It Pays To Be Pleasant

How many times have you had to do the dreaded task of calling some company’s customer service department? For me, it’s too often been such a hateful experience that I avoid it at all costs. However, recently I found that I had to contact customer service, and of all places it had to be no other then Amazon! You know… the world’s largest online retailer! You have no idea how much dread filled my being, but I had a total of 5, yes five, orders that were for some unknown reason stuck in the abyss and I had to find out what was going on.

Well I Googled the phone number for Amazon Customer Service, which to my surprise was pretty simple to find. I called and a man answered, “Hello Amazon Customer Service my name is Kundan, How can I help you?” Throughout the entire phone call, despite my frustration, I was pleasant. Guess what? It quite literally pays to be pleasant and allow me to tell you why.

Firstly, it isn't Kundan’s fault that my orders were MIA. This poor CSR simply answers the phone and attempts to convey information to customers. So, getting angry at him seems a little silly. Plus, the phone call is apt to go a lot smoother if you are pleasant and your blood pressure will probably not escalate. When Kundan saw that I had 5 orders that were missing, he actually commented on my pleasantness. He himself admitted that had it been him, he would have been upset… very upset.

He proceeded to track done each order one by one. And because I was pleasant and calm, he issued me a $20 credit! Yep. I got paid $20 for a 20 minute phone call and all simply because I was polite and calm! Think about that the next time that you want to scream at the CSR who actuality isn't even responsible for your problem, but may indeed be the person who can solve it.

Not only did I receive a credit, one of my packages that wasn’t due to be delivered for 3 days (and I have Prime) arrived that afternoon! It pays to be pleasant --- because the world already had too much unpleasantness going on and kindness costs nothing.