People's rudeness is so discouraging

[boomhauer]

I'm simply amazed by how rude some people are. At work, my first call on a Friday morning was from a customer who was so rude, it basically ruined the day for me.

What has happened to people? Hey, the world's not perfect, mistakes happen, but good lord, how does being a jerk make the situation any better?

It's so depressing. Every time I get a call from someone who's just miserable about some silly little thing (as this was I assure you), it angers me. I feel like asking that person "How'd you like to have some life threatening disease?" or "How'd you like to be homeless?" - THEN, you have something to complain about and be miserable to others about.

Get a grip and put things in perspective.

 

[Tazicket]

I know what you mean. I used to work in a call center and now I work retail. There are many people who can just be jerks. Although, when they do it to me now, I just tell them "Have a nice day!" with a smile as they are storming out the door. One of my coworkers had someone tell her "I hope you have a horrible day" right before he left. She was too shocked to say anything.

 

[barkley]

i got teased by co-workers all the time about my "courtesy" to people who were absolute jerks (always used 'please' and 'thank you' just like mom taught no matter the circumstance ). but i have to say i am probably less than polite as a customer when i've been transferred twelve thousand times, had to re-call because of disconnects, been given misinformation (or worse been told-"oh she is'nt right, do it this way")....
but my pet peeve is when i get a call from something to do with myself and dh's finances and they automaticly ask (even if i'm listed first on the documents) for dh. i always politly tell them my name and that i'm listed and ask if i can help, but 9 times out of 10 it's either "no-i need to speak with your husband" or long siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh, "ooooooooooooooo. kaaaaaaaaaay i guess i can talk to you". we've gone nuts with a couple of companies wherein they insist to speak to dh (cuz he's listed first on the docs) and they only call when he's at work (i won't give out his work number) and refuse to give a call back number ("no, sorry, i'll just call back later"-DON'T HE STILL WON'T BE HERE, and if he is he'll still tell you to talk to me and hand the phone right back ).

drives me nuts-


p.s. i used to work in social services with people who were homeless, and by and large they were allot less nasty to me on the phone than those i dealt with in consumer customer service

 

[rabx5]

Mean people suck. Plain and simple. But what can you do? Just keep on smiling and grin and bare it- that is your revenge to these mean people.

 

[Kimberle]

Someone said this to one of our customer service people:

"I hope your Christmas Tree catches on fire and burns your house down"!

 

[Miller1412]

My SIL prides herself on how rude she can be to anyone that doesn't do things according to her liking. Of course, my SIL is a miserable person, so it figures. I've heard her go off on a telemarketer. Yep, those calls are annoying, but dude, the guy's just doing his job. Take it easy!!

 

[Tazicket]

Someone said this to one of our customer service people:

"I hope your Christmas Tree catches on fire and burns your house down"!

They must have come to my store, too!

In the call center, I had this really rude guy for whom I could do nothing right. He told me he didn't want to talk to me anymore because I was too dumb. I called my supervisor to take the call, and she made me get back on the phone with the guy b/c he didn't give me a chance to ask him for some info we needed. When I got back, he said "Why are you still here?! I told you I'm through talking with you because you're too dumb!" After another couple of minutes of this, my supervisor finally took the call. Some people.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

Mean people really ruin your day, don't they? Just remember, you're only going to be miserable while talking to them. They are going to be miserable for much longer.

When I worked retail I always "killed them with kindness." I was working the cash register one day, my manager was on the one next to me, and I had to ring up a very rude man. Nothing was good enough for him. Every price was just too high. The lights are too bright. Etc, etc. I was very polite to him anyways. After he left, my manager told me I am too nice. She told me that I shouldn't take that from customers. That made my day. From then on, if I was on the receiving end of a rude customer, I was going to be snarky back.

 

[lecach]

I try to be nice as much as possible because I have learned you get far more from being nice than from being mean. Just this week for example - our house was supposed to close yesterday, the people next door today. There was a problem with the city and we couldnt close and the next door people were told they might not close either. I was nice to the closing coordinator because I knew that she was not the cause of the problem. She was just the messenger. She told me several things I should ask for the developer to pay for because of my troubles. She didnt have to do that but she felt bad for us. She thanked me yesterday for being so nice. She said the other family was rude and kept having their realtor call who was mean and rude too. And you know what? They will get no farther being mean - we'll end up with more because we were nice. We already got free crown moulding and the promise of reseeding our yard in the fall (something they do NOT normally do).

I've worked retail before though and have had my share of rude customers.You want to know the rudest? The ones at the bridal shop. Oh my gosh - the brides and their moms could be SO SO mean.

I've been in a call center before too. For the state Medicaid program. You want to talk rude - we got bomb threats and such. We had one man bless out the switchboard operator because he couldnt get more than 2 Viagara a month.

People are rude. I have been rude myself. But it got me nowhere. So now I try to be extra nice.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Rude people just smile and say thank you, have a nice day.

 

[Southern4sure]

I was always told if you smile while talking on the phone you can get alot more accomplished. Sometimes I think it works and sometimes it doesn't. I will say I will become nasty when necessary IF the person on the other end is nasty/rude.

I worked in customer service years ago for a life & cancer insurance company. That was the toughest job I ever had. Trying to explain why your life insurance will not pay for your child who committed suicide or why you only received $100 for a $1,000 claim. It really depended on the policy they took out but it was so depressing.......

 

[Blondy876]

My director had to call a parent in to pick up their child after her child hit me in the head with a chair (this is a 5 year old). She was irate at having to come and pick him up. She didn't work so I'm not sure what else she was doing but she said that we ruined her day making her pick him up and that we should have just beat him and not called her. When my director told her we couldn't and wouldn't do that she started screaming at me saying how horrible a teacher I was and that was why her son misbehaves. Then she kept repeating "God, don't like ugly and you'll get yours." I have no idea what that means but she said at least half a dozen times then grabbed her child and dragged him out the door. Sometimes I just don't get it.

 

[Chattyaholic]

We have some rude customers too at the restaurant where I work, they are rude and nasty every single time they come in. I mean, I can understand a person having a bad day now and then but some of these people are just so crabby all the time it's ridiculous.

It's all in the tone of the voice and the way you ask for something. There's one guy who will say real nasty "I want ketchup!" and he just barks it out loud even if his own waitress isn't there, he will expect someone else to get it for him. Someone else will say "could I please have some ketchup?" Guess who gets their ketchup immediately? Not the rude guy, that's for sure!!

Or someone will say "I need more coffee!" and someone else will say, "can I please have more coffee?" First person gets the dregs of the pot. Second person gets fresh coffee.

You get a lot further with someone when you're nice, not rude and nasty!

 

[amy4bruce]

I work for the maintenance department of a large, metropolitan housing authority. Sometimes, I get complaining calls from our tenants. So many of them think that the only way to accomplish anything is to yell and scream at me. We are instructed not to say anything negative to a tenant, but I can either give them another number to call, or I can make the call or connect them myself. Much of that depends on how they treat me.

In my dealings with the sevice industry, I try to be polite, since I do understand that it will get me further. Once, I had the manager of a Disney store explain to me that something couldn't be done. I shrugged and said, "Okay." She looked at me, surprised that I wasn't angry. "You don't make the rules," I said. Her jaw dropped, and she asked, not entirely in jest, if I could stand behind the counter explaining that to people.

DW has worked as a waitress, so I know the different levels of service one can get. You'd think others would understand this, but no.

Bruce (We have to sign it now - my wife and I post under the same name, so this is how we can be told apart)

 

[imsorry]

My DH just changed jobs because of this. He was in telephone customer service and had to take a minimum of 80 calls a day. He works for a large utility; no one ever calls to say "Thanks for my bill". He was so tired of being screamed at 80+ times a day; and he couldn't say anything back because the customer is always right.

 

[lowie]

I'm simply amazed by how rude some people are. At work, my first call on a Friday morning was from a customer who was so rude, it basically ruined the day for me.

What has happened to people? Hey, the world's not perfect, mistakes happen, but good lord, how does being a jerk make the situation any better?

It's so depressing. Every time I get a call from someone who's just miserable about some silly little thing (as this was I assure you), it angers me. I feel like asking that person "How'd you like to have some life threatening disease?" or "How'd you like to be homeless?" - THEN, you have something to complain about and be miserable to others about.

Get a grip and put things in perspective.

i feel your pain.. i'm a homeowner association manager and i get calls all day long from people with gripes. mostly they are serious problems and i work very hard to calm people and help them the bast i can. but i get IRATE people and sometimes there is just no talking to them.. luckily my boss has NO problem with us hanging up on people if they get abusive, ie name calling, cursing. don't let it ruin your day! at least you don't have to live in their brains!

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

It's all in the tone of the voice and the way you ask for something. There's one guy who will say real nasty "I want ketchup!" and he just barks it out loud even if his own waitress isn't there, he will expect someone else to get it for him. Someone else will say "could I please have some ketchup?" Guess who gets their ketchup immediately? Not the rude guy, that's for sure!!

Or someone will say "I need more coffee!" and someone else will say, "can I please have more coffee?" First person gets the dregs of the pot. Second person gets fresh coffee.

You get a lot further with someone when you're nice, not rude and nasty!

Oh my! This reminds me of a few weeks ago when I went out to eat. The restaurant had an hour and a half wait. So it was very busy. Me and DBF were just chatting waiting for our meal and people were seated behind us and to the left one table. The waitress came by with their drinks and the guy starts ranting about the missing salt. "Where's my salt?! There should be salt here! Well you better get me salt!" I mean come on. Someone before you obviously jacked it. Its not like your table was missing chairs or something. Even after the waitress left to get him his much desired salt, he was screaming about how he was missing salt and that should never happen.

Then the table behind us was placing their order (same waitress). Their child kept changing their order. "I want mac&cheese. I want chicken. I want pizza. I want spaghetti." When the waitress read back the order to make sure it was all right, the child changed again and the parents kept acting like this wasn't happening and getting mad at the waitress. Finally when their food was brought out, she changed her mind again and the parents complained that she brought out the wrong food. That poor waitress. She was obviously new. She was very nice and quick. I wouldn't have blamed her if she quit that night.

I am a firm believer in being nice. Please and thank you go a long way. Some times a little attitude is required, but that isn't too often.

 

[Happywanderer]

Oh, I have to tell you all what I witnessed the other day. I was at a fastfood place pretty close to the counter, so I could hear as the drive-thru people were taking orders. This guy comes on and orders his stuff, then I guess his order was mistakenly given to someone else. I surmised this, because a little while after he gets his (wrong) order he comes back through the drive-thru. But, instead of telling the person his order was wrong he just throws the food at her. Then proceeds to curse her out. Meanwhile she is like "what the heck", cause she has no idea what his problem was. She finally figures out what is wrong after enduring this jack*** diatribe and gives it to the manager. Gosh, mistakes happen, couldn't he have just told her politely and get it solved that way?

Then, to complete her day the next person through the drive-thru asks if they have lemonade. The person tells her no and proceeds to list the beverages they do have. The customer orders their food and then asks for--you got it--lemonade! I couldn't help but laugh.

 

[azgal81]

You know that saying kill them with kindness it works.

I sometimes have to cover the calls for a lady at work if all her other back ups are gone and we get rude people that call all the time. Normally when they are rude to me I just tell them to have a good day all chirpy like which normally pisses them off more because they hang up on me. If they are being really nasty I just tell them I don't get paid enough to deal with their rudeness and to call me back when they learn to be nice.

 

[PghLybrt]

He was so tired of being screamed at 80+ times a day; and he couldn't say anything back because the customer is always right.

I just don't by into that! The customer is usually in the wrong. I work retail and own 6 of my own stores and in most cases the ones that scream know they are playing a game to make the biggest stink to get things either for free of for next to nothing! The threat most often used is calling the BBB(which is a huge joke organization in my opinion, they cant even verify correct info about a company! and if you pay to be a member..... surprise surprise you get a good rating!).
The biggest complaint we have………….we have a 10 day return policy. We are not Wal mart and in fact places like Wal mart are making our business difficult. We cant take things back 4 months after being purchased! But with the mentality of today’s consumer they think that is unfair.
I think the problem is people want excellent customer service, knowledgeable staff and really cheap prices. Sorry to say you just can't get them all!.

(And in my business we sell fun…..but threats of violence from customers come from time to time….usually because they didn’t read their contract before signing!)
Sorry to rant…its been a long week dealing with the public!