606 0842 (And we're waiting for you!)

[cyrano]

A question for those whose work involves answering the phone "Thank you for calling Megacorp X, this is My Name." Do you get a pleasant sensation* when a stranger closes the call by saying "Thank you, My Name"? Or does it make you a little creeped out that a stranger knows your name?

*There's supposed to be a psychological theorum that hearing your own name is pleasant, barring context like your mother shouting it across the neighborhood. And then there's the other theorum that this means the person is thinking of you as a human being with a name rather than an automated information machine on the other side of the phone.

You may consider this IFIAYAQD!

Comments

[roisnoir.livejournal.com]

I find it entirely creepy when someone I don't know uses my name to do other than greet me. Once. (Especially if they're using my full name. The only time anyone calls me Jennifer is when I'm in trouble.)

I'm ok with the occasional "Ms. [My last name here]", though.

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

Neither.
I do, however, try to subvert the company's intention of giving the customer a concrete target to shoot at by making the poor unsuspecting customer my close friend without their consent.

"Hi, this Scott at MegaCorp. How's your Thursday going so far?"
"Uhm, fine, thanks." *small pause* "Uhm. How are you?"
"This is the best Thursday I've had all week. I'm very pleased. So, I see by the notes that your computer is on fire, your spouse has left you, and you're suffering from chronic not-so-fresh feelings. Tell me a little more about that, and we'll see what we can do to improve things."

By and large, my supervisor tries not to hear me; my results are good, and I can generally tame even the most bestial of customers.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

would it be too creepy if I told you that I think you're my hero? :D

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

It would not be too creepy. I insist that you tell me no more often than once per hour.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

It's been more than an hour, so I suppose I may say it again...you're my hero. ;)

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

Now that's customer service. You're hired.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

Woot!

Do I get decent pay? Benefits?

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

Double what I'm giving you now, and all the crayons you can eat.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

Sounds good, but what about a retirement plan?

[mnarra.livejournal.com]

After you've put in your twenty years, you will be presented with a 55 gallon drum of Phenolphthalein ... to help you deal with all those crayons you'll have eaten by then.

Gotta be binding. Especially the green ones.

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

Oooh, this employment will truly take care of me, won't it. I'm in!

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

If they immediately respond with my name ("Oh, hi My Name, I'm looking for a manager please?" or some such), it's mildly pleasant. If they remember my name long enough to say it at the end of the conversation, it makes me mildly uncomfortable.

Probably has to do with the fact that I'm awful awful AWFUL with names and only remember people's names if I say it immediately after I'm told what it is, or if I'm somehow caught off guard* by them for some reason (i.e. crushing on them, they have a very intriguing appearance, they make me a little edgy, etc). And of course, we all have a natural tendancy to think others are like us, so whenever someone remembers my name, it makes me wonder what about me stands out enough to remember my name a full minute or five after I said it...

That being said, it doesn't creep me out, it usually just makes me self conscious.



*not the best phrase I could use, but I can't brainstorm the words I actually mean

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

Stuart frequently does that sort of things with wait staff. I always thought it was a bit obsequious, but half the time it was him flirting.

[amanda_lodden.livejournal.com]

Mostly, I find it creepy. Then again, there are only two scenarios in which this has ever played out for me:

1) "Thank you for calling XYZ Corp, this is Amanda, how can I help you?"
"Hello Amanda, [long drawn out conversation in which someone I have never spoken to before tries to convince me that they are my friend and then tries to sell me something]" -- in which case, I'd far prefer they got on with it and stopped wasting *quite* as much of my time. I have been known to indulge sales reps, but never will I do so if they've spent 10 minutes trying to schmooze me. If they get straight to the point, then they can have 5 minutes to tell me why I should want what they're selling it.

2) "Thank you for calling XYZ Corp, this is Amanda, how can I help you?"
"Amanda! Just the person who can help me! [Explanation of what they did *this* time that I'm supposed to fix, or rant about why they're pissed about how someone else handled their Big Important (to them and no one else) Problem, or schmooze about why they ought to be allowed to do something on our network that they know damned well we don't allow them to do on our network.]" True story: after I had my fit and quit, John hired a part-time student to answer the phones in the morning. Her name happens to be Amanda as well. Only she can't answer our phones as "Amanda" because she gets jumped on with all the stuff people want to unload on me. She worked for us for less than a day before she started identifying herself as "AJ" (her initials, which she does NOT normally use as a nickname) when answering the phones. This alone, I think, adequately explains why I quit.

Many moons ago, John worked for a company called MichTel, and while talking to their receptionist one day she complained about how many people and called her "Michelle" (her name is Jennifer) even though they knew the name of the company they were calling...

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I normally hate it. Every now and then you get someone who can do it casually, but for the most part it's too overtly intentional and manipulative for me, and it makes me angry.

That said, I work with a lot of sales people. So I'm getting intensely oversensitive to the manipulative little tricks they pull.

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

I didn't do the phone thing, but having worked two different jobs serving food where I had to wear a nametag, people I didn't know addressing me by my first name was creepy and weird, and I never got used to it. (Hey customer: I just met you! We are so not on a first name basis!)

That said, it never bothered me when they remembered my name and put it on the comment card and told my manager what a fantastic job I'd done. (Trufax: I never once had a bad comment card in the 15 months I worked there. The customers who didn't like me either didn't fill them out or forgot my name.)

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

That bothered me too, when I had to wear a nametag...the phone thing never creeped me out much because I would say my name, and they just recalled what I said...the nametag thing caught me off guard the (few) times customers used my name, and it really rather bothered me.

[schquee.livejournal.com]

I find it creepy that customer service reps for the companies I'm a client of or creditors all know my full name and lots of other personal identity information about me, but will only tell me their first names.