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"Don't take it personal"

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  • #16
    Sometimes you can bring them back to earth by saying, while looking genuinely puzzled, "I did that?"

    Example:

    SC: You took my order yesterday and lost it!
    Me: (in a very professional, concerned tone) I took it? What time was that, do you remember? It would help me track it down if you told me what time I took your order. '
    SC: Oh. Well, it wasn't you exactly...it was (describes another co worker.)
    Me: Ah, okay. Thanks, that will help.
    SC: And then you lost it!
    Me: Well, ma'am, your order was likely run last night, so it would not have been me who ran or filed it. I don't think it was me that misplaced it. I need to find out who was on shift.
    SC: Oh. Well, no, I don't mean YOU did it...

    And so on. In a case like that, if you can actually keep it personal, they can't dump their anger at "the machine" on you personally. Well, of course, they can, but they often won't. I have diffused very angry people like this. People forget that employees are not the overall company in general, they are real people.

    Of course, some people are just douchebags....

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    • #17
      Nice approach, Kink! It's professional, it's devious, and it's brilliant. And I'm pissed off that it's something I never would have thought of.

      "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
      Still A Customer."

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      • #18
        Quoth RecoveringKinkoid View Post

        And so on. In a case like that, if you can actually keep it personal, they can't dump their anger at "the machine" on you personally. Well, of course, they can, but they often won't. I have diffused very angry people like this. People forget that employees are not the overall company in general, they are real people.

        Of course, some people are just douchebags....
        This.

        I use a variation of this nearly every day at my job. Example:

        SC: "I'm traveling tomorrow and just looked at my itinerary (that they've usually had for months) and YOU BOOKED IT WRONG!"

        Me: (Looks at phone display) "Oh, I'm so sorry. Looks like you booked your reservation with Jackasses-r-Us Travel. Lets see if I can pull up the reservation and figure out what went wrong."

        SC: "Oh. So you're not Jackasses-R-Us?"

        Me: "No, but I'm the emergency service for them and can generally fix almost anything."


        And so on...

        I'd say a good 90 percent of the time it results in an *immediate* change of tone. They usually become cooperative, and I end up becoming the hero for fixing the 'horrible' (usually minor) mistake.
        "So, if you wanna put places like that outta business, just stop being so rock-chewingly stupid." ~ Raudf, 9/19/13

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        • #19
          Exactly. It does not take a genius to jump from "This soulless company screwed me over" to "This individual person did NOT screw me over, and is trying to do the right thing and fix it for me." Most people just want their problem fixed and to be on their way. Most people do not like being angry. They want to believe you're on their team, so if you show the slightest sign that you ARE on their team, they will believe it.

          Of course, there are plenty of people out there who like being pissed off and like yelling at people. There are plenty of people out there who are just plain stupid. But believe it or not, they seem to be in the minority.

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