I don’t get it.
If you’re getting this three or four times a day, could it be that you’re not enunciating clearly? I’ve had this happen to me several times when calling businesses. NOT that I’ve ever called PSFM. 
Me (calling Business A)…brrrrring, brrrrring, brrring
Other end of the line: Hello Dprk gllloblsss Cat!
Me ??? uuuuuuhhhh, Is this Business A?
Business A phone person (Disgusted sigh/full-on snotty mode): YES! that’s what I SAID!
Me: no, actually you said Dprk gllloblsss Cat! which is why I asked.
But like someone else said, I guess that’s sort of a gripe about someone else’s work. I don’t really have any big gripes about my job, the only thing (and I’ve finally gotten used to it) is that one of my coworkers ends almost all statements (and they’re generally scientific statements, which is even more annoying) with a question mark. This person is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about their job, and I have a sneaking suspicion that makes their habit even more annoying than it otherwise would be.
But that’s pretty mild and I’ve gotten pretty used to it by now anyway.
In my current job, my irritation is people who try to get attention or special treatment by faking medical problems. Everyone’s go-to is the seizure. People think they’re easy to fake… But I’ve learned a few tricks to determine the real seizers from the gamers.
Every one is treated as real until determined otherwise, but once you’re called out, you might as well wipe the drool off your chin and man up.
According to Wikipedia, Hello Nurse is an old vaudeville thing. I would guess that most people today that are familiar with the phrase got it from Yakko and Wakko on the Animaniacs.
In other words, Sleeps with Butterflies is a nurse and is probably quite attractive. Men say this to her when she enters the room.
The politics. Yes I work in government, but in the IT sector. Politics should not be playing a role in determining which software or infrastructure we buy just because some executive’s grandson just got a job with that company. But I see it happen. All. The. Time.
Government is a money pit. :mad:
The people who call me at work and ask who called them from this number. I try to keep the snippy tone out of my voice when I say I have no way of knowing as anyone in the office has access to that line. Then they quiz me about the business and what we do and despite the fact that they have no idea why anyone from my work would call them they keep me on the line trying to figure out who called them. I usually say it was probably a wrong number. Then I resist the urge to scream ‘if it was important they would have left a message’ and I wait for them to say oh ok and good bye so I can hang up.
And people who call me while they’re having a conversation with someone else and seem put out when I answer the phone and interrupt them my good morning company name speech.
I work in a day care center. What drives me crazy are the parents. Especially parents who are not working and bring in their kids to day care for a ten hour day anyway. Parents who are teachers are the worst. It’s like they would die if they had to actually spend their spring break with their own preschool children.
Could be they want to make sure the preschool CHILDREN live through spring break with them.
I work in a small retail business that sells boutique, high-end outdoor equipment like mountain bikes, kayaks, skis, etc…
Because the stuff we sell is “fun” and “cool”, people have this overwhelming sense that everything is wonderful and carefree. They forget that, first and foremost, it’s a business.
Family and friends will stroll into the office of said retail business at random and try and burn off a half hour telling us all about the birthday party they threw for their dog, or how they almost shit themselves when they watched Scary Movie 14 the previous night.
I just want to punch them in the face. GET OUT OF HERE! I’M WORKING. See that stack of papers? I MUST get through that mess TODAY! I have to submit taxes to the government TODAY! I just wrote $150,000 worth of post-dated checks, are YOU going to ensure that they all get paid on time? Let me see your financial plan for that.
What do you do? Oh, you’re an architect? Wow, that’s fascinating. How about I just come into your office during business hours, dripping mustard from my sandwich, and hang out. Because it amuses me. I bet your bosses would love that. Oh, no?
GET THE F**K OUT OF HERE I’M TRYING TO RUN A SMALL BUSINESS K-TXS-BYE.
It happens either way, in my experience. When the phone rings, I tell people my name right away. A ton of people ask me right after that, “What is your name?” or “Who is this?” I have a one syllable name, too, and I pause briefly after saying my name so it soaks in. Doesn’t make a whit of difference. A lot of people just don’t listen.
It’s not uncommon for people to repeat it 3 or 4 times before they get it, either. It’s a mildly unusual name but hardly one that most people wouldn’t recognize.
I’m pretty sure I speak clearly because when people are actually listening, they do get it, it’s people who are just breezing through or who can’t wait to talk that have the problem. People will even repeat what I just said, but not listen to what I (or they) said:
“Do you have your serial number?”
“Yeah, I have my serial number right here.”
“Okay, could you give it to me?”
“What?”
“The serial number.”
“What serial number?”
My personal peeve, though, is people who check their brains out completely, ala this:
“How do I install this? I can’t find where to download.”
“Here’s a link. <reads it>”
“Oh, okay. I’m downloading it… It’s asking me if I want to give it permission to install. Do I?”
A lot of times I try to make a joke and say (nicely) saying “Well, do you?” or some variant. Most of the time people go “Oh yeah!” and start paying attention. About 5% get all huffy with, “Well, how should I know, I’m computer illiterate” BS. Sorry, but you knew what installing was – you asked about it. You were easily able to download and run the installer without asking me how. You obviously know computer basics. Don’t make me sit through you reading aloud every single page of the install process when all you need to do is read the EULA and a bunch of other shit. “Do I want Next, or Cancel?” “Okay, Next or Cancel this time?” “Do I hit Finished? It’s the only option.”
I don’t mean to be heartless – there are those people who genuinely do need help that’s this step-by-step, and they’ll get it. There are many other people who just latch on and want you to be at their beck and call for 30 minutes after answering an easy question just in case they need help at some future time. I find that asking those people to participate and learn rather than just do things that I tell them tends to dissuade this sort of dependent relationship with our support… which is important, since we’re a small company. If I’m on the line indefinitely with someone who wants computer 101 through basic functions of their OS (despite not needing it or having any actual problems with our stuff), I’m going to miss the call from someone who genuinely needs support.
If this was Facebook I would “like” that one. Ha ha ha… no never heard that one before… yes, you are the first. Really. :rolleyes:
Since I got out of bedside nursing and into a clinic with healthy adults I get that less. You would think “never” but I still get that. “The nurse will have to review your form with you” I walk in and right into that same old tired line.
Also, look I just need to know what medication you are on and why you are on it. Most medications are fine. I do not NEED TO SEE your fungal toenails. I especially do not want to discuss them in great length every Thursday morning at quarter to eight. Even more so, I don’t want to bump into you in the grocery store and discuss it some more. Please?
Some of those phone callers who manage to so annoy fluiddruid and Joey P might be suffering from Auditory Processing Disorder. I have a mild form of it myself and I sometimes miss the first or even first two times somebody tells me something even if I’m trying to pay attention. Was a pain in the army where I was supposed to answer with “Good morning, <military rank>” when somebody called us and introduced themselves over the phone.
I think it’s a combination of them being either older* or (frankly) stupid coupled with them not expecting me to answer the phone so quickly**. Also, it’s not just me, I hear a lot of my employees answering the phone by saying “Park St Farmers Market…yes it is”
And I say stupid because some of them will go on to ask us if we’re the place next door to the medical clinic. C’mon, people. You just looked our number up in the phone book, you saw the address when you did that, the name of the business is pretty damn descriptive and honestly, we’re the only “farmers market” on “Park St” which is a very long, busy road. Most people are pretty familiar with all the business up and down the entire stretch since there aren’t that many of them.
*Notice in my post how I wrote out the way that some of them ask me, those are the older ones.
**The people that I can hear talking to someone else in the room I assume weren’t expecting me to answer to so quickly, it’s not my fault they’re to rude to keep the phone up to their ear after dialing.
I’ll tell you a secret: sometimes that’s the only way to get the time to deal with a major home project.
You may ask: what home project is more important than time with your kids? The answer is, the presence of said kids generates projects. Trust me on this.
I remember when I was younger my mom had a babysitter come over every Friday. Even if she didn’t go anywhere she still had her come over just because it gave her time to do stuff around the house. Back when I was married, even on her days off my wife would still drop our daughter off at day care so she’d have a few hours to clean the house or go for a run.
The comment about “parents who are teachers” reminded me of something. When I was took one of my dogs in to get spayed, they confirmed that she had stopped eating at 6pm the night before and I said “Ummm, no, my MIL set up the appointment and told me that she was supposed to stop eating at midnight” without even thinking they replied “your MIL is a nurse, right?”
“Yeah, how’d you know”
“Because people stop eating at midnight before a surgery, dogs have to stop eating at 6 the day before, so whenever this mixup happens there’s usually a nurse involved”
I don’t know about your centre, but when my daughter was in daycare, I paid whether she was there or not, or risk losing her spot. Knowing that, and that it would give me time to really clean, or paint, I would sometimes drop her off at daycare if I had a day off, although usually for a half day.
Snnipe - If you haven’t seen the movie Mall Rats, there’s at least one bit you could relate too.
Me: “Thank you for calling [Hotel Name/City]. This is [My Name.] How may I help you?”
Caller 1: “Is this [Right Hotel Name/Completely Different City]?” Me (in my head): “Oddly enough, no, it’s the one I mentioned when I answered the phone.” Caller 1: “Can you connect me?” Me: “They are are owned by another company, and I don’t have a way to connect you. I can give you their phone number, though.” Caller 1: “Oh that’s okay, can you just tell me whether John Doe is a guest at Other Hotel?” Me: :smack:
Caller 2: “Are you guys open?” Me (in my head): “Nope, we closed at 11 pm, and kicked out all of the guests so that I could get some sleep. Thanks for interrupting my nap, asshole.”
Caller 3: “Do you guys have any rooms available?” Me: “I’m sorry, but we’re sold out tonight, and, afaik, there are no rooms available at this exit nor the next two northbound or southbound.” Caller 3: “Don’t you have a suite you could rent to me?” Me (in my head): “Oh, sure! I’m sure that the Smiths wouldn’t mind if you bunked with them.” Caller 3 (now whining): “But whyyyyy doesn’t anyone have rooms?” Me (in my head): “Maybe because it’s July 4th/Memorial Day/Labor Day weekend, and half the freaking country is traveling, like you, on the busiest interstate in the country, and you know, got tired!?”
Caller 4, at 3 am, on a busy travel weekend: “I need a room for 4 adults and 3 children.” Me: “I’m sorry sir, but I only have standard rooms available, and, due to local fire code, they can’t accommodate more than four people per room. Since it’s late, I’ll be glad to offer you a discount on two rooms.” Caller 4: “I can’t afford to rent two rooms.” Me (in my head): “WTF are you on the road with 6 other people - including children - if you don’t have any money?! And did it never occur to you that you MIGHT need a reservation somewhere if you wanted one room/suite for SEVEN people?!”
Caller 5, at 6 am: “I’m in town a little early, what time can I check in?” Me: “I’m really sorry, but my rooms are all occupied, and housekeeping still needs to clean. I can’t guarantee check-in before 3 pm.” Caller 5: “Well, can’t I check in at 11?” Me (in my head): “Sure, I’ll just call up the Johnsons in room 313 and tell them they have to leave now! I’m sure they won’t mind a bit!”
And finally, the little old men (and it’s always little old men) who want to play clock police: Breakfast opens at 6 am. I realize that your watch says 5:45, and that’s close enough in your head, but that, oddly enough, isn’t 6 am. If you annoy me enough, I have been known to reset the lobby clock, and point helplessly as you wait for your breakfast and coffee. It’s petty of me, sure, but it’s highly, highly annoying when you go rattle the dining room door for the eighth time since 5:30.
I’m a biomedical technician. I fix medical equipment. I’d say at least 50% of the time something is sent down to our shop, all it has is a small note on it saying “broken” or “does not work.”
Thanks for being so helpful.
So a note to all nurses or future nurses reading the thread (it seems at least two so far,) in my experience, you are the ones who deal the most with biomed, so PLEASE be a little more helpful? (Not to imply the nurses here do this, but they might and not realized it…or their co-workers might.)
I mean…would you like it if a patient came in and just said, “I’m sick” and that was it? Yeah, you might figure out what’s wrong with him eventually by running every test you can, but would you want to?
This. It happens with so many specialties, including but not limited to IT support, because what you do is magic, they have no idea how to give you useful information (even if you have told them twenty times before) and you’ll figure it out, which is so much easier than them using their three brain cells to think about it in advance.
Whenever possible, these go to the bottom of the pile. Then, when they complain about how long it’s taking, I say something like this: “I haven’t been able to figure out what’s wrong with it yet, can you tell me the symptoms?”.
Occasionally, someone figures out that things happen faster when they provide the details. I have given up telling people, because the ones that don’t figure this out on their own also don’t listen.
Roddy