How can we get this kid to stop calling at work?

Tell him to email the online tech support since the phones are going to be down for a bit, or have the umber blocked, or just ask him to stop calling.

Tell him to return the TV and purchase one from someone better able to help him.

Or as @XOIIO suggested, block his number.

If your supervisor tells you to keep taking his calls, when he calls tell him you will connect him to a supervisor, then let the supervisor deal with him.

We cant block his number, or so I’ve been told by our General Manager.

@WestRiverrat
In the last 6 months he has called about his Playstation 3, 3 different TVs and 2 different computers. I have a feeling he doesn’t have most of those things. He’ll just find another thing to call for. :(

Thanks though.

Ask for the serial number on the item and . . . put him on hold.

@Tropical_Willie We’ve tried similar ideas, like listening to his question then saying “one moment please” and parking him on some random extension. He just calls back a few min. later.

I might try asking manager to take the call, but I’m concerned that he’ll just call back or the manager will do the same thing we do like putting him on hold.

Tell him his TV was discontinued and no longer has available tech support and he has to now call another number and give him the White House phone number.

Try to VALIDATE the item with a serial number.

How about telling him that since phone support doesn’t seem to be working for the problem, he’ll have to bring the item into the store?

I must congratulate you on your patience. You sound like a considerate person

Could you maybe call the number back and talk to his parents to explain the situation?

When I worked in the bookstore and the library, we had several customers over the years exactly like this. Most of them were home bound. Unfortunately, as my grandmother’s dementia is getting worse, she’s becoming one of those people who compulsively calls people on the job. In fact, she got a cease and desist letter from the police a few years back because she called so much.

Try to remember when you talk to him that he most likely doesn’t actually want or need tech support. He’s lonely and most likely has terrible social skills. There’s a good chance he can’t get out of the house often and he calls for some enforced human interaction.

Be as kind as possible, with this fact in mind. When he calls, lay down some ground rules. Say that you can talk to him so long as he stays calm. If he gets angry, you will have to hang up on him. Then DO it. If he gets nasty, say, “I’m sorry, but I am hanging up now.” Do not argue in any way whatsoever. It gives him attention. If he calls up again right away, tell him that he is too angry to talk and that he should call back tomorrow. No anger, just say you’re hanging up and then do it.

If it gets REALLY bad, you can call the police. It sounds like overkill, but what they sometimes do in this situation is contact the caregivers or social worker of the person and basically say that their charge needs more looking after. Sometimes it’s a sign that they need to be in a facility that can take care of them and give them more attention. Sometimes they just need their medication adjusted. The police can get that started.

If you think the calls are totally bogus, that he’s calling about equipment that he doesn’t even own, then ask him for model numbers, serial numbers and other information that he won’t have. (Don’t be surprised if he calls with valid model numbers – and you’d better have a way to check ownership, or at least “sales record” via serial number, or he could call that bluff.)

I used to handle “annoyed customer tech support” calls for a ready-to-assemble furniture maker. (You know, like Ikea but without the cachet – we even subcontracted for Ikea.)

I would spend a fair amount of time with a willing and receptive customer, and I gave them one “outburst” per call. I’d interrupt and warn them after that outburst that I wasn’t there to counsel them or take abuse, and if they did it again I was going to hang up on them. I seldom had to hang up on them, as I used my “teacher voice” (you can probably hear it in your head any time you want to), and our customers were mostly sane and rational. (The few times I did have to hang up, the callers would either call back and start with an apology, or they wouldn’t call at all. In any case, it never ruffled my feathers, and I simply put the phone into the cradle gently and with no ‘attitude’ – the stress never got to me.)

You’re going to have to give him “teacher voice” and a short leash, and probably hang up on him frequently, then tell him “no more calls for you today”, or refer him to a Social Services number.

I think you’re right, that he mostly just wants someone to talk to. Poor kid.

You should talk to the manager again and have her come up with a formal written list of acceptable (to the company, and legally) ways in which she would like you to respond to this type of caller. Put the responsibility in her lap. Companies should already have formal policies in place for how to deal with these kinds of situations.

If she refuses to do that. Try to talk to her supervisor. If everybody keeps passing the buck, then simply ask them if it’s OK for you to simply hang up on the person, and ask if it’s OK for your tech people to put a block on the person’s phone number.

Most places, like the place where you work, record your conversations, so make sure that there is some type of written policy in place that points out exactly what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do. Ask your HR representative about this. Let them know that you are trying to do your best for the customer and the company, but you do not want to get a bad review if you do something wrong. And for you to be able to avoid this, you need to know exactly what they consider to be wrong.

If the managers don’t have some sort of written policy, ask them if it would be ok for you and the other employees to write down some suggestions or ideas and then have the supervisor say yes or no to them, and have the supervisor sign off on the list. Make copies of the signed off list for everyone.

Suggestions are:

1. Put the caller on permanent hold.
2. Hang up on the caller.
3. Let the caller know that you cannot continue to take his calls (then get tech support to block his number)
4. Let the caller talk as long as he wants to, while you ignore other incoming calls.
5. Transfer the caller to someone else (and have a designated person to whom that call gets transferred)
6. Tell the caller that he needs to use the online tech support website instead (if you have one) and then hang up.
7. Ask your tech support person to set up caller ID, so that you can avoid answering this particular person’s calls in the first place.
8. Take down the person’s name and have the superisor or someone higher up in the company call the person back and try to find a responsible adult at home, other than the original caller to try to solve the problem.
9. Tell the caller that you’ve got a bad connection and then hang up on him. Let him call as many times as it takes.

Sometimes the supervisors don’t know what to do, because they aren’t dealing with the situation themselves. So if you put together your own list, then it might be helpful for the company to come up with some written policies. A company that does not have written policies is setting themselves up for problems. And you could end up getting yourself in trouble if you break some unknown, unwritten policy. Be polite and helpful towards the supervisor and let them know that you want to help solve this problem in the best way for all parties. If you do the leg work and let the supervisor take credit, then you will have done a good deed for the day.