What Happens If: You play dumb.
What the Experts Say: Many callers claim ignorance about the rules governing a fee or a policy. “If someone keeps at it long enough, we often get tired of explaining and just give her what she wants,” says Fonta Knight, a former customer-service agent for a Chicago bookstore.
Let’s say you always pay your credit-card bills on time, but this one time your check was delayed in the mail and you got hit with a late fee. You call in to question the fee and act as if you thought the due date was when the payment should be postmarked, not received. “We get this all the time,” says former credit-card rep Meg Salmon. But that’s OK, she says: They’ll waive the fee anyway — once. “It’s our job to educate you about how the fees work,” says Salmon, “but we’re probably not going to remove the charge next time.”
If, however, you’re asking for something beyond the rep’s power — or she’s simply not inclined to help you, for whatever reason — playing dumb won’t solve anything. “I have seen reps who just play dumb right back,” Williams says. “They’ll say, ‘Well, the charge is there. If you don’t know how it got there, I can’t explain it to you.’”
And because playing dumb means being a bit dishonest with the rep, it can easily backfire.. “Honesty really is the best policy,” says Peggy Allen Jackson, a customer-service representative for Microsoft. Agents have heard every ploy before, so they can sense when they’re being played. And, as anyone would, “we appreciate it much more when callers take the direct approach,” Jackson says.
Bottom Line: If your request is minimal, a little feigned ignorance can let the issue be recorded as a simple misunderstanding. No one is at fault, and by processing an adjustment to your account, the rep can feel that she’s done her job by making the customer happy. But this approach won’t give you traction with an ornery rep or help you with a request that’s beyond her authority. Plus, it’s risky: If you get caught in a lie, the rep may become angry and unhelpful.
What Happens If: You hang up.
What the Experts Say: If you slam down the phone in a rage, the hang-up may go on the record the company keeps about you and your account. When you call again, the rep who answers is going to see a note about your hang-up history on the top of her screen. That may give her perspective on your call. “If a caller is getting irate and I see that he has a history of hang-ups, it kind of helps me, because I know it’s not my fault,” Morrill says. Perhaps the caller is angry in general, or is venting frustrations from other parts of his life, she says. “So I don’t take it personally. I just think to myself, Well, this is going to make my day more interesting.”
That red flag on your account can also make reps antagonistic. When some agents see a hang-up note, they immediately become combative. “Even if your last call was an isolated incident, they assume you’re going to be difficult to deal with,” says Danniel Williams, a former appointment clerk for a California HMO. “I have seen reps disconnect those calls before they even answer them, then lean over to my workstation and say, ‘I’m not dealing with that today.’”
Bottom Line: Don’t hang up in anger. If you need to terminate the call, simply say, “I have to go — I’ll call back another time.” Keep it friendly, to avoid having your account flagged.
