Caller got angry that I couldn’t verify his account using “you know, my usual details”
I used to work in a call centre and most calls were boring enough that you could forget them by lunch, but one guy still comes into my head sometimes because he seemed genuinely offended that I didn’t already know who he was.
He calls in and says he needs help with his account. I ask for his name. He gives me his first name only. I ask for the surname and he sighs like I’ve asked him to recite the terms and conditions from memory.
Then I ask for the first line of the address.
He says, “It’s the same one as always.”
I pause for a second because I’m trying to work out if I missed something. I tell him I still need him to confirm it. He says, “I ring you people all the time. It’s on the system.”
Yes. It is on the system. That is why I need you to say it.
We go back and forth like this for a bit. Date of birth? “You have it.” Postcode? “It hasn’t changed.” Email? “The normal one.” At one point he actually says, “Can’t you just look me up?”
Mate, I am trying. That is the entire activity we are currently doing together.
Eventually he gives me enough information to pass security, and then the issue turns out to be that he forgot his password. So I send the reset email.
He goes quiet and says, “Which email did you send it to?”
The normal one, obviously