Close to getting fired

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I've whined about my job and how I'm no good at it a lot on here. I mean, an aspie taking customer service calls is a recipe for disaster. But now it's come down to the wire: I've gotten two coachings in two weeks. If I screw up one more time, I'm fired. I can't afford to lose my job. As crappy as it is, it's one of the only jobs that I'm even somewhat qualified for, and can pay my rent too. Plus it's doubtful I'll be able to get another job if I have to put that I got fired from Walmart in the middle of the Walmart capitol. How do I get better, though? Talking to people is hard. All the problems my managers say I have sound like the right things to do to me.

Like, for example, I took a call for a store a while ago. There was something wrong with the customer's order that I couldn't fix myself, so I had to send it off to someone else. I was trying to explain this to the associate, but she wouldn't stop interrupting me. Like, she wanted me to explain how the process was going to work, but wouldn't let me explain how to the process worked. Finally, I told her that she was being rude, so go get me her manager. She refused, said she wasn't being rude, and demanded to talk to my manager. I kept telling her to get me her manager, she continued to refuse, and eventually I hung up on her and called the store, asked for her manager, and reported the rudeness and finished explaining what was wrong with the customer's order and how I was going to fix it. A couple days later, though, my manager calls me for a private meeting with her and the guy who's over our entire department, replays the call for us both to hear, and then they both proceed to chew me out for a half hour straight. The associate wasn't being rude, they said, I was. Despite the fact that I literally couldn't finish a sentence with this associate, the fact that she didn't understand was my fault because I wasn't speaking clearly and plainly enough. I hung up on her, which in an offense you can be fired for in and of itself-- the fact that I was getting nowhere with her didn't matter. And we don't get to complain to their managers, they only get to do that to us. I'm a bad, bad boy and I should go put my nose in the corner and think about what I've done.

I don't get it. What exactly did I do wrong? More importantly, how do I get better at my job so that I don't wind up getting fired?

I wish I could make a suggestion but I am in the same position. I have recently been released over "he said/she said" nonsense and nothing to do with job performance. I certainly don't have any marketable skills so I don't know how things will work out. Best of luck to you.

I'd suggest spending more time listening. Most people aren't good at thinking and problem solving while trying to get a word in edgewise. This can be a very good technique with customer service. If you let someone vent you may get lucky. Sometimes all they need to do is vent, in which case you have just done your job perfectly, or at least as well as it could be done. Sometimes they will suggest a solution that you can reasonably implement, another big win for you. But, neither can happen if you are busy talking.

The problem is, I usually only have one way to solve each problem. I don't know about other call centers, but at Walmart they set up a course of action for every type of problem. There is no "going about it another way" because our systems aren't meant to handle it any other way. If the customer wants a refund, they have to get it from the store. If they want their refund faster, they have to wait 5-7 days for it. If the store can't scan a customer's order when it's delivered, I have to send it to someone who can fix the barcode. It wasn't that I wasn't listening to the associate during that call. I had all the information, I knew exactly what was going on. They did not understand. They should have listened to me when I tried to explain things to them, and the whole problem would have been fixed. And yet, my managers decided the whole thing was my fault, despite me doing everything I could to do my job.

The problem with NTs is that they do not want to approach a situation rationally to come up with a mutual solution that serves everybody equally.

You may also consider taking that night email position if it still available. Email should be a lot easier for an Aspie with good writing skills. Especially since you have voice modulation issues.

Well, I wasn't there, and I only have your account to go on, but I haven't the slightest idea. While reading your account, I figured you screwed up when you hung up, but then your account of the meeting made it sound like you had somehow mis-interpreted the entire interaction.

As for your job security: do you have a mentor you can ask about the common Catch 22 scenarios you mention? Can you ask for a mentor?
I second moving to the night e-mail position if still available as well.

Sidenote: I hate the way that meeting was constructed- two people who knew their script representing the company's interests, nobody representing yours except you (who was taken by surprise), and ultimately two people socially intimidating an Aspie for things that are textbook examples of Aspie problems in a neurotypically oriented setting.

I don't suppose Walmart has a Union? Based on everything I've heard and read about them, I really don't suppose they do, but I figured I should ask.