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Rufus fights back

Battling tech support hero's right to reply

Our recent piece on battling tech support operative Rufus, who called one customer a "pain in the butt", provoked a heated debate as to whether he should be put up against the wall and shot or appointed head of the United Nations.

Well, Rufus himself was eventually moved to offer his two bits' worth, which we reproduce here in full:

Howdy~

Or should I say, “Top of the morning to ya”

It has been 2 days since Mr. Haines first posted. I figured, after some 80 comments, why not put in my 2 cents’ worth? That is if anyone would read the comments this far down the list. But I guess people will find this amusing if they ever read it, since, many here might like to hear my last words before burning me at the stake. By the way, thanks to those who had just so much spare time to…umm… spare. Your emails are delightful. Let me just share a few except:

Tom Anderson wrote:

“You're a bunch of real rocket scientists. You obviously outsource your tech support. And your tech support is telling your customers to quit buying your products. Fuckin' Genius.”

William Wallace wrote:

“Rufus, What planet are you from?

Are you the owners 12 year old son?

What kind of support do you offer?”

Richard wrote

“Any chance you can get Rufus to talk dirty to me like he did to that other guy?”

Giles Wrote:

”Can I have your autograph you famous little rude tech support guy!?!?”

Rufus Fan club wrote:

“Rufus you are the man! We bow down to you Rufus - we are not worthy. Keep up the good work!”

(btw, nice dog, I don’t think I look that good)

Michael Fremlins wrote:

“Rufus is my hero!”

Yes, I am the original Rufus of Gadspot. WITH THAT SAID, regrettably, I did not write those original emails. So I guess, for everyone’s concern, ultimately I am not the real Rufus. YET IN THE END, if no one admits, I am probably going to get sacked anyway. So……yeah…. that’s very nice.

But regardless, a point needs to be made if there is going to be a human sacrifice. Please listen carefully. This whole episode had shown how the consumers can abuse their situational power; and the poor customer service/tech support reps, required to be “professional”, have no voice.

When someone thinks they are getting a bad service, they can make a complaint; they can bitch about it, they can get any poor bastard in trouble. How about us? Everyone talks about poor service, but who talks about the abuse and stupidity that we have to face everyday?

You guys have no idea how many times we get a phone call and the customer says, “I just got the package in the mail today, now what?” Umm… I don’t know… go fuck a goat? Or someone says, “I don’t know anything about networking, I just bought your camera, can you teach me how to set it up?” Sure…. But after half an hour of step by step help, they say, “this is just too much work, I need to return this.” That’s fine, but no, that’s not enough, they want you to waive the restocking fee, or have the company pay for the return shipping, because apparently, the product is defective if it is not plug and play. And when you tell them you can’t waive it due to company’s policy, all hell breaks loose.

Here’s the best, a customer calls for tech support and they start arguing with you. “I know for a fact that what you are telling me is incorrect.” Who is calling who for tech support? Now, I admit I don’t know everything, but there are certain information I just know from the experience of working with the products. I’ll even look it up on the computer so that I can maintain my confidence. But for the sake of “professionalism”, the “right” way is to agree with the customer and find ways to slowly convince him/her otherwise. While all at the same time we have to make sure 1 customer would not occupy too much of our time, because if one person takes up so much time, the other did not get the appropriate help.

Before I go any further, let me just say, I am not a master of the English language, not by a long stretch, but those original emails do look like a work from a kid (which gave me a clue). But don’t let this distract you from the real point, which is: Why can’t customer service/ tech support reps get pissed off some times? When we start this job, do we forfeit our rights to be human? Why? Because we get paid? So since the customer didn’t get paid, they don’t need to treat us with the dignity that we deserve?

I might not be a happy camper, but think of those who work at a call center located oversea (India, china, etc.). Not only they get the regular abuse, they probably get it super sized, just because they have an accent. Some customers probably just shut down immediately and stop listening when they hear an accent. How unfair.

For all the abuses we took, are taking and will take; there ought to be a place for us to get some support, a place for us to be unprofessional. Perhaps post the emails of those who think we are just service animals. Maybe such a place exists, but if it does, I don’t know about it. So I decided to create a forum:

http://poorrufus.proboards56.com/

it’s a free site, so I don’t know how limited this is, but it’s a start.

We know what you're thinking - if Rufus didn't write the offending emails, who did? We emailed him asking for clarification, but haven't as yet heard back.

No matter. While many of you were horrified by the bloke's attitude, others have declared him a tech support martyr. For proof of just how the Friends of Rufus are mobilising to defend their leader, look no further than our delicious FoTW. ®

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