Apparently at the U there is this thing called the Calling Campaign. I had no idea it even existed until about two weeks ago. But what happens is people on campus (usually the Student Affairs staff) will divvy up a list of current students who have not yet registered for the upcoming semester and will then call each of them to remind them that fall semester is a few weeks away and if they plan on coming back they should register soon. Well, my office somehow got assigned this task this year and so for the past week I've been taking my turn at calling these students.
The calls have been relatively easy so far. People will give their explanations as to why they haven't registered, we'll have a little chat, they'll thank me for calling and I'll hang up. Big deal, right?
Well, apparently it was a big deal to Mary*. I called her up this morning and this is how our conversation went:
Me: Hi, may I please speak to Mary?
{Mary gets on the phone} Hello?
Me: Hi Mary. My name is Camille and I am calling from the U.
Mary: Yes?
Me: Fall semester is approaching and we noticed you have not registered for classes yet. I just wanted to remind you that....
Mary: Don't you think that if I wanted to register for classes I would?
Me: I'm sorry?
Mary: Do you call everyone who hasn't registered for classes?
Me: Yes, we do. We just want to remind....
Mary: I find that completely obtrusive! Seriously, don't you think I would have done it if I wanted to? I don't need you to tell me I haven't done it yet!**
I wanted to say so many things right then but all of them would have been completely unprofessional. So instead I simply took a deep breath, apologized for taking up her time and hung up. Then I wrote her name and number down on the "angry students" sheet so that she'll be sure to get another phone call.
Sometimes I really love my job.
*Mary is her real name. I felt no need to try and protect her identity.
**For the record, I completely agree with her. She doesn't need me to tell her that she hasn't registered for classes. But I don't need her to yell at me either. And that's where she went wrong. So I hope she enjoys that call from the VP's office.
10 years ago
5 comments:
hahaha! Love your "for the record" postscript.
awewsome. Make sure she gets at least 10 more calls. Heck, I'll call her if you want, she sounds delightful.
Hey so I was talking to my friend Mary and she mentioned an annoying call she got from the U.
Ahh the good ol' days of working at the U. Your story of rude people on the phone reminds me of those fond memories :)
Did you happen to awake her? haha, yeah love the * footnote. priceless! Nice work Cambu!!! I was thinking about next Spring today while driving home from work, and getting a 'lil excited :)
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