One of the perks of working at Big Media Co. is free services. Free internet connection, free movies, free cable, free telephone. For someone making jack-shit-you-owe-us-a-dollar wages this is a mighty big benefit, not to mention that it helps with the porn sales:
“I understand that you didn’t mean to order Barnyard Bunnies: Taking Out the Trash eight times while your family was at church last Sunday, but have you ever considered a broadband connection? There is a lot of adult programming on the internet for free. I could have it installed for you within the week?”
I forget how important it is for people to have a solid internet connection, considering I don’t pay a penny for my own. And considering they usually pay upwards of forty dollars a month. And considering that our service hasn’t exactly been up to par lately. Rolling outages have been plaguing the area after the failure of a major piece of equipment several weeks ago. This infuriates users of Vonage and MMORPG enthusiasts.
A couple of weeks ago I got a call from one client, a man who seemed disproportionately angry at what was at that time a temporary issue. While he bitched and moaned and threatened to cut off his service I perused the notes on his account. Not only had he been given two months of credit for two weeks of outages, he had already called the office twelve times that day. Like a good customer service representative, I forwarded him to technical support mid-sentence.
His name is quickly becoming a metaphor for “pain in the ass” around the office. I get you’re pissed that your service isn’t working. Disconnect and move along.
During a slow period today, because I remember douchebags like this guy, I read his account notes again to see what he’d been up to. As usual, he’d been calling more than ten times a day, demanding managers and credit, completely flipping his shit about the internet service. Every time he called he threatened to disconnect and yet neglected to do so. Finally, I saw why.
Buried in his account notes was a small detail I had neglected to see before. Because he had been unable to use the internet at full download speeds, he couldn’t get the amount of gameplay needed to maintain his skill level as a Level 4 Mage in World of Warcraft. And although I am loathe to speculate on others’ lives or rely on the use of stereotype to discern a person’s life experiences, I suddenly realized why he has the time to call us over twenty times in on 24-hour period.
I read this to the boyfriend, and his response was not what I was aiming for.
“I haven’t played WoW that much, but I got to level four in like 20 minutes!”
Gah! That’s not the lesson you were supposed to take from the story!
Like a good customer service representative, I forwarded him to technical support mid-sentence.
Argh! I’ve worked at tech support for many a Big Media Corporation, and I hated it when that happened!
Kyso,
I have only dated MMPORG players but I had pretty much the same response as your boyfriend. Complaining about Level Four? I mean, you’re barely taking on tiny little bunny rabbits and spiders at that stage. They only have 10 hit points if they’re lucky!
[realises that I am sad and runs away}
I haven’t played WoW at all, but I was coming to the comments to say exactly that re: level four. I have the feeling I’m level four already despite never having played the game.
Dorks, all of you.