll be back” with “I don’t know what day he’ll be back.”
Because “I don’t know” isn’t necessarily that clear. Maybe you only tell anybody “I don’t know” when you truly have no clue whether he’ll be back next hour or next month, but it’s generally not the case.
Maybe you never noticed it, but people, when asked “When?” do answer “I don’t know” when they actually know he’s out drinking a coffee, and will be back at most half at hour later, and also “I don’t know” when they actually know he’s on a business trip in Japan and will be back at best next week. “May I take a message?” isn’t necessarily a sufficient answer, either. I might need to know roughly when I can expect him to get the message and to call back, in order to be able to plan accordingly.
Most people have a rough idea of when the boss will be back or when the needed document will be ready, or whatever else. That’s the information we’re after when we ask “will he be in later this evening? Will it be done by the end of the week?” for instance. So, yes, answering a second time “I don’t know” may be necessary. And maybe a third time when we go on asking : “when will I have a chance to get in touch with him, then? Tomorrow? Next week? Maybe never?”. Because if I don’t ask a second or third time I might never be told that the person is actually in vacations, and unreachable for a couple weeks.
I don’t get it. If you think they’re lying, what makes you believe that they will all of a sudden stop lying just because you asked them the same question again?
I didn’t even read the OP, much less any of the replies, so fuck you all :smack:
The most annoying call from a client: “When if ever am I going to receive all that shit we already paid for that you promised nine weeks ago right before your CEO committed suicide??!?!?”
P.S. Feel free to use that as your sig
I’m on the clients side too. In your examples, all they wanted to know was whether or not their lawyer would be back today to talk to them. That’s not an unreasonable request. In both of these cases you did have an idea about when he’d be back, but lead with “I Don’t Know”. Your answers don’t give the client any more information than “He’ll be out of the office until he’s done with whatever he’s doing and comes back.” Gee, I would never have thought THAT.
Start your answers off with “We expect him back this afternoon/tomorrow.” then add whatever caveats you need to CYA.
As someone who answer a phone, I can guarantee you I don’t know exactly when someone will return from court, or running errands. Court can be 15 minutes to 5 hours. I don’t know exact details of the case in question. Sorry. I’m not the fucking judge.
I know! I’ll put you on hold, drive over to the courthouse, pull them out of court, and tell them that you need to talk to them right now! Because your crisis is far more important than the one currently being dealt with.
The one that annoys me is:
Client: Is Robin there?
Me: Robin has left for the day.
Client: So when will she be back?
Me: Tomorrow.
Client: So I can’t talk to her today?
Me: No. Can someone else help you?
Client: No, I have to speak to her.
Me: Can I take a message?
Client: Yes, can you ask her what her fax number is?
Me: :smack:
Actually, I had a person insist I call one of our probation officers at home, while they were sick, rather than ask for help from her supervisor or someone else. Yes, the PO’s job is important to her. But she had surgery, and is on heavy medication. I don’t exactly think she is caring about anything at this point, bitch.
Our favorite non-response? Why, yes, let me pull her out of my ass for you!
If it’s a real crisis I am more than willing to find someone to help out. But calling and hanging up seven times in an hour when told that your PO isn’t in doesn’t tell me anything, except you are a moron.
And usually they only know you’re trying to get in touch with them if you leave a message on their voice mail. *Maybe * 10% of them do. On a good day.
:wally
As a former phone answering person myself, I can’t get behind the “I have no earthly idea when he’ll be back mentality and you’re an idiot for expecting that information.” You work for someone long enough, you get to know how long his or her particular errands take or how long might be expected for a particular meeting (because you usually know the agenda, etc.).
I would have been embarrassed to say I had absolutely no clue, because I always thought having some relative clue (either by guesstimate or actual communication with boss) was part of my job.
Am I the only one who gets approached on the street on my day off with “Is so-and-so in the office today?” If I were that psychic, I’d be playing the lottery.
On the phone, I just say “I’m not sure what time he’ll be in. Hold on, I’ll give you his voice mail.”
I am lucky to work for a boss who would never have me lie about her availability. It’s VERY frustrating; I’ve been there and, at the end, would start telling people that the boss told me to tell them XYZ lie.
What I do now, if the person on the other line is not accepting my truthful reply, is to overexplain it. I will say, “Bosslady has clients at 9, 10, 11, 12, I hope she’ll have some lunch at 1, then more clients at 2 and 3. If you like, I can arrange a phone appointment at 4.” or “Bosslady is in a meeting with her boss. The meeting is scheduled for 1 hour, but it has been my experience that these meetings run over - I have been working with Bosslady for nearly five years and this is generally what happens” or " Bosslady is with a student right now. I prefer not to interrupt her but if you feel your son or daughter’s life is in immediate danger I will, otherwise I can squeeze you in between appointments for a quick phone call with Bosslady."
Bosslady is very professional and ethical, thank goodness! And I am way good at shooting down people who want to badger me!
Just a point: someone already touched on this, but be careful how you act toward the receptionist/phone answerer. I, like man other AA’s, have my bosses’ ear, and if someone is overly rude to me, I will tell my boss. Then she may reappraise whether or not to answer. I’ll tell her if you sound mad at her, or if she might not want to talk to you. I also screen all sales calls, they don’t get past me. Be nice, and I’ll go out of my way to help you. Be rude, and I will rat you out. I don’t mean to be mean about it, but these are the exact instructions my boss has given me.