Either the DirecTV call center in Tulsa needs better telephone lines, or the intensive customer service training at the center is getting too intense.
According to a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a husband and wife in Savage, Minn., are suing after an incident last fall when having satellite television installed in their home. Emergency dispatchers sent police to the home of Steven and Julie Pyle in response to a call from two DirecTV service desk attendants in Tulsa who said a customer with a gun was holding two technicians hostage.
Police rushed to the house, called out the technicians and Julie Pyle at gunpoint, and forced Pyle to the ground and handcuffed her.
It must all have seemed pretty strange when police found out Mrs. Pyle had baked cookies for the technicians, according to a complaint filed by Pyle and her husband in court, the story reported.
The problem stemmed from the technicians thinking they were doing a quick installation, when hours later they were still trying to get the job wrapped up. According to the story, the technicians called the Oklahoma desk in frustration and used the word "hostage," which caused the Tulsa workers to call the police.
"We are not being held hostage by the, by the customer. We were being, being held hostage by DirecTV," one of the technicians said when a police dispatcher caught him by phone and asked if he had made it out of the house, according to a transcript of the call.
"Is this a joke, or is this for real?" the technician asked, when told to look for police officers en route, according to the Star Tribune.
Police released Mrs. Pyle after securing the house and didn't haul anyone back to the station. According to police reports, the woman was obviously shaken and embarrassed that the scene had played out before her neighbors.
Now, the Pyles are piling everyone into a lawsuit, according to the story, including the police department and a police sergeant, emergency dispatchers, the installation technicians, DirecTV, the two Tulsa service-desk attendants and Premier Communications, the contractor for whom the technicians worked.
Pyle claims the ordeal triggered post-traumatic stress disorder, causing sleeplessness, panic attacks and other maladies, according to the complaint, the Star Tribune reported. She's asking for at least $75,000 in damages.
Chicken-Fried News intern Bucky guesses she might even get free DirecTV, but only if police will do the installation.
