Terrible tales from the holiday customer service desk

Be nice to your customer service reps. They know more about you than you think.

A phone.
(Image credit: Illustrated | new_lady/iStock, Apple)

It wasn't Oprah's fault, but I held it against her anyway.

Even before her holiday gift show ended at 5 p.m., the phone lines for the luxury goods magazine where I worked were jammed with people clamoring to order her latest promotion. The overloaded sales department roped in customer service to help field the increasingly desperate calls.

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Madeleine Deliee is a writer and teacher in the Washington, D.C. area. She has written for CityLab, Good, and The Washington Post, among other outlets.