Circular Conversations and Malicious Compliance: The Call Center Tango You Never Asked For
If you’ve ever been trapped in an endless loop with customer service—repeating yourself, hearing the same “Is there anything else I can help you with?” on repeat—you’re not alone. In fact, you might have just waltzed into the bizarre dance of “malicious compliance,” where both customer and rep are following the rules… to the point of absurdity. Welcome to the maddening, hilarious circus of circular customer service calls, as recently described in a viral Reddit post that struck a nerve with thousands.
But what happens when the script becomes the enemy, and both sides are locked in a battle of wills—armed with nothing but company policy and a stubborn refusal to hang up first?
The Infinite Loop: When Scripts Take Over
Picture this: You call customer service with an issue. The agent listens patiently (or so you hope), then tells you exactly what they can do. You politely decline or keep pushing, and, like a record stuck on repeat, the agent asks, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” Again. And again. And again.
This is the scenario described by Reddit user u/Silver_Wonder_7104, who shared their tale of “circular customers” and the perils of strict internal policies. The post, which racked up over two dozen upvotes and a spirited comment section, lays bare the reality that both customers and agents sometimes become unwitting actors in a melodrama dictated by The Script.
One top commenter, u/mmilanese, confessed to fighting fire with fire: “In such situations I try to drop to their level and play braindead too, just repeating the same nonsensical things like a three year old until one of us gives up.” The kicker? “It works. I quite often get what I wanted, so I am encouraged to keep doing this behavior.” If you’ve ever felt like you were in a staring contest with a customer service bot, you’re not alone—sometimes, being stubborn is the only way out.
Malicious Compliance: When Policy Becomes the Weapon
But it’s not just the customers playing games. The post’s original author clarified in the comments that they weren’t just being stubborn—they were required by internal policy to keep asking if there was “anything else” until the customer gave a hard stop. As u/Silver_Wonder_7104 explained, “Internal policy required I continue asking if there was anything else I could help with as many times as needed until the customer said there wasn't.”
It’s the classic case of malicious compliance: following the rules so literally that it becomes counterproductive, even comical. This is where the script, meant to “ensure customer satisfaction,” instead becomes the stuff of call center nightmares. As u/ReluctantPhoenician put it, “Wow, this sounds like both a horrible place to work and a horrible place to be a customer.” And really, who wins when both sides are forced to act like robots?
Some in the community wondered if there were loopholes. Could reps rephrase the question? u/Disastrous_Car_5669 asked, “Could you have rephrased it to something like ‘is there anything else we haven't covered that I can help you with?’ or would that get you drawn and quartered by the Higher Ups?” The answer, it seems, is that the policy police are always lurking—deviate at your own risk.
The Supervisor Card and the Path to Freedom
Of course, when the looping gets tough, the tough call for backup. “Transfer to a supervisor?” suggested u/harrywwc, offering a more elegant solution than the classic customer war cry: “I want to speak to your manager!” Sometimes, escalation is the only escape from the infinite loop.
Others, like u/Metalsmith21, take a more direct approach: “When they start circling I just say, ‘Since you have no other concerns that I can address I am disconnecting the call, have a nice day.’” There’s a certain satisfaction in reclaiming your humanity in a system designed to make you sound like a robot. After all, as u/Metalsmith21 declared, “I am not a robot and I have addressed all their articulatable questions and concerns.”
Yet, for every agent who dares to take initiative, there’s another who’s haunted by QA scores, compliance checks, and the ever-present threat of a “coaching session.” In the end, whether you’re the customer or the rep, sometimes the only thing you can do is grin, bear it, and hope the next call goes better.
Lessons from the Call Center Trenches
So what can we take away from this saga of circular compliance?
First, a little empathy goes a long way: the person on the other end of the line is probably just as trapped by the system as you are. Second, scripts and policies are only as good as the flexibility allowed to the people enforcing them. When the rules become the problem, everyone loses.
Finally, as the original poster hinted in a follow-up, there are plenty more horror stories where this came from. (And if you’re craving more, u/Silver_Wonder_7104 invites you to check out their new r/CSnightmares subreddit for further adventures in absurdity.)
If you’ve ever been stuck in a call center Groundhog Day, take heart: you’re not alone, and somewhere out there, a customer service rep is probably telling your story right now.
What’s your wildest customer service loop story? Or do you have a secret script-busting strategy? Share your tales below!
Original Reddit Post: Circular customers - Malicious compliance?