Remember the prisoner’s mother who called the other day and made me repeat myself more than a dozen times? Yeah, she called back. How do I know? Two things: her phone number on the caller ID and her voice/accent.

She started to tell me her problem and I cut her off - “You need to call your son’s lawyer. We do not give out any information.”

HER: But…

ME: No buts. We do not give out any information. Call his lawyer.

She then complained that she had a bad number for the lawyer.

ME: Call the Clerk’s office, they can give it to you.

HER: You don’t have the lawyer’s number?

*At this point, I have little to no patience.*

ME: Ma’am, no. Call the Clerk and then call the lawyer.

HER: But…

ME: Ma’am. I can’t help you. I told you all of this the other day when you called.

*silence*

HER: That was you?

ME: Yes. Call your son’s lawyer.

HER: OK, thank you.

If she calls again all bets are off on my patience. I do not like having to repeat myself ad nauseum and I won’t do it today.

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1. Baby steps!   Maybe next time…maybe if you practice in front of a mirror…repeat after me, “I am terminating this call…click.”  Good luck!

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/17/05  at  12:01 PM

2. Good. For. You. Awesome.

   Posted by princess jami  on  08/17/05  at  01:22 PM

3. I remember working 911/dispatcher and having callers like that. I also remember getting slapped with a reprimand for mishandling a caller like that. Be careful.

   Posted by Contagion  on  08/17/05  at  02:35 PM

4. Well, I may get terse, but I try not to be outright rude.

   And my situation is a little different than a 911 call center. Our policy is that we do not give information about our prisoners to anyone except their attorney. No exceptions. Ever.

   I’ve had people complain that I was rude - my boss and his boss have both backed me up in every instance. I’m not worried.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/17/05  at  02:52 PM

5. We also handled the admin lines at my call center, it wasn’t just emergency calls. It was an admin line call that I ran into trouble with, it was a simular situation. We did not give out information on individual officers, I had a lady call three times in two days trying to get info on one of the patrol Sgts. It was on my last call with here that she felt I was being rude and filed a formal complaint. I, however, was just stating that I had told her multiple times that we do not give out personal information on officers.

   Posted by Contagion  on  08/18/05  at  11:58 AM

6. Contagion, I get ya. I’m still not concerned. I’ve had my boss and his boss in my office when I’ve taken similar calls. In one case the caller asked to speak to my supervisor, so I transferred the call to my boss and the caller was told the exact same thing by my boss.

   I’ve been told by my boss’ boss that I show more restraint than she would with these types of callers.

   I’m not worried. :smile:

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  08/18/05  at  12:14 PM

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