The Phone's Ringing

I've mentioned many times before how the majority of calls we receive at the photo lab are actually nothing to do with us and are actually calls from people looking for other departments. As our phone isn't actually part of the store network like it should be (because the socket doesn't work and never has done) we can't transfer calls to other phones, the best we can do is to give whoever it is the direct number for the department or person they want if there is one. If there isn't I'll give them the direct number for customer service and let them sort it out.

Our phone never used to be part of the automated options you hear when you phone the number printed on the till receipts but it apparently is now. While this means that people who actually want to reach the photo lab can do so more easily it has also led to an increase in the number of calls which have nothing to do with us. The majority of people who phone the store want either the customer service desk or the electrical sales and return desk and the majority will select the correct option and their call will be directed to the relevant place. However, both desks are usually quite busy, particularly during peak periods, so the phone might not always be answered quickly if it's answered at all.

That's fair enough as far as I am concerned, you deal with the customers you have in front of you before you deal with the phone. I know I would be slightly disgruntled if I were in a queue and the people serving kept taking time out to answer the phone so I don't expect anyone else to have to put up with that. There's also the issue that you can almost guarantee the call you answer hoping that it will just be a quick one turns out to be something complicated that takes a while to sort out, something that's not ideal when you have customers waiting and an ever growing queue to deal with. Thus it may take two or more attempts to get through. The situation is far from ideal and when we still had a dedicated reception and thus someone to deal with all incoming calls directly it wasn't an issue. However, having no reception any more saves money so it must be good right?

Anyway, that means that some people will phone and select the photo lab option for one of three reasons:

1. They've been trying to get through to customer services for a while and know that we're quite close to them.
2. They haven't tried to get through to customer services because they know it can take a while so knowing that we're quite close they select us instead.
3. We're one of the departments who answer their phone promptly almost every time it rings.

I know that most people have tried customer service before because when I tell them that I unable to tell them whether we have any of the red jackets in size 16 in stock and offer them the customer service number they tell me as much. I will help them if I can but unfortunately what this does mean is that when I have to refer them to customer service they will be less than happy. One customer even demanded the name of my manager because I couldn't tell them if we had a certain TV in stock. Well excuse me for not knowing about something on an entirely different floor to the one I work on and in a totally different department.

On a brighter note, it does mean that we get a pretty diverse range of calls. The following are some of the ones I've personally dealt with recently:

• A customer wanting to know the times of the free bus service to the store. No problem, I can read a timetable and although I don't really have time I'll read it to you.
• A customer wanting to know why the free bus service they were waiting for didn't arrive (not the same customer as above). Er... no idea, the local bus company run the service using their buses and their drivers so ask them. No I don't know their number.
• Numerous requests for stock information on items totally unrelated to the photo lab. Sorry, you're going to have to contact customer services. I'm sorry that you've tried twice already but they are very busy and as such I can't even get onto the system to have a look for you.
• A customer enquiry about photos on cakes. Okay, fair enough, there is no number for the bakery and it's sort of related. Unfortunately my knowledge stops at the fact that yes we do it and you need an actual print rather than a memory card or CD.
• A call for the opticians from one of their suppliers. They couldn't get through to the optical department so tried us hoping that we would be somewhere near them. We're not but have the number for the pharmacy, they're neighbours.

Then there are the times that the phone rings and I am not going to answer it, i.e. when we are closed. I refuse to answer the phone at this point as a matter of principle, especially as it's more than likely going to be a waste of my time. Not to mention the fact that the last time I did I ended up with some grumpy old woman who was very annoyed that she had left her pictures in her trolley, they hadn't been handed in, it was too late to reprint them for that night and the reprints would be chargeable. Apparently it wasn't her problem that the lab was now closed and she couldn't understand why she would have to pay for any reprints. To be fair, that was mostly down to her attitude, there were only a few pictures so had she been nicer I would have done them for free. I was extremely tempted to remind her that she was the one who had left the things in her trolley. They were of course handed in minutes after the call had ended so I had the pleasure of calling her back to tell her.

This post marks a change in the usual posting frequency. Winter is quite a quiet time for us so I'll only be posting once a week from here on in (every Saturday most likely) as it's becoming increasingly difficult to find something to write about, as you may have guessed! When the summer gets here I'll most likely go back to two a week.