What would you do in this situation? (ToM)

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I think in the situation as you describe it, "we usually can't, but we'll try" would elicit "We won't" rather than "we can't". At least to me the statement seems to say "We can do it but the chances of us doing it for you are slim to none". Just my opinion.

Ah, I see. I understood the statement literally - meaning, they're saying they normally can't, but they will make an attempt, rather than give up on it and not do it/say no.

I'm not saying I'm right, it's just how I, personally, would have picked apart the wording.

I know - with "ah, I see" I meant that I understand your understanding of the wording.

Ah, I see.

I see what you did there. Hahaha.

And now he wants to hear it from you. There are two sides to every story.

Disclaimer: Have not read rest of thread.

I am--or at least have been in the past--a professional customer service trainer in multiple industries. I share that so that you can take it into consideration when considering the merit of my POV.

First of all, in the strictest sense, you did NOT give poor customer service, assuming you used proper language and phrasing in your conversation with the customer and assuming that I am understanding your above post correctly.

When one cannot fulfill a customer's request for any reason, it is appropriate to tell them so. You should then go about trying to uncover another way to meet the customer's need because often even if you can't do what he or she wants, you can do something that would address their need. So I am assuming that you talked with your customer long enough to know what his or her real need was and that you then sought other solutions. Sometimes you know of alternate potential solutions upfront and it is appropriate to offer them right away. Other times you need to do some research. If you were a student in my class, that is what I would have trained you to do, along with a follow-up communication to tell the customer whether or not you were able to find another solution.

What I personally would have done differently is immediately after the conversation, I would have let my manager know either by F2F conversation or email about what happened since you indicated that this is an "important" customer. That way your manager would have known what was going on and he might have had authority to offer you another solution that you do not have access to at your level or maybe through his experience he would just be able to suggest other possibilities.

There are two benefits to this. One main one is that then when the customer calls to complain about me, my manager already knows what happened. The second is that often times my manager points out things that I had not thought of on my own.

I guess a third one is that my boss is never left with her proverbial pants around her ankles. She is never blindsided by negative information. I think she likes being able to say "yes, she told me there was an issue. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer anything different at this time...."

I just realized you are probably asking about what to do about your bosses question.

Tell him. Do not become defensive. Stick to the facts. End by saying that if he'd prefer that you handle it a different way, you'd be happy to call the customer back once he explains to you what to do.

This has happened to me A LOT. Well, i even worked the Wal*Mart Service desk for a couple of years. You just have to realize you cannot please EVERYONE all the time. Its not humanly possible. Then you have to be able to tell your side to your boss. Hopefully they will understand.
It does not always work. I have had issues with a problem customer over the last two years at my current job & my supervisor assumed I was in the wrong..
Sucks but C'est le vie.

Sincerely,
Matthew

This.

That's exactly what I would do. It does no good to lie in this type of situation.

What is he asking for then?

What is he asking for then?

Thank you everyone so far for the wonderful insights!! ! I'm going over again and studying them all.

Cogs, that's what I can't decipher with my lack of ToM. It could be any number of things. I took it to mean that he's giving me a chance to convince him that I'm not to blame for anything.

By the way, being an aspie, I can't do what others do to convince someone of my point of view. NTs, having ToM, instinctly know what will convince the boss. Often these things they do seem totally illogical to an aspie, that's why they wouldn't have crossed our minds.

Atomsk - one part of ToM is imagining what's going on at an emotional level in another person. You imagined that the customer "jumped to conclusions" so he's disappointed. We on this thread don't have that info from the straight verbal story. It would've never occurred to me! This is where you applied ToM. Notice that you were the only one of us to address the hidden, emotional factor and give it its due weight. And you came up with it in real time, very short time.