Microsoft Support's Protocol for Customers Demanding to Speak with Bill Gates
By
magnat
Pale and squishy. Not ruined, just not done.
Summary
The article describes a humorous anecdote from Microsoft's product support department about how they handled irate customers who demanded to speak with Bill Gates. When customers insisted on speaking to the CEO, support technicians would transfer them to a special internal phone number that connected to the company's main switchboard, where operators would politely inform callers that Mr. Gates was unavailable. The story illustrates a clever customer service tactic used to manage unreasonable demands while maintaining professionalism.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledA colleague of mine who used to work in product support told me that they had a procedure if a customer became irate and demanded to speak with Bill Gates.
The product support technician would apologize for not resolving the problem to the customer's satisfaction, but if the customer continued to demand to speak with The Boss, the technician would indeed transfer the customer.
The customer was transferred to a special internal phone number, and when the operators saw a call on that line, they knew exactly what to do.
The operator would politely inform the caller that Mr. Gates was unavailable, but they would be happy to take a message.
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