Not Feeling Very Charitable.
A young woman accosted me in the street a few minutes ago. She wasn't wearing charity insignia, so she can't have been a chugger. But she did have a clipboard and a lean and hungry look about her, so I'm guessing she was hoping to cajole me into switching utilities or convince me of the benefits of some remarkably affordable form of pet insurance. But I never found out, because this is what she said as she physically tackled me: "Sorry to bother you."
Sorry to bother me? Then why try to do to me what Roy Keane did to Alfie Haaland, and go for my knee as I was scurrying past, staring at the horizon, studiously trying to avoid eye contact?
I'm running another customer care course in a couple of weeks time and I'm gonna use this as a textbook example of how not to engage your customer - or, in this case, passer-by - with your opening line
