Some People

Have you ever run across a person who was so rude and condescending that you literally could not believe it? I ran across just such a person today. I'm still trying to process what would make a person be so downright mean to another human being over a minor thing. I was only a secondhand party to the situation, but it was unbelievable.

Basically a client with a small problem called to complain and ended up outright stating that the woman who spoke to her on the phone was a nobody who didn't know anything. The client insinuated that she was rich and therefore better than everyone and was going to stop bringing us her business (hallelujah if she follows through!). She even resorted to calling my co-worker nothing more than a glorified pooper scooper.

All of this over a very minor issue that the client was definitely wrong about. The client was rude and clearly lying over the phone and has a past history of being difficult and not making her payments on time. Ultimately, my co-worker had to hang up on her after telling her to speak with the owner because they weren't going to get anywhere. The client then spent the next ten minutes just calling back repeatedly and finally leaving a nasty voicemail (which I listened to and can verify that the woman said some very unpleasant things about my co-worker).

Where does someone get off more or less saying that someone else is a piece of trash? It made my co-worker cry and she regularly has to handle phone calls from clients, so it's not like she's never dealt with an angry customer before. I've never even seen or heard her lose her temper with a client (even though I'm sure some of them are very trying).

I know that some people get very upset over their dogs as though they're a child. I get it because to a point I feel the same way. I'm still not going to get so mad over something that I'm going to tell someone else that they're worthless and I'm clearly better than them because I'm rich. I'm probably never going to be rich, but hey, that's beside the point!

I have to wonder if the situation would have gone any different had this woman come in to deal with a person face to face. Just look anywhere on the internet and you see people behaving like monsters because there's no direct human interactions. It's a lot easier to type a nasty comment out than it is to say it directly to someone's face where you can see how it hurts them.

I've been mad over perceived bad customer service before, but I've never used the situation to make someone else feel like they're useless. Mistakes happen, if the situation is bad enough to require a comment, I'll speak to a manager. I'll explain what happened and ask for my money back if it's warranted or just let them know that the situation needs to be rectified so that a future customer is not treated poorly. Everyone has an off day at work, but this wasn't even the case here. The only thing my co-worker did wrong was answer the phone!

The good news is tomorrow is Friday. Fingers will be crossed that no more tears will have to be shed and no clients will make anyone feel worthless. The funny thing is that while this woman was berating my poor co-worker, another client was bringing in donuts for us say that she was so grateful for the wonderful service we provide her. Talk about your polar opposites! Let's hope for more of that type of client.