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Blogs > LovebuginCT > Lovebug Thoughts... > I got in a bit of trouble with the boss today...

I got in a bit of trouble with the boss today...  

9/24/2009 3:15 pm
I had a call from a man that was extremely rude and obnoxious - his wife and I had spoken about them becoming customers on Tuesday and on Wednesday I emailed her to see if a decision had been made and she wrote me back saying that her husband had taken care of everything the night before. Hmmm.... I looked up their address in our system and there was no new account set up. I told her that there seemed to be no account in their name associated with their address. She said she would find out from her husband who he had spoken to. The husband calls me, raving mad and starts yelling at me. I told him I wanted to investigate the reason I could not find the open account (assuming the reason the account didn't get opened was because the guy didn't pass our credit check, but of course, I can't SAY this to him...) He's yelling at me, "DO NOT BOTHER ME ANYMORE" and "IF I DON'T HAVE AN OPEN ACCOUNT, THEN I WANT TO OPEN ONE - MAYBE!" At that point, I very nicely said, "Perhaps you would be better off finding a different oil company to do business with".

Well, the guy apparently called back asking for my supervisor. I was taken aside by him and asked what had happened. I told him everything and he said that I can not do that - that a customer is a customer, even if they call and beat up our customer care reps or sales reps.

I disagree. I think that when you know you are going to be getting a "bad apple" customer, it's best to let them find another company to beat up. Having owned an oil company in the past, I knew that this kind of character wouldn't be one that I'd want to deal with.

Oh well. It's a living. "I love my job".

The picture is my kitchen looking into my dining room. 720 square feet, all to myself!

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life
LovebuginCT
527 posts

10/3/2009 4:54 am

    Quoting Polly6:
    We are sure on different sides of the world aren't we... A mandarin is a smaller sweeter type of an orange... Please have oranges in USA.. I say with a silly grin... Sue
OH! ok - yes, we have mandarin oranges too - but I've never seen them unless they were in a can! We make a "salad" called Ambrosia here, with the mandarin oranges, marshmellows and pineapple, sour cream and some other stuff...usually around the holidays. (I remember an Aunt making this from my childhood. I haven't eaten that stuff in YEARS!) Thanks, Sue!

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

Polly6
697 posts 

10/3/2009 12:35 am

We are sure on different sides of the world aren't we... A mandarin is a smaller sweeter type of an orange... Please have oranges in USA.. I say with a silly grin... Sue

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/26/2009 4:35 am

    Quoting Polly6:
    Oops sorry I forget that we Aussies have sayings or slang for what happens. Give you the pips means annoys you. Like when you are really enjoying a mandarin and there is SO many pips in it.... Had to give an example, cause thats the kind of girl I am... Cheers Corrie. Sue
LOL - thanks for "clearing" that up for me, Sue. Now - tell me - what is a madarin? LOL!

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/26/2009 4:34 am

    Quoting onamisionfromgod:
    i know how you must feel,that customer was a royal jerk.

    but i will have to agree with your boss on this one, dear.

    (i hope you don't dislike me after i say this, but)

    this is were men and women are very different,

    men have the ability to put our emotions, and our feelings in a container,women are not quite as good at that.

    its ok,you can call us men the weird ones,lets just say we are double jointed when it comes to emotions!

    and as rude as customers can get,and they can get quite rude,
    we have to stay cool,and just take their money.

    even if we don't think they deserve our product,or our service.

    because bottom line,the customer ultimately pays our bills,and indirectly even signs our paychecks!
I still like you, of course! The guy was indeed a total jerk, (his wife was quite lovely, by the way) and I was trying to HELP him, but he was just horrid. I know what you are saying is true, take their money, etc. because that's the way businesses are built, but there are times when you need to sense that taking on a customer that will be more trouble than they are worth - and be willing to walk away. It doesn't happen frequently, but it does happen. BUT, in this case, it is not MY business, and I'm an employee, and it wasn't my call to make. My bad. I won't do it again.

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

Polly6
697 posts 

9/26/2009 1:48 am

Oops sorry I forget that we Aussies have sayings or slang for what happens. Give you the pips means annoys you. Like when you are really enjoying a mandarin and there is SO many pips in it.... Had to give an example, cause thats the kind of girl I am... Cheers Corrie. Sue

onamisionfromgod
626 posts 

9/25/2009 9:18 am

i know how you must feel,that customer was a royal jerk.

but i will have to agree with your boss on this one, dear.

(i hope you don't dislike me after i say this, but)

this is were men and women are very different,

men have the ability to put our emotions, and our feelings in a container,women are not quite as good at that.

its ok,you can call us men the weird ones,lets just say we are double jointed when it comes to emotions!

and as rude as customers can get,and they can get quite rude,
we have to stay cool,and just take their money.

even if we don't think they deserve our product,or our service.

because bottom line,the customer ultimately pays our bills,and indirectly even signs our paychecks!

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/25/2009 4:06 am

    Quoting Godwhispers:
    LOL... do you know that the yellow guy there with his tongue sticking out looks like he busted through the wall paper? lol, tooooo funny! Anyway nice, very nice kitchen, this looks like a kitchen that gets COOKED in? lol... the bad apple customer, lol, I used to work for a convenient store and oh my GOODNESS we had people yell at at because we couldn't turn on the gas pumps because they needed to pay first lol... blessings to you, and oh yeah the smiley fellow that is clapping his hands? yeah he also looks like he ripped through the wall paper LOL...
LOL - busting thru the wallpaper - love it! Come on in for some coffee - haven't been doing much cooking lately. I'm following a weight-loss plan and making a lot of yummy shakes! So, popcorn in the microwave is about the extent of my "cooking" these days. Blessings to you, my friend.

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/25/2009 4:04 am

    Quoting longing4more:
    Why is it that customer service is always wrong?
I don't get it!

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/25/2009 4:04 am

    Quoting Overcaffeinated:
    I hate it when a boss won't support the employee when it comes to rude abusive people. Ack! Hang in there and God bless you!
God bless you, too, honey. I hate that...this guy isn't an employee of the company, but rather, a "consultant" that was hired to "straighten out" our sales dept. I think there are occasions that you need to walk away from new business if it means that good employees are going to get "beat up". But he's after numbers, and that's all he cares about. Not people. Numbers. Ugh.

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/25/2009 4:02 am

    Quoting Hisglory77:
    Sorry to hear of what happened to you, and yup, I sure know that feeling.
    My bosses are nutorious for reassigning people (especially from my area to elsewhere) not putting them back, and forgetting about it. Then when a rush of orders come in, or a high priority order didn't make it to the truck in time, he wants to know why our work isn't getting done.

    Then there's the classic of trying to use outdated, obsolete equipment (which we received 2nd hand as it was because it wasn't reliable enough for the previous owners) prone to frequent breakdowns, for jobs they were not designed for; and when it doesn't work as the managers had hoped, it gets blamed on operators either not using the equipment correctly, or not properly trained on how to run a jimmy rigged device, which doesn't work more then it does, for a job not even remotely related to what we're trying to make the thing do.

    Yup, been there, done that.
Isn't it ridiculous? Hang in there...

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

LovebuginCT
527 posts

9/25/2009 4:02 am

    Quoting Polly6:
    Hmmm customers aren't always right and there is always a bad apple to give you the pips... Stay Blessed. Truly Sue
Hey Sue - haven't seen you around lately - thanks for stopping by my kitchen! Now, what on earth is "give you the pips" about? LOL! Must be an Aussie thing! (((HUGS)))

Walking, and praising and trusting my Lord for the rest of my life

Polly6
697 posts 

9/25/2009 2:09 am

Hmmm customers aren't always right and there is always a bad apple to give you the pips... Stay Blessed. Truly Sue

Hisglory77
3388 posts 

9/24/2009 11:28 pm

Sorry to hear of what happened to you, and yup, I sure know that feeling.
My bosses are nutorious for reassigning people (especially from my area to elsewhere) not putting them back, and forgetting about it. Then when a rush of orders come in, or a high priority order didn't make it to the truck in time, he wants to know why our work isn't getting done.

Then there's the classic of trying to use outdated, obsolete equipment (which we received 2nd hand as it was because it wasn't reliable enough for the previous owners) prone to frequent breakdowns, for jobs they were not designed for; and when it doesn't work as the managers had hoped, it gets blamed on operators either not using the equipment correctly, or not properly trained on how to run a jimmy rigged device, which doesn't work more then it does, for a job not even remotely related to what we're trying to make the thing do.

Yup, been there, done that.

Isaiah 66:2b; But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Overcaffeinated
8902 posts 

9/24/2009 8:24 pm

I hate it when a boss won't support the employee when it comes to rude abusive people. Ack! Hang in there and God bless you!

longing4more
3714 posts

9/24/2009 6:35 pm

Why is it that customer service is always wrong?

Godwhispers
1702 posts 

9/24/2009 6:23 pm

LOL... do you know that the yellow guy there with his tongue sticking out looks like he busted through the wall paper? lol, tooooo funny! Anyway nice, very nice kitchen, this looks like a kitchen that gets COOKED in? lol... the bad apple customer, lol, I used to work for a convenient store and oh my GOODNESS we had people yell at at because we couldn't turn on the gas pumps because they needed to pay first lol... blessings to you, and oh yeah the smiley fellow that is clapping his hands? yeah he also looks like he ripped through the wall paper LOL...

Rom. 5:8
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us

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