Question for people who work in customer care jobs or similar
 

How do you deal with difficult people? I've had a record number of arseholes to deal with, today. Most of the time it's easy to offer them something that'll get them off my back, but one in particular was such an arrogant, demented bastard ,it made me wish him dead and buried. Do you switch to nice but sarcastic mode or you simply become rude and dismissive with them?

tell them to please fuck off, that they are fucking jackasses, and never bother you again, thank you.

Do what I do, destroy their orders. But of course I work in a bakery, I could just say the order got lost.

holy fuck.

it must be the moon.

I've had call after call of people screaming at me today. I sent out about 200 letters telling people to pay up or face collections, so I guess I was asking for it. but is it my fault they don't pay their bills????

the last guy ended up hanging up on me because I told him that I wasn't going to continue the conversation unless he stopped the profanities. granted, I have a mouth like a sailor, but NOT when I'm calling someone about my bill.

I ALWAYS start off as "Mr. Nice Guy" but if I'm being verbally abused, I let them know that it's not acceptable and that the conversation is going to end unless they change their tone. they either stop the abuse and pay me or I send them off to a collection agency.

Note: "Mr. Bullshit-Asshole" has until June 9 to cough up the cash. :)

That's plenty of time to sell your body to earn some cash.

does it require man-to-man contact or are there paying ladies? I'll happily pass on the suggestion to the next deadbeat in line.

*prepares to take notes*

man to man, or man to ladies, or man to trannies, you name it. The world is full of people who like these kind of things.

what about lady-to-lady. can I get paid to watch???

man-to-man and man-to-tranny just aren't my bag, so the options are limited. I guess I'm not about to go to collections or in need bail money so I'll just save these suggestions for my future callers.

NOTE: seeing as I'm not hurting for money, I will be willing to watch lady-to-lady ABSOLUTELY FREEEEEEE!!!!! what a bargain!

That depends, on wheter they want you, and if you want to see lipstick lesbians doing each other or butch lesbians, or a lipstick lesbian witha butch. Which ones are your favorite?

I'm going to vote lipstick-to-lipstick.

the bull's have horrible taste in music (new-country for-the-lose). beyond that, some of them are more manly than I am.

a lesbian wanted to have my baby once (I make nice looking kids), maybe I could offer some sort of trade-out??


PS: MY BAD.




PSPS: Dear Baby Jesus, please make my phone stop ringing. kthxbai.

Well, I work in patient care, and being rude to a patient can get you into more trouble than just losing your job. Every once and a while, there is a patient who thinks they know more than you, and expect you to anticipate what it is they need before they need it.

Normally, I just grin and bear it. Its not as though you can tell them to fuck off. This is typical of me though, I try to avoid unnecessary or petty confrontation.

It only takes about 2 or three people to make your day at at work a misery, and that's because the majority of them are nice folks to deal with. I've already forgotten about them, once you're out they don't exist.

How very true Pork.

Though, sometimes it lingers for the whole day, and the next day, said person is still as aggravating, and you have yet another horrible day.

A guy I work with is fixated on talking about himself, and his many accomplishments. I try and stay away from him, because I can't stand to hear it anymore.

then there are days (like today) where just about everybody is pissy.

seriously, I'm about to lose my cool.

to add insult, the wife has gnarly PMS and I just found out the tires on my car are fucked up (explains why it slides around in the rain).

is this my own personal bitch thread? nope, but it's as on topic as I ever get....

on the upside: I have tickets for my very first sonic youth show. no longer shall I be ashamed!

I wasn't talking about collegues, I haven't got any as such. There are people who obviously I need to deal with professionally and it's ok for as long as it's by email or phone, apart from the various boys and girls who work in different areas of the building and drop into my office to collect stuff and are generally a good laugh. It's hideous, unreasonable people on the phone who test my patience, but as I've said already, they are few and far inbetween.

I've got to deal with 'hideous, unreasonable' people all day. No matter if they are co-workers or customers/patients. Its endless.

Lucky the person who only has to talk over the phone with slobs.

seriously, count your blessings!

given the nature of my job, 75% of those that call me are mad before I even answer the phone. :p

it's rare that it's as bad as it is today, but only due to the total volume of calls.

You said it. Look at my post count on a quiet day.:) :) :)


If you click on the third smiley, it will take you to another space and time. Go on, do it.

i work in a high-end health food store.....stocking shelves for rich bitches . most people are alright , but still more expect everythign to be done for them the second they walk in . ill be at the freezer putting away some frozen waffles, and someone already frustrated will come up and demand where the ice cream is . %*&(#%& !!!! in such cases, i be polite and ask them to kindly follow me, and walk them around the whole store , to the front end, around the chips, by the washrooms, and back to the place we were standing and point a metre to my left to the ice cream they just couldnt find .

if they're just being pricks and using me to abuse for their tiny penis or lack of brain cells or fucked up mongoloid children , i usually end up just turning around and walking away . i wish i had some manipulative skills and could humiliate some of these people , or just confuse them , while being somewhat polite =/

You cant tell them to fuck off, you'll most likely lose yr job. You have to remain polite with them no matter how much they act like belligerent assholes. Trust me, I've workd custyonmer service jobs for 3 years now (someone fuckin shoot me please), and good customer service is key to maintaining yr job and yr store.

And whenever some douche-bag cusatomer gets too out of control for me, I just pawn him/her off on my manager. So that way I don't have to deal with their shit. =)

I would like to know why so many customers think it is ok to treat people in Customer Service like we're pieces of shit? Most of us are just young college students tryin to make a buck to help us through school, and pot and beer. Yet we're treated like beasts of burden for any asshole with a self-inflated opinion. I hate that old addage, "The customer is always right". Fuck that shit! The customer is always an asshole!!!!

That is so true! Most of the people I serve are pretty nice I suppose, but every day there are always that small handful of assholes who let their presence be known by causing a real stir and just make you feel like garbage. I fuckin hate those people.

I figured that after I got out of high school and into college I would deal with less and less of those people. But it wasnt true. And once I got out of college I figured, "well you know people are more adult and mature now, we've moved past the immature college phase" but that wasn't true either. Humanity sucks except for the minority of people who know how to treat another human being with true respect.

I wouldn't say that the majority of customers are arseholes, and I have enough experience dealing with the public to know that. I just got some individuals to deal with today who were just unhappy for whatever reason the wind told them to be unhappy with, and I happened to be the first person that they could vent that frustration to. The monster i mentioned has also got a history for being a difficult piece of shit, so from the minute I picked up the phone I knew that most things would have sounded wrong to him. It was one of those really rare occasions when I had to pass it on to someone who could loosely be deemed responsable for his unhappiness. It's just taking the abuse on the phone when you bite your tongue and just want to say :'' Hey Sir, listen to me, I couldn't possibly give a shit if you had to seat on the floor with your crippled wife, so that we both know where we stand on this matter''.

CLEEERRRKKKKSSSS

Well, if it was easy they would outsource your job to India.

Yep, on a dying bee.

I've been clicking on it for the last 2 hours and the only space and time it took me to was "2 hours later".

it just keeps looking at me with that stupid grin that says "have a nice day".

:mad:

sarramkrop - I can empathise. I used to work on a helpdesk at work, and some of the people I had to deal with deserved death (hello, Stevo at Some Bizzare...). Keeping any sort of patience in those situations is an artform in itself.

I hate how over populated my town is, lots of crazy people swarming around, makes me want to move to sweden or somewhere.
I work at this discount book store at the moment that seems to attract all sorts of maniacs and lunatics, my fravourites are the friendly speed freaks who just spew out words and sentences for ages before leaving.
Sometimes I wish I were an eccentric rich guy that owns that place so that I could kick all the customers out of the store and be as rude as I felt like to them.

As you know, Omaha is telemarketing/phone sub-contracting central, Пятхъдесят Шест.

I've done my share of jobs. Dairy Queen for a day at 16, projectionist at movie theaters, dishwasher, fry cook, line cook, head cook, landscaper, remodeler/carpenter's helper, apprentice electrician, apprentice concrete finisher, telemarketing, caterer, certified nurse's assistant, bar back, bartender, customer service, consumer surveys, political phone surveys, telefundraising, insider phone sales with contracts ("relationship selling"), etc...

At every phone sales, telefundraising, or phone survey job I've ever had, I've been the top person.

Now, I still work the phone, but, thank goodness, I don't have to chase the business anymore and they call me. I just got off the phone with Coca-Cola in Mexico City actually.

Yes, every third person I know works for, has worked for, or will work for a telemarketing company.

I like to think has to do with the fact we are 'well spoken'. That is, we are very easy to understand. No accent what so ever. We sound 'normal', compared to our Eastern and Southern counterparts. Also, we've generally got a mild temperament.

Which is why (as tesla mentioned) outsourcing telemarketing jobs to India is so curious.

Also, this is the third time India has been brought up on the board today. That must be some kind of record.

if i need to do business like banking or the such, and the associate that takes my call has an indian accent ( a heavy one anyway) , i hang up and call back .

I actually do this shit for a living pretty hardcore now. I work as a "Customer Service Supervisor" in a state Attorney General's Office, Consumer Protection Division. So neither option you present is going to fly for me. I've had some pretty good training on the subject though, and I separate other peoples' issues from myself pretty well. I can only do what I'm allowed to do, and I frequently apologize for the limits, let them vent, and then point out their best alternatives. When they're pissed, I just repeat the mantra to myself, "It's Not About Me."

It isn't. Maybe they just found out they're mom has cancer. Maybe they are withdrawing from crack. Maybe they were molested as a child. Maybe we really did fuck up and lose their complaint, but then the "we" is amorphous and still impersonal. Nothing they say can hurt me, because it isn't about me. Sure it feels better when people say thank you, but 20% of the people we all meet aren't going to like us no matter what we do. So I'll collect my hourly wage letting them feel miserable if that's what they really want to do.

You want fries with that?

this is what i do..

go to my happy place, which is a little explicit so i'll spare you them details, then always find out the customers first name and call him by that, say its "John" then in my calmest and most softest voice i tell them

"john, why the fuck dont you just fuck off and suck a hi-powered fart outa my ass you slave driving bollox"

then hang up.

I've talked to this dude in a robotic voice, a few minutes ago. He didn't even notice that I was taking the mickey out of him.

Some people only get arsy if i can't book them into certain areas and they happen to be patrons or people who pour money into this place, or if they can't get a particular table. Robot or deadpan voices are effective if you want to amuse yourself with someone who doesn't even remember their own telephone number.

I'd like a table by the window.

Sorry, that was crap, wasn't it?


I have to deal with what seems like more than my fair share of idiots, and while I always try to start off nice, it doesn't take long for my replies to become more and more monosyllabic. There have been a few people I've ended up having heated arguements with, but usually I'll just agree to do whatever they want me to do, but not actually do it. Those conversations are usually finished by lots of cursing and swearing as soon as I've put the phone down.

Mr Butt, you have been coming here for years, so you should know that I can't guarantee that you'll get one. I will put a note on your booking, and now, if you don't mind, I'm posting on a messageboard, which is much more important than your ridiculous request. Thanks. Ciao.

I only say those things when I have the headset muted.

yr post-it implies that outsourcing to India is a liberal media invention, so I thought a response is in order.

It's mainly IT jobs that have been outsourced. A lot of them. It's a fucked situation. Study after study confirms that the middle class is disappearing in the U.S. Also, IT customer service has gone over to India. Seems Americans want benefits for those jobs and higher wages since Information Technology is still considered some exotic skill set in many areas, or at least in the areas where labor is cheap enough for companies to do phone work.
Credit card companies as well are starting to move their cust svc to India. For years, they've cut costs by outsourcing subcontracts to companies like DialAmerica and numerous biggies in Omaha, NE, but now, many of those jobs have *poof* gone to India as well.

To put it succintly, capitalism is a great, great thing, but runaway captitalism is bad, bad news for, in the end, everyone. Personally, I think many corporations are guilty of sedition, some of treason, under the terms of Clinton and Bush, Jr.

insurance companies outsource to India as well. especially United Healthcare.

they are all very nice people who are typically overqualified for the job they have, however, they rarely know what they are talking about.

they are forced to read from scripts. when the problem or issue deviates from the usual, their flow-chart fails them and they start talking nonsense.

I'm always super-nice to these poor bastards. 50 cents a day salary isn't near worth the hassle of dealing with assholes like me all day long.

Yeah, you're so right haha how they start talking shit or talking in circles if an issue is not covered in their book or if they've never encountered the problem. Like you wrote, they have a flip-book binder of laminated pages of scripts...little tabs to notate which section of the book to flip to for each task. I'm familiar, as I've done many a customer svc/phone sales job.