Wednesday 1 February 2012

Dear oh dear!

I had my first run in at work with a lady who is notoriously rude.  I’ve never previously had a problem with her and have quite happily served her in the past but yesterday she called me up to complain and was just plain mean to me on the phone.  I tried to explain but she started off mean and just got worse. 

I am dotting happy things throughout the post to soothe my nerves which are rising as I write!

rainbow

As soon as someone is rude, my hackles start to rise- even if the rudeness isn’t directed towards me.  I’m not very good at confrontation and I get flustered and want to cry or punch people in the face which is not very Christian or the best kind of customer service in the world!!

Anyway, I got someone else to ring her back because she wasn’t happy with my explanation of the problem.  And she was nice as pie to the other girl on the phone!  And she told her “You should really watch Laura, you need to have a talk with her and tell her not to say such silly things over the phone”!! 

puppy

Next time she comes in, I am going to kill that witch with kindness!  That’s really the only thing I can think to do.  It constantly surprises me when people are rude to customer service people.  You want help?  Don’t be rude to the people that are going to help you!

Any tips on dealing with mean members of the general public?  And especially, any tips on how to keep your cool (and not cry!) would be much appreciated.

unicorn

7 comments:

Remy said...

Sometimes you just have to roll with it. I worked with some pretty witchy teenagers as a cafe worker when I was employed. I didn't let them see that they got under my skin. If they see that, they're just going to feed off the fact that they got to you.

Kill 'em with kindness, they won't know what to do. :)

Gentri said...

Best advice- don't fight back. That's what they want. Don't do it. Let them get it out then explain. If they won't let you, then drop it. :) I'm sorry you have to deal with this, Laura. :( No fun!

Unknown said...

I agree with Gentri...it's not always easy, but it's probably the best. I always cry and get upset, too...and it sticks around forever, it seems. But you know that old saying, kill them with kindness! ;-)

Abigail said...

I enjoyed your happy pictures, especially the dog. He seemed perfectly placed with the text. I'm sorry about the rude woman-- rude customers are the worst. After I get home, I get frustrated and cry, too, then vent to my friends. Just shake it off-- easy to say, hard to do, I know. Hopefully your next experience with her won't be quite so terrible.

Katie said...

Ugh, rude people are the worst. It's as though they think they can get whatever they want and they don't have to bother with anyone else's feelings at all.

I always find a good rant can help, once the person in question is thoroughly out of earshot!

Boy Roomie said...

I'll tell you what we get told to do tomorrow. Remind me.

Sarah said...

OMG I always have they crying fear with confrontation too! I actually just wrote a blog post about dealing with anger- the gist of it is, try to think that the reason you are feeling angry is because that person is angry themselves (not necessarily at you) When you're having those angry thoughts, try asking the person if they are upset about something, you might be really surprised at how they respond.

Here's the link to my post if you're interested in reading more :) http://www.desirousofeverything.com/2012/01/im-having-angry-thoughts.html