How Rude!
I'm not sure when it happened, but I think good phone manners have gone by the wayside. At least, that is the way it seems to me when I answer the phone and make calls from the library. In the past week, especially, I have encountered an abundance of rudeness over the phone. Lately, I have felt like saying "How rude!" to some of the patrons I have talked with on the phone. Stephanie Tanner from the old TV show, "Full House" comes to mind.
Recently, one patron requested over thirty books through our inter-library loan system. Although some would consider that a large number of books to request, I really had no problem with it. Requesting books from other libraries is one of the services that we offer. It is just part of our job.
I would like to explain something though. We belong to a network consortium of libraries called the SEO (Serving Every Ohioan) Library Center. The consortium is made up of "75 library systems at 166 physical locations throughout 37 counties across Ohio." When we request a book, it may come from any one of those other locations.
How long it takes to get a request filled depends on several factors. It depends on how many libraries own the book, where it is currently checked in and available on the shelf and/or when it is going to be returned by whatever patron currently has it out, the time it takes to find and fill that request at whatever participating library it is coming from, and the time it takes to get the book to our library depending on the distance it has to travel to get here. If someone requests thirty books, it is almost certainly guaranteed that those books will not all arrive at our library on the same day at the same time. They will probably come from several different libraries and will not all be available at the same time.
With all of that in mind, let me continue my story. When a requested book arrives at our library, there are three possible ways for a patron to find out about it. They may receive an automated email message, a phone call from me or one of my coworkers, or they can just go online and check their library account themselves using the bar code on their library card to see if their request has arrived. It is up to the patron how they want us to notify them, and they choose the type of notification when they apply to get a library card with us.
Now, back to the patron who requested over thirty books. Four or five of the books she requested arrived at the library. One of my coworkers called her to let her know. She came and checked those books out. So far so good. The next day a few more of her requested books came, she was called, and she picked up the books. On the third day, several more of her requested books arrived. I called her on the phone to let her know they were now available at the library for her. She was angry at me for calling her and said this to me, "I was just there the last two days in a row. I can't just drop everything I'm doing and run to the library every time a book comes in just because you call me about it."
I wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. These are books that she requested we get for her. The books have come in, and I am calling to tell her they have arrived. And she's angry at me for calling her? She doesn't want to have to be bothered with coming to the library to pick up the books that she requested? Well, that is interesting.
If she didn't want to have to come and pick up the books, then why did she order them? Perhaps she would like it if I just jump in my car and run them right out to her house for her. While I'm there, why don't I just make her a nice cup of tea and some biscuits with strawberry jelly on them. I could plump up her pillows for her, and pull myself up a chair and read the books to her too, since I've made the trip. I might as well, right? I've got nothing better to do with my time, after all. (Heavy sarcasm here--we are very busy at our library. There is always something demanding our time!)
I didn't say these things to her, but I was definitely thinking them. Instead, I said as politely as I was able, "We will hold the books for you for up to nine days to give you time to come in and pick them up. After that, they will be returned to the lending library."
"I'll be in TODAY!" she snarled back at me.
"OK, that will be fine. Thank you," I said to her, but she didn't hear me because she had already hung up the phone.
We also have what seems to me to be a large number of hangups. People call us. We answer. They hang up. They don't apologize and say they have the wrong number. They don't say anything at all. They wait for us to answer, and then they hang up on us. On just one day of last week, I had five hangups and my coworker had three.
Here's another phone problem we often encounter. We call and say we are from the library and we are calling for say, Joe Smith, for example. The person on the other end will say, "OK."
I don't know what that means. Does "OK" mean that I am now talking to Joe Smith? Or does it mean, "Hang on a minute while I go get Joe Smith"? Or does it mean, "Joe is not home, but I'll be happy to take a message for him."?
Even when we get an answering machine, we sometimes find rudeness at the end of the phone line. There is one patron that I call regularly. The message on her machine says in a rather angry voice, just the words, "Leave a message." That's all, just those three words in a very curt tone. There's not even a "please" or "thank you" to go with it.
We also get the calls from patrons who have lost a book or have books out way overdue who are upset about having their account turned over to the collection agency. The collection agency charges us ten dollars to take over that account, and we pass that cost on to the delinquent patron. Not surprisingly, the delinquent patron gets upset about this. We lose thousands of dollars worth of books, videos, compact discs, and other materials every year because of irresponsible patrons. This is what makes it necessary to use the collection agency. We frequently must take the brunt of the patrons' anger about this matter over the phone.
If they become too abusive, we refer them to a supervisor if there is one available. If there is not a supervisor available, we give the caller the name of our department head and a time to call back. Then we cut it short and simply hang up. Arguing with them is pointless and is a waste of our time.
Other patrons call to renew the books or other materials they have checked out. Once again, I have no problem with this. Renewing the checkout time is just another one of the services we offer. What is a problem is that patrons often do not have their library card available to them when they call us to make these renewals. We are required to have the bar code numbers off of the card in order to renew books on the computer. Some people get irate when we tell them they must give us those numbers.
There are also those who talk much too loudly into the phone, and those who talk too softly. Some mumble, some swear at us, and some don't have the information they need in hand when they call us. For example, they may give us an incomplete or incorrect book title that they are searching for when they call to ask us if we have it available. They then get angry with us if we are unable to locate it on our computers. We have several ways of searching, and we do the best we can, but we aren't always successful.
Some people call in and there is so much background noise from the television or loud music blaring or dogs barking or kids screaming from wherever they are calling that we can't understand a word they are saying to us. Others call in on cell phones with bad signals. Then they become upset when we say we can't hear them.
I could go on with quite a few more examples, but I think you get the idea. Good phone etiquette is a part of effective communication. I wish more people would learn it and practice it. If an occasion arises when you find yourself on the phone with your local librarian, do me a favor, and please be polite. If their phone experiences are anything like the ones I have dealt with lately, they will be more than happy to talk to someone who is courteous and pleasant. It might even make their day to talk to someone with good manners.
I haven't offered up a good rant here in quite a while, so I guess I was overdue. I'll try to get back to dancing and being grateful with the next post. Thank you for listening and allowing me to vent.
Recently, one patron requested over thirty books through our inter-library loan system. Although some would consider that a large number of books to request, I really had no problem with it. Requesting books from other libraries is one of the services that we offer. It is just part of our job.
I would like to explain something though. We belong to a network consortium of libraries called the SEO (Serving Every Ohioan) Library Center. The consortium is made up of "75 library systems at 166 physical locations throughout 37 counties across Ohio." When we request a book, it may come from any one of those other locations.
How long it takes to get a request filled depends on several factors. It depends on how many libraries own the book, where it is currently checked in and available on the shelf and/or when it is going to be returned by whatever patron currently has it out, the time it takes to find and fill that request at whatever participating library it is coming from, and the time it takes to get the book to our library depending on the distance it has to travel to get here. If someone requests thirty books, it is almost certainly guaranteed that those books will not all arrive at our library on the same day at the same time. They will probably come from several different libraries and will not all be available at the same time.
With all of that in mind, let me continue my story. When a requested book arrives at our library, there are three possible ways for a patron to find out about it. They may receive an automated email message, a phone call from me or one of my coworkers, or they can just go online and check their library account themselves using the bar code on their library card to see if their request has arrived. It is up to the patron how they want us to notify them, and they choose the type of notification when they apply to get a library card with us.
Now, back to the patron who requested over thirty books. Four or five of the books she requested arrived at the library. One of my coworkers called her to let her know. She came and checked those books out. So far so good. The next day a few more of her requested books came, she was called, and she picked up the books. On the third day, several more of her requested books arrived. I called her on the phone to let her know they were now available at the library for her. She was angry at me for calling her and said this to me, "I was just there the last two days in a row. I can't just drop everything I'm doing and run to the library every time a book comes in just because you call me about it."
I wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. These are books that she requested we get for her. The books have come in, and I am calling to tell her they have arrived. And she's angry at me for calling her? She doesn't want to have to be bothered with coming to the library to pick up the books that she requested? Well, that is interesting.
If she didn't want to have to come and pick up the books, then why did she order them? Perhaps she would like it if I just jump in my car and run them right out to her house for her. While I'm there, why don't I just make her a nice cup of tea and some biscuits with strawberry jelly on them. I could plump up her pillows for her, and pull myself up a chair and read the books to her too, since I've made the trip. I might as well, right? I've got nothing better to do with my time, after all. (Heavy sarcasm here--we are very busy at our library. There is always something demanding our time!)
I didn't say these things to her, but I was definitely thinking them. Instead, I said as politely as I was able, "We will hold the books for you for up to nine days to give you time to come in and pick them up. After that, they will be returned to the lending library."
"I'll be in TODAY!" she snarled back at me.
"OK, that will be fine. Thank you," I said to her, but she didn't hear me because she had already hung up the phone.
We also have what seems to me to be a large number of hangups. People call us. We answer. They hang up. They don't apologize and say they have the wrong number. They don't say anything at all. They wait for us to answer, and then they hang up on us. On just one day of last week, I had five hangups and my coworker had three.
Here's another phone problem we often encounter. We call and say we are from the library and we are calling for say, Joe Smith, for example. The person on the other end will say, "OK."
I don't know what that means. Does "OK" mean that I am now talking to Joe Smith? Or does it mean, "Hang on a minute while I go get Joe Smith"? Or does it mean, "Joe is not home, but I'll be happy to take a message for him."?
Even when we get an answering machine, we sometimes find rudeness at the end of the phone line. There is one patron that I call regularly. The message on her machine says in a rather angry voice, just the words, "Leave a message." That's all, just those three words in a very curt tone. There's not even a "please" or "thank you" to go with it.
We also get the calls from patrons who have lost a book or have books out way overdue who are upset about having their account turned over to the collection agency. The collection agency charges us ten dollars to take over that account, and we pass that cost on to the delinquent patron. Not surprisingly, the delinquent patron gets upset about this. We lose thousands of dollars worth of books, videos, compact discs, and other materials every year because of irresponsible patrons. This is what makes it necessary to use the collection agency. We frequently must take the brunt of the patrons' anger about this matter over the phone.
If they become too abusive, we refer them to a supervisor if there is one available. If there is not a supervisor available, we give the caller the name of our department head and a time to call back. Then we cut it short and simply hang up. Arguing with them is pointless and is a waste of our time.
Other patrons call to renew the books or other materials they have checked out. Once again, I have no problem with this. Renewing the checkout time is just another one of the services we offer. What is a problem is that patrons often do not have their library card available to them when they call us to make these renewals. We are required to have the bar code numbers off of the card in order to renew books on the computer. Some people get irate when we tell them they must give us those numbers.
There are also those who talk much too loudly into the phone, and those who talk too softly. Some mumble, some swear at us, and some don't have the information they need in hand when they call us. For example, they may give us an incomplete or incorrect book title that they are searching for when they call to ask us if we have it available. They then get angry with us if we are unable to locate it on our computers. We have several ways of searching, and we do the best we can, but we aren't always successful.
Some people call in and there is so much background noise from the television or loud music blaring or dogs barking or kids screaming from wherever they are calling that we can't understand a word they are saying to us. Others call in on cell phones with bad signals. Then they become upset when we say we can't hear them.
I could go on with quite a few more examples, but I think you get the idea. Good phone etiquette is a part of effective communication. I wish more people would learn it and practice it. If an occasion arises when you find yourself on the phone with your local librarian, do me a favor, and please be polite. If their phone experiences are anything like the ones I have dealt with lately, they will be more than happy to talk to someone who is courteous and pleasant. It might even make their day to talk to someone with good manners.
I haven't offered up a good rant here in quite a while, so I guess I was overdue. I'll try to get back to dancing and being grateful with the next post. Thank you for listening and allowing me to vent.
