"So I live in Jefferson county, but my postal address is in Pisgah county, Ok?"
"Wow, that's different. How do you spell Pisgah?"
"What, are you one of those people from India or somethin?"
"No...You've got to be kidding, right? What gave you that idea? I'm even a freakin' native of the state you live in, I've just never seen it spelled."
"Well, I just thought 'cause since you didn't know how to spell it...."
"Dude, you're killing me here... I'm from the Midwest, just like you!"

There's no middle ground with my customers. Either they think I am a God of information, and can tell them where to rent a Dodge Viper(none available-but there is a nice Cadillac DeVille) , buy a good Szechuan Cashew Chicken and pick up an Angelina Jolie video in Parsippany, NJ, or they assume anyone who can't spell a county or street name must be from India.

I find the India cracks a little racist too. Do they think people from India are ignorant? Many Indians are better educated than the slack jawed yokels calling my center that have trouble figuring out how to dial an 800 number without a diagram. I've called Indian call centers before and have been well treated, thank you very much!

Here's an idea so incredibly crazy it might just work: when you call someone for customer service, don't piss them off by making comments that make them look stupid or make you look racist. Who knows? You might, just might get better service.

Thanks for reading,

AC