Why I Am Mean To Customer Service Reps

I'm not always. If I actually want or need to get useful work out of them, I'm pleasant with them -- like any animal, if you abuse it, it just gets stubborn and refuses to work.

But when a large company has repeatedly failed its obligations and I want nothing more than vengeance on them, I'll berate the customer service reps ruthlessly.

The common line I hear from people is that it's not fair to take out your frustrations on the reps. They're usually doing their best and aren't personally responsible for causing your problem.

Well. Duh. The company designs it that way. More than half the point of customer service centers is to keep you, the customer, from bothering two classes of people: A) The technicians who know what they're doing and are busy doing it. B) The management people who actually make the rules and set the policies that are often the cause of your dissatisfaction.

They are hidden behind an impenetrable wall of hapless cannon fodder with limited technical skills and absolutely no authority at all. They're generally adequate for handling very simple problems, but as soon as you start to get off script, they freeze up like a dodo bird confronted with its first house cat.

You will never, ever be connected with someone with advanced expertise or advanced authority: the people responsible for fixing or causing your problem.

At some point you get so deep in customer service hell -- you've been disconnected, rerouted, forwarded, put on hold for so long you've memorized the catchy guitar riff in the hold music -- you stop caring about a solution. You just want revenge.

The rep is your only target. The rep has made the poor life choice of taking employment with Satan, Inc. Your only satisfaction is to make them regret that choice. It doesn't matter how conscientious, nice and hardworking they are, how hard they're trying to solve your problem. In fact, it's better for revenge purposes if they're very good, conscientious, hard-working employees. That's the kind of person you want to encourage to decide "Man, this sucks. There's got to be a better way to make a living than getting shouted at by angry douchebags over the phone." Every time you make a customer service rep consider polishing up his or her resume' you've scored a victory against Satan, Inc. It may be a small victory, and you may have made the customer service rep.'s day a little worse, but you're doing them a favor in the long run. There is a better way to make a living than shilling for Satan, Inc.