Rude Clients/Customers..

[Horschallen]

I have my share of people getting pissed off at me. Because of the nature of my job and my employer, I have to behave at my best and handle them as I go along. I get doctors, attorneys, university administrators, hospital administrators mad at me often because my job is to educate them of their legal responsibility to provide necessary accommodations to people with disabilities under federal and state legislations. Comes with my job, but in general, I love my work.

 

[just_mills]

Just can't satisfy everyone, always someone who will get into a hissy-fit with you. What is your company policy in that area?

Depends on what actually happens; in this instance, just a note/warning message was made on the account.

 

[bankside]

Six minutes too long...

 

[Lawnmowerman]

I think you handled the call appropriately in that situation. I've been on both sides of the issue and I'll make it a point to be stern when there's a problem and it doesn't appear to be taken care of. But I have never gotten pissy with someone nor called them names because of it.

 

[marcmanus]

I've always said that the general public as a whole, sucks. They're rude and demanding, but so very fun to mock...

When I was 18, I worked at a GAP store and a Bennigans resturant (a big corporate chain).

One day at the GAP things didn't go smooth. We were short staffed and it was busy and people were just testy. The next woman on line comes to my register with a TON of stuff and starts tossing things around...falling on the floor behind the counter, spilling over onto the customer next to her..SO RUDE! So I politely asked her to let me get a handle on things and she yelled at me something something to the effect of "you're an idiot"...
I snapped.
I grabbed the barcode scanner, quickly aimed it at her face barked "If you don't stop it I will fry your retinas!"

We all froze, 'till my manager put her hand on my shoulder and suggested I take a break.


One night at Bennigans I got into it with a dipshit woman while taking her drink order...

Me: Hi ladies, I'm Mark. What can I get you to drink?

Dipshit: (whiney voice) A large diet coke with the ice on the side.

Me: Sure, and for you? (I ask the other person)

Dipshit: (Cutting off her dinnermate), I want the ice on the side because you get more diet coke for your money. I want a lemon too.

Me: huh?

Dipshit: You get more with the ice on the side!

Me: Oh, no worries we have free refills, so if you like it on ice I will keep your drink fresh.

Dipshit: But for the same price I'll get more soda and I just have to pour it over the ice myself!! Duh!!

Her tone and ignorance just tweaked me!

Me: I understand Ma'am, you got it!

Me: (to the dinnermate) Would YOU like me to explain the concept of free refills?

Dinnermate: (holding in a chuckle) Um, no. But I would love a beer!

Too bad the Dipshit was the one that paid the bill...


You can't hide from fools...they're everywhere.

 

[puka-pride]

today just after work i was waiting outside my store for my ride.. which was late... and all i hear is a girl screaming NO LET ME GO LET ME GO I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LET ME GO.

so i walk over to see wtf is going on and all i see is a teenager girl surrounded by all of my bosses... the loss prevention officer and one of our stock clerks... thats about 8 people

so instantly i go over to help out since she is struggling hardcore...

my manager has her arm around the girls neck.. not too tightly but enough to keep her from getting away.. the LPO has her by the waist another boss has one arm and the other stock clerk has her other with me and my other 2 bosses standing around her incase we are needed too

she is strugglign as hell and will not go into the store.. everyone is trying to calm her down so we can take her in peacefully but she will not stop screaming and struggling trying to get away...

during this a few customers have stopped outside the store and are all commenting on how we should let her go and we are attacking her... meanwhile if she just stopped fighting back she wouldn't have to be held down i mean.. if she didn't do anything then she would have nothing to worry about right.

anyway so the other customers all start yelling at us... and this one tough guy douche bag shows up and starts to get up in our faces.. like really close.. he gets up in my assistant managers face.. shes a little latina... and she stood her ground... this got the stock clerk to go defend her as the guy looked like he was gonna get physical.. and the guy got up in his face too..

the girl agreed to calm down and go in peacefully finally... and my boss let go of her neck and the lpo grabbed her by the arm.. and my boss grabbed her other arm... the guy got up in our faces again.. and the girl managed to wiggle away in the distraction... but didnt; get far... like 10 feet before we grabbed her again

at this point the guy is like ON us almost yelling at us... and the security has shown up to help out and calm everything down.. the 2 security guards are putting her in handcuffs.. with us still holding her.. and her still fighting.. and the guy is STILL up our asses.. and then 2 more security officers show up and the guy gets up in their faces too...

suffice it to say everyone got brought into the store by security...

as i was leaving a cp showed up and asked me if there was a fight because someone called 911 about a girl being attacked... (wtf)

i told him a shop lifter was caught and security was already here and everyone is inside now and he drove away...

suffice it to say i am really excited for the gossip at work tomorrow.. i can't wait to find out what happened


but wtf is up with people getting in the way of stopping a shop lifter who is resisting arrest

 

[Lefty]

30 years in the airlines mostly/all on the ticket counter/gates and 15 of those as a shift supervisor. seen it all, heard it all but couldn't say it all. had an irate one night during a massive wx/storm/fog/wind etc operation tell me to go fuck my airline and myself...i slipped slightly out of character and advised him i had to work due to the irregular operation but would be happy to provide him with lubrication enough that he could accomodate all the stranded passengers while we waited for everything to return to normal. the guy behind him screamed out in laughter and told me that was the best response he had heard in 20yrs of business travel

i think you went the kindler, gentler route, all pro in my book

 

[justjoshingjosh]

I worked for three years at the Disney Store in my mall. During that time I encountered one too many rude "guests" (as Disney calls them). I remember one specific time where I was on the cash register and was checking out a customer who was doing a return. During this time two people came and stood in line, a man and his child, and one woman. After I was done with the return, I asked for the next customer to come forward, who I thought was the woman. At this point the man begins yelling at me telling me he was in line first. He stood there, in front of his 4 year old daughter and the other children in the store, and began calling me a "fucking retard" among other names. I politely explained to him that I did not see him in line and asked the woman if she would be willing to let him go first. He told me that it did not "fucking matter" that I didn't see him and I must be "blind as fucking shit". Then he threw the doll he was buying for his daughter and dragged her out of the store.
I just couldn't believe he would do that in the middle of a children's store.
Now that I work at Lucky Brand Jeans, where a normal pair of jeans retails for $120, I get alot of people asking me if our jeans come with a lifetime warranty. When I inform them that they do not, they get angry with me and ask why they would pay $100 or more for a pair of jeans. I tell them, "Why would someone pay $200 or $300 for a pair of True Religion jeans? If you want quality, buy your jeans here. If you just want a pair of jeans, you can take yourself over to the Wal-Mart down the street."
Hey Puka, I was shocked to read your post. Where I work I can't apprehend a shoplifter, much less accuse them of doing so. The most I can do is make a smart comment like, "Would you like me to hold on to that shirt for you?" or call security to come and get them. If I did anything like you did I would be fired and my company could be sued.

 

[Jayden]

She crossed a line. You did the right thing in hanging up on that old slapper.

 

[Edward Twinkletoes]

What would you have done? I firmly believe I did the right thing, because I do not sit there to take abuse from people..

If you have a job where you work performing service for random members of the public, you will have to deal with practically everything you can imagine (and probably a lot of stuff you can't) if you do it long enough. It comes with the job. I know this doesn't sound helpful but you can't let it get to you. As impossible as that sounds, as soon as you start taking it home with you, you're in trouble.

It helps if you have a sense of humor about it. Nobody wants to be shouted at and it feels real damn personal but a lot of these people are just plain stupid. There is nothing you can do right with some people.

 

[puka-pride]

Hey Puka, I was shocked to read your post. Where I work I can't apprehend a shoplifter, much less accuse them of doing so. The most I can do is make a smart comment like, "Would you like me to hold on to that shirt for you?" or call security to come and get them. If I did anything like you did I would be fired and my company could be sued.

i'm not allowed to go help unless the LPO or management ask me to.. .i'm only required to give em the heads up to suspicious activity

in this case the LPO and her back up couldn't handle this girl on their own.. and needed backup so someone paged the code for all available staff to come help


p.s. lucky brand jeans are crap... i bought 2 pairs and both pairs fell apart within 3 months... tisk tisk

 

[just_mills]

I remember when working for a call center for medicare and we were told during training that if I caller was abusive, we can warn them that we will terminate the call if they don't settle down. We also had to turn on this "abusive call" icon so the call can be recorded, so the supervisor can see why the call was ended.

All of our calls are recorded, and can be listened to at any time.

i think you went the kindler, gentler route, all pro in my book

Innit!

That was my take as well.

One of the things that really drives me bananas is when I call to discuss a specific issue, have to wait on hold for a ridiculous amount of time, get transferred from one agent to the next, and then when I've finally gotten what I called about taken care of, the customer service rep starts trying to sell me something else (another line of service from the mobile company or cable company, or "fraud protection" services from the credit card company or bank).

I know the company makes them do it, but why would I want something else from them when I am already disgusted with the company's service (which is why I was calling in the first place)?? I try to never be rude, but I have had to hang up on people in this situation in the past, when they just wouldn't take NO for an answer.

I am not going to sell something if they're not trying to buy something; that's not how I work. She had an issue, and I wasn't trying to sell her anything.. I was also the first person she spoke to, because I asked her if she had talked to anyone else before me.

I would be careful about releasing a call like that. I worked in a call centre years ago and we weren't permitted to do it. But the trick I found was to disconnect the phone at the junction below then it's not logged as a release but as a line error or interruption. You could get sacked for terminating a call and it didn't matter if they were rude. Maybe where you work is different?

I can release it at any point, if I am not happy to continue - The call was listened to, and I was told that what I did was perfectly fine.

If you have a job where you work performing service for random members of the public, you will have to deal with practically everything you can imagine (and probably a lot of stuff you can't) if you do it long enough. It comes with the job. I know this doesn't sound helpful but you can't let it get to you. As impossible as that sounds, as soon as you start taking it home with you, you're in trouble.

It helps if you have a sense of humor about it. Nobody wants to be shouted at and it feels real damn personal but a lot of these people are just plain stupid. There is nothing you can do right with some people.

I haven't carried it home and got bothered by it - I laughed and joked about it, straight after the call.. If you read a later post of mine, you'll see that I am not moaning or complaining about the job; I like my job..

 

[Apollo]

i used to work at a grocery store and HATED IT. it was the worst job ever. just hated the customers so much.

i think you guys will get a kick out of this website http://notalwaysright.com/

 

[FriendlyGuyGuide]

There is usually a moment in the conversation where you need to step back and analyze what's actually going on. Sometimes folks simply need to vent. The fact that they're cutting you off is usually a good indicator that they feel the need to FULLY express themselves.

In those cases, I stop talking and use occasional statements that reinforce that I'm listening to what they're ranting about. "wow, that sounds frustrating... I understand how that would bother you... etc"

This brings you one step closer to having a meeting of the minds, earning their respect, etc. My step father is a man of few words, but when he uses them, they have a strong impact and people listen. That's style!

It's a crappy job market. Handle your calls like your boss is listening... because he might be.