As anyone who works or has worked in a customer service environment knows, evey irate customer in the universe thinks that speaking to a supervisor is the magic bullet that will get them whatever they want (which is unfortunately true in some cases). Don't get me wrong, there are times when the customer is right to complain. It is a rare occasion, but it can happen. For the most part though, the ones that complain are just assholes.
As I've mentioned previously, the company that I work for charges for phone support in certain cases. There is a period of complimentary support from the time the product is purchased, but after that, it's gonna cost you. Now, they have the option of paying per-incident (expensive if you have to call a lot), or buying a longer-term support contract (much cheaper if you have to call a lot).
This is actually leading somewhere, so bare with me. When a customer calls for help, we first need to verify their eligibility for phone support. Sometimes that information is already available to us. If not, we need to capture the serial number of their product. If they can't provide that serial number, we politely advise them to call back when they have it. Needless to say, they don't always take it well.
I found myself in such a situation earlier today. No serial number. Go ahead and call us back when you have it. And the inevitable... "Let me talk to your supervisor." No, my supervisor can't help you either without that serial number. And so on. It didn't occur to me until after the call ended, but I should have asked to speak with his supervisor.
Now, before you accuse me of being some sort of Tech Support Nazi ("No support for you!") who follows strict procedures and denies support at every opportunity, let me assure you that this is not the case. If a customer is polite and cooperative, I'll usually be willing to bend the rules a bit to help them out. But if they whine and complain and act like a total bastard, I don't cut them any slack. Sorry. Gotta follow the rules. Better luck next time.
Anyway, the point to all this is that you can't get everything you want, etc, etc. So don't be one of those people that asks for a supervisor every time something doesn't go your way. The only thing you accomplish is to make yourself look like a jackass (which you probably are).
