
“Thank you for calling AT&T. My name is Chad. I’d first like to apologize about any problem you are having and let you know you are a valued customer.”
“I’m sorry sir. I am unable to handle that problem and I do apologize about that. However, I would like to remind you that you are a valued customer and so I will transfer you to someone who can handle your call. Once again, thank you for calling AT&T. I’m sorry you are experiencing a problem but I would like to let you know you are a valued customer. Please wait while I transfer you.”
“Thank you for calling AT&T. My name is Maria. I’d first like to apologize about any problem you are having and let you know you are a valued customer.”
“Well Mr. Jones, I apologize about the problems you are experiencing. I would like to let you know you are a valued customer and I will do everything I can to correct this problem.”
“Once again, I am sorry about the problem you were experiencing Mr. Jones. I am glad we were able to fix it. I want to let you know you are a valued customer. Would you be interested in adding home phone service today?”
What you just read is similar to the conversation I had with AT&T yesterday, or at least their part of the conversation. This was the 4th time I’ve had to call AT&T in the last 4 months because they’ve billed me the wrong amount 4 months in a row.
By now, I feel like I know almost every facet of AT&T’s Customer Service. I know what music will be playing when I call. I know when the generated voice messages will interrupt the music and tell me to keep holding. I know the exact words the voice messages will say. I know that they don’t actually take the calls in the order they are received. And…
I know the script of the workers who are working Customer Service.
While I appreciate their attempts to be polite and respectful, after I’ve been told I’m a “valued customer” 8 times in 1 phone call, added on to the 8 times I heard it during the previous 3 calls, it starts to lose its effect. At one point, I came close to saying, “Chad, please lose the script and just talk to me like a real person!”
The 40 minutes of Customer Annoyance did make me wonder if people ever look at me and ask the same thing. Are there things in life that I do or say that make people want to scream, “David, please lose the script and just talk to me like a real person?”
We’re all playing a role in life. Unfortunately, for many of us, the role we’re playing is dominated by a mask we’re wearing and a script we’re reading from.
It’s tough to be real with people. It’s difficult to be transparent. It’s not easy to talk about the real things in life like our struggles or the things that are bothering us.
So, we stick to the script. It’s easier to play a role that protects us from being real.
[Photo source: http://bit.ly/jUA3AK]

