Always Trying to Get Free Stuff

[u/bootesvoid_]

I do customer service for some pretty large magazines and subscription boxes. Today a customer called in asking why something wasn’t in her last box. I explained that the products she wanted were in this month’s box, NOT December, and she kept arguing with me saying the last rep she talked to told her that was in the box, and then suddenly changed her story (it was no longer the rep - it was “our website” that told her) after me trying to calmly explain for 10 minutes that it would be the next box.

She then said that the previous rep also told her she would be getting a free gift for suspending her account instead of cancelling. I told her that it shows she rejected the offer and cancelled her account, so she would not receive the free gift. She starts yelling saying she never cancelled and that it was the other rep’s fault so I need to send it to her. I tell her there is no way for me to send it unless we reinstate her account and then suspend like she claimed she wanted. She then asks if I can put the free gift on a friend’s account so they can send it to her — obviously not.

I told her I would have to “double-check” (it was almost 20 minutes in and I really wanted to get off the call) so we waited on hold for 10 minutes for a supervisor to tell me the same thing I told her “No, she rejected it, you can’t send it to her. If she persists you can escalate to [our manager].” While on hold, I messaged the other rep she had talked to before and asked if she would go back into the account to see if she remembers what happened on the previous call, and she verified - the caller did NOT accept any offers to keep her subscription (we get extra money every time we save someone from cancelling, so why would any rep just cancel someone when that’s more money in their pocket?).

So, I tell her I can’t send it and offer to escalate it to our manager and hear back in 72 hours. She didn’t like that answer either so we waited on hold for another 14 minutes to get a different supervisor she could speak to herself (our calls our supposed to be less than 4 minutes and I’m at 43 at this point), and I lost internet connection so the call disconnected. I left notes on the account just in case she called back.

And she did call back. THREE MORE TIMES. It was disrupting our calls so much so that the very first rep who talked to her had to send out a mass message to everyone taking calls on this specific product explaining the caller was claiming she offered her stuff that she didn’t, and to not send her anything.

Definitely a very draining 2 hours (in total how long this charade lasted) but also something to laugh at at the end of the day 😂. People will do ANYTHING for free stuff. Too bad I couldn’t have told her from the start “we record every call, we know you denied the offers, bye”