Double Debit, Wrongful Suspension, Fourth Call
You handle inbound calls for a broadband ISP. A customer calls for the third time about a double debit: ₹1,499 was charged twice on 3 March, and the promised refund within seven working days has not arrived by day 15. His connection was also suspended this morning for 'non-payment' even though the account shows a credit balance. Your AHT target is 300 seconds and quality monitoring scores heavily on empathy and ownership. You cannot approve a refund above ₹1,000 yourself; a back-office ticket carries a 48-hour SLA. The customer is loud, says he has already been transferred four times, demands an immediate refund plus compensation, and threatens to post screenshots on social media. He also asks for your personal mobile number so he can 'follow up directly'.
1. How do you open this call and what do you do in the first 90 seconds? Address the AHT pressure explicitly.
Read the worked answer
Open by removing the need to repeat the story:
- Verify identity first - name, registered mobile, last four digits of the account. Never discuss a bill before verification.
- Then summarise: 'You were charged ₹1,499 twice on 3 March, you were promised a refund within seven working days, it is now day 15, and your connection was suspended this morning although you are in credit. Have I got that right?'
- Apologise for the experience, not for a fault you have not confirmed: 'I am sorry you have had to call four times' is safe; 'we have cheated you' is not.
- Take ownership in words: 'I will stay on this call until both the refund and the suspension are raised, and I will give you the ticket numbers.'
- Do not promise a refund amount or date you cannot authorise. On AHT: 300 seconds is an average, not a per-call cap. A double debit plus a wrongful suspension will and should run long; log an accurate reason code so the average is explainable. Cutting this call short guarantees a fifth call.
2. What can you actually commit to, and how do you escalate?
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What you can commit to:
- Restore the connection: since the account is in credit, raise an immediate wrongful-disconnection request and ask for the reactivation fee to be waived.
- Refund: the double debit is ₹2,998, above your ₹1,000 limit, so you cannot approve it. You can raise a priority back-office ticket with the payment reference, both bank transaction IDs, and a note that the SLA is already 8 days breached.
- Compensation: you cannot offer it, but you can request a goodwill credit through your supervisor and record that you requested it.
- Escalation: because this is a repeat contact plus an SLA breach, escalate to a supervisor now, not after the 48-hour window.
- Commitment: give a specific callback slot within 24 hours, enter it in the CRM, and tell the customer what happens if it is missed - quoting the supervisor's reference, not a personal number.
3. How do you handle the social media threat and the request for your personal mobile number?
Read the worked answer
Social media threat:
- Do not argue, do not admit liability, and never offer money to remove a post.
- Acknowledge: 'You are entitled to complain anywhere you wish; my job is to make sure the complaint is resolved.'
- Treat the post as an escalation trigger: flag the account as social media risk and inform the supervisor per policy, because a public post with screenshots becomes a reputational and possibly legal matter.
- Give the official complaint channel and the escalation matrix in writing.
Personal number:
- Decline once, warmly: 'I cannot share my personal number, but here is the ticket number and the helpline - quote it and any agent can see the full history.'
- Do not give an extension, a colleague's number or a personal email. It creates a data-protection problem for the customer's details and an unfair workload for you.
- If he presses, offer the supervisor callback already promised; that is the legitimate version of what he is actually asking for.