I Hate the Phone

I hate the phone because when it rings, it usually means I will have to do something.

All day long I have to listen to the phone ring at work. If I am busy with a customer in the store, I let the phone ring because I refuse to answer it. It is better to provide service for the customer in the store, with money in hand, than the customer on the phone that may or may not ever set foot in the store. So, the phone is left ringing quite a bit.

Usually the phone call is a customer inquiring about Ticketmaster. I hate Ticketmaster. I can't answer Ticketmaster questions over the phone because we are a walk-in service Ticketmaster outlet only. (The reason is that we do not make any money unless tickets are purchased at the store and even at that we make very little. Phone customers are very time consuming and just because a seat is available now, doesn't mean there will be one by the time they come into the store. We are instructed to direct their calls to Ticketmaster.)

Here's how the majority of phone calls go on a daily basis:

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing....pick up;

Me: "Thank you for calling blah blah blah, how may I help you?"

Caller: "Are you Ticketmaster?"

Me: "We are a Ticketmaster Outlet, a walk-in service only."

Caller: "Ok. Well, do you have tickets for blah blah blah?"

Me: "We sell those tickets, yes. If you have specific Ticketmaster questions, I can give you the Ticketmaster number."

Caller: "Ok. Well, how much are the tickets?"

Me: "We are a walk-in service only. If you have specific questions about Ticketmaster, you can call them at 1-901-525-1515."

Caller: "Well, I just need to know how much money to bring."

Me: "We are a WALK-IN service only. I can not answer Ticketmaster questions over the phone."

Caller: "But you sell the tickets there don't you?"

Me: "yes, but I can not answer specific ticketmaster questions for phone customers. We are a walk-in service only."

Caller: "Oh, ok...well, do you know if there are still seats available?"

AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!

So, when I come home and the phone rings, the last thing I want to do is answer it!