The Customer Is Talking: Service Scenarios

A customer rings, furious: the parcel is three days late. What do you do first?

• Interrupt and quote the policy
• Let them finish and acknowledge it
• Tell them to lower their voice
• Transfer them straight away

Answer: Let them finish and acknowledge it. An angry caller calms down once they feel heard. The fix lands better after that.

A customer asks about a refund rule you've never heard of. Best reply?

• "That's not my department."
• "Please check our website."
• Guess an answer to seem helpful
• "Let me check and call you back by 4 pm."

Answer: "Let me check and call you back by 4 pm.". Honesty plus a specific follow-up beats a wrong guess or a brush-off.

The caller's problem is sorted before they hang up, no callback needed. Which metric just got a tick?

• Service level
• Abandonment rate
• Average handle time
• First contact resolution

Answer: First contact resolution. FCR tracks issues solved in one go. Every repeat call it saves is one less irritated customer.

A hotel botches a booking, then fixes it so well the guest ends up more loyal than before. What is this effect called: the service recovery…?

• Paradox
• Principle
• Ladder
• Loop

Answer: Paradox. The service recovery paradox: a brilliant fix can earn more trust than a smooth ride. It is not a reason to fail on purpose.

Survey results: 50% scored you 9 or 10, 30% gave 7 or 8, 20% gave 0 to 6. What's your Net Promoter Score?

• 30
• 50
• 20
• 70

Answer: 30. NPS is % Promoters (9 to 10) minus % Detractors (0 to 6). 50 minus 20 is 30; the 7s and 8s don't count.

You typed the wrong address on a customer's order and it went astray. Best way to handle it?

• Blame the system
• Own it, apologise and explain the fix
• Offer a discount and say nothing more
• Stay quiet unless they notice

Answer: Own it, apologise and explain the fix. Own it fast, say sorry once, then say exactly what happens next. Blame and silence both cost trust.

Post-chat survey: "How easy was it to get your issue sorted?" Which metric is that?

• CSAT
• Average handle time
• Net Promoter Score
• Customer Effort Score (CES)

Answer: Customer Effort Score (CES). Customer Effort Score. Low-effort service turns out to be a strong predictor of loyalty.

Talk time, hold time and after-call notes, averaged per contact. Id the metric.

• Average hold time
• Average speed of answer
• Agent utilisation
• Average handle time

Answer: Average handle time. Average handle time: everything one contact costs, from hello to the last note typed.

While a customer is still explaining their problem, what does active listening mean?

• Lining up your reply in your head
• Typing notes on another ticket
• Full attention, then summing up what you heard
• Nodding until there's a gap to jump in

Answer: Full attention, then summing up what you heard. Listen without planning your answer, then play back the key points. Customers can tell when you've stopped listening.

Disney's HEARD method for handling complaints runs Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Resolve and which final step?

• Deliver
• Document
• Diagnose
• Depart

Answer: Diagnose. Diagnose comes once the guest is happy: work out why it went wrong, without blame, so it doesn't happen again.

"I've explained this three times already!" says a customer who has been passed between teams. What is the best response?

• Apologise, sum up what you already know, and take it from there
• Ask them to explain it once more from the start
• Transfer them to another team
• Tell them the system lost their notes

Answer: Apologise, sum up what you already know, and take it from there. Making people repeat themselves is one of the biggest frustrations in service. Showing you already have the story rebuilds trust fast.

A customer wants a refund bigger than you are allowed to approve. What is the best move?

• Refuse and close the chat
• Approve it anyway to keep them happy
• Bring in someone who can approve it, and stay with the case
• Tell them to email the CEO

Answer: Bring in someone who can approve it, and stay with the case. Escalate properly, explain what happens next and by when, and keep the customer updated rather than handing them off.

A request can't be done until Monday. Which reply uses positive language?

• "I can't do that until Monday."
• "I'll have that done for you on Monday."
• "That's not possible this week."
• "Our policy says Monday."

Answer: "I'll have that done for you on Monday.". Same news, but it leads with what you can do. Customers remember the promise, not the refusal.

An unhappy customer says they will take their complaint to the government's National Consumer Helpline. Which number is that?

• 1915
• 1930
• 1098
• 100

Answer: 1915. The National Consumer Helpline takes complaints on 1915 and tries to settle them with the company before they reach a consumer commission.

You need to put a caller on hold to check something. What is the courteous way to do it?

• Hold without warning, it's quicker
• Ask first and say roughly how long it'll take
• Mute them and finish other work
• Hang up and call back later

Answer: Ask first and say roughly how long it'll take. Asking gives the caller some control, and a time estimate stops a short wait feeling endless. If it runs long, check back or offer a callback.