After reading the the interactions, click here to tell us which one was your favorite.

Disclaimer: The following Outrageous Interactions contest submissions are the product of their respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interactive Intelligence. While Interactive Intelligence has made every attempt to eliminate submissions deemed inappropriate, some readers might find certain topics, terms or language within these submissions offensive.

Name: Baharadwaj, Amar
Location: Australia
TITLE: April fools
Entry: I spent two hours on the phone troubleshooting with a customer only to realize he was kidding. It was April 1st.

Name: Coffman, Penny
Location: Columbus, Ohio U.S.A
TITLE: Calling from heaven
Entry: I had to deliver some unwelcome news to my caller. He had missed a deadline for his health insurance. Of course he was not very happy and he wanted to convince me to make an exception by trying to make me feel sorry for him. Our conversation went something like this:

Caller: You might like to know that I am a veteran. I was in a war. In fact there was a suicide bomber that came right at me. He didn’t get me though.
Me: Yes, I can tell.
Caller: (Laughing) You don’t know, maybe I am calling you from heaven.
Me: I don’t believe you have to use the toll free number from there, sir.

He hung up much happier than when he called in, so that was good!

Name: Draney, Lon L.
Location: Pasco, Washington U.S.A.
TITLE: Bra size not necessary
Entry: I work for a computer helpdesk that manages network resources.

For security reasons, when network users have tried unsuccessfully three times to log onto their network account, the account becomes locked and they have to call the computer helpdesk to have the account unlocked.

I received a call from a woman who wanted to have her network account unlocked. I normally ask the routine questions: What is your badge number, and what are the last four digits of your social security number? (In order to verify that the person calling is really the owner of the account.) We have this information on file to compare with their answers.

The woman seemed to be getting angry about what I had asked for. In an exasperated voice she blurted out, “Do you want to know my bra size too?” Not thinking, and not really planning on responding, I heard myself say, “We already have that.” After a few seconds of silence I finally heard her breathe again.

I unlocked the network account and asked her to try it again, to which she responded very quietly, “Thanks.”

Name: Happley, Azlin
Location: Danville, Indiana U.S.A.
TITLE: The most beautiful music I’ve ever heard
Entry: My first gig on the phone was selling season passes to past patrons at symphony houses around the U.S. We had a cleverly written and extremely funny script to use as to out “gimmick,” the competition. We were instructed not to deviate from it under any circumstance. Rather, we should trust that our time-tested material held all of the answers and simply plow through even if we should be interrupted by anyone on the line.

One night, while dialing the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, I was greeted by a Mr. D and launched into my spiel. About three sentences in, he interrupted, “Lady, do you presume to tell ME about the quality of musical opportunities available in my neighborhood this season? I bet my 7-year-old son knows more about musical theory than you do!”

I stammered and scanned my trusty script, wondering where the answer was for this one. It did not go over well. I heard him shout, “Houston, pick up the phone!”

The tiny, quizzical “hel-wo” told me I had just been inducted into a battle royal of musical trivia with a 7-year-old, a 7-year-old who turned out to be a promising violin prodigy. This was a 7-year-old who was, in fact, trying out for the very same orchestra I was trying to sell tickets for. His father, the Dean of Musical Studies at one of the larger institutions in St. Paul, wasted no time firing questions at us both. His son wiped the floor with me.

But that was nothing compared to when Houston was instructed to go get his violin.

For 8 glorious minutes, my entire call center listened via speakerphone to some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. My post-it note with the words, “He’s 7!” floated around the room. People stood silent, in awe, feeling something greater than themselves.

Eventually, the performance came to an end, and we all applauded. Then it was just dad and I on the line again. He apologized for giving me such a hard time and ordered two of the best seats in the house for the whole season.

 
Name: Johnson, Michele
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida U.S.A.
TITLE: The Eiffel Tower… in New York
Entry: I’ve been a customer service agent for Working Solutions for six years. The most outrageous and challenging interaction I received came from working on a project for Hotels.com:

A lady called to book a hotel in New York City with a view of the Eiffel Tower. I said, “I'm sorry but do you mean Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower or do you mean New York City with a view of the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building?” The lady replied, "Are you [dense]?” She told me she spoke very good English and that if didn’t know what I was talking about I should go back to school. She said, “I just told you I want to go to New York City and I want a hotel with a view of the Eiffel Tower."

I was speechless for a few seconds. Very nicely I said, "I'm very sorry but I don't know of any Eiffel Tower in New York City. Do you have a more specific location that I could look up for you?" She replied "I want a hotel where all the big shots go and I want to go shopping at Macy's where they have the Christmas parade." Now I knew she really did mean NYC. So I started to offer nice hotels with a view of the Statue of Liberty. I told her that if she wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, she would need to fly overseas. She said, "Heck no! No flying for me. Planes crash all the time and whatever you have that is French and can see from my hotel window will do." I booked the hotel for her and she was very happy. She said that I was the best thing that ever happened to her since the telephone was invented. So I guess I made her day, but I had to keep myself cool while talking to her.

 
Name: Lautenschlager, Garry
Location: Roanoke, Virginia U.S.A.
TITLE: What flavors do you have?
Entry: Years ago while working as a CSR with a major Senior Citizen's mail-order pharmacy service I was diligently placing a lengthy order for an elderly gentleman. After placing an order for another over-the-counter item, the customer asked if the item came in other flavors. When the item displayed, I was shocked. The item ordered was for 24 suppositories. The caller said, “The last ones went down well but tasted terrible."

Name: McAlister, Tracie
Location: Sydney, North Shore Australia
TITLE: Ships with cable
Entry: A passenger’s mother was escalated to me because she was upset that she was unable to contact her daughter on one of our ships. I explained to the concerned mother that the ship has a satellite connection and can come in and out of signal range as the ship progresses on its journey. However, if she persists she may be able to make contact soon.

The very concerned mom promptly advised that this was not good enough. She explained that our company provides a service and should have something in place that will ensure full coverage and telephone connectivity. Again, I tried to explain the limitations of technology available to a ship out in the middle of the ocean. The mother questioned why our ships could not have access to a cable connection.

I understood that the mother had not quite thought this through. So, I tried to reason with her that to do so would mean a cable would be attached to the back of the ship. Still, the mother could not understand why this was not an option. Her response was that it is our responsibility to do whatever it takes.

 
Name: McLeod, Susan
Location: St. Andrews, New Brunswick Canada
TITLE: Was it good for you too?
Entry: The first week on the phones at any call center is hard. You are nervous and scared of what you will hear on the other end of the line. I’m no different.

During the first week, I received a call from a gentleman who had a question that I wasn’t sure how to answer. So, I asked if I could place him on hold while I found the answer. When I came back to the line, I said, “Thank you for letting me hold you.” My face turned red and I’m sure he felt the heat on the other end of the phone. My caller replied, “You’re very welcome, hope it was good for you too.”

Name: Nixon, Ray
Location: Florence, Arizona U.S.A.
TITLE: “What’s a Chupracabra?”
Entry: Our center answers calls for a rural Arizona county government. We focus especially on customer service and train our agents in empathizing with the caller's issues. We take every call seriously. That ability was tested to the limit on this call. We were glad our 100% call recording allowed us to go back and listen to the call, and share the transcript of it.

Agent: Thank you for calling. How can I provide excellent service today?
Caller: Yes, I’m about to move down there from New Jersey. I’ve got some friends down there in Casa Grande. They want me to move down there. I was down there last month. They kept talking about these Chupracabras. What’s a Chupracabra? I’m not bringing my family down there if we’ve got Chupracabras running around. Can you tell me what a Chupracabra is?
Agent: Sir, that’s a myth.
Caller: No! They said there are Chupracabras running around Casa Grande. I want to know what a Chupracabra is. I thought I saw a couple of them. They’re big!
Agent: Sir, Chupracabras are a myth.
Caller: Are you sure? What was it I saw running around in the desert when I was out there?
Agent: It may have been a coyote. We have those in the area, but the Chupracabra is a myth created out of Latin America. It’s a mythical monster. It doesn’t exist.
Caller: No, I know what a coyote looks like. We have those in the Catskills. This is something different. I don’t know what it was.
Agent: I don’t know what is was either, sir, but the Chupracabra is a myth.
Caller: Are you sure? I’m really scared about putting my kids down there and letting them run through the desert with all the scorpions and stuff I heard about. But the Chupracabra, man, I don’t know what that is. Are you sure it’s a myth? It’s making me really nervous.
Agent: It’s a myth, sir. They don’t exist. It’s a myth.
Caller: Is there anything I should be worried about out there in the desert?
Agent: No, it’s just normal desert. It’s quiet and everything else. They don’t have anything out there, except for snakes and scorpions, that kind of thing.
Caller: All right. Well, you know I’m going to keep an eye out. I think the Chupracabra, even though it’s like Bigfoot…it’s been spotted. You know, people have seen it, but it’s still a myth. Do you know what I mean?
Agent: Yes sir.
Caller: All right, well, thank you very much for your time. I’ll call back if I have any other questions about Chupracabras.

Name: Roach, Tracy
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee U.S.A.
TITLE: “Where’s my PIN number?”
Entry: I received a call from a gentleman who was very upset:

Caller: Somebody painted the outside of my branch!
Me: Okay, sir, how can I help you today?
Caller: Why would they paint the wall?
Me: Well sir, it could be that the paint was scuffed, or there may have been graffiti. We try to keep our buildings looking nice.
Caller: Well now I don't have my PIN number! How am I supposed to get my money out?
Me: I'm sorry? I said, completely confused.
Caller: I wrote my PIN number on the wall beside the ATM, and now they've painted over it! Why would they do that?
Me: It sounds like they were trying to cover up the vandalism. I'd be happy to resend your PIN number to you.