Tweet
Forced to say sorry...??
Ok, well here's a little background, I work for a property company that deals in renting out massive amounts of office space in London.
That being said, we have alot of very important clients. I work for 8 people as a secretary/PA/general dogsbody and each of my bosses has god knows how many clients.
There's about 15 people in the offices divided into 3 secretaries (yes I know it sounds unfair that I'm working for 8 of them, I'm only working for 6 now but I digress...)
So... Boss D's (who I don't work for) phone goes off. We've been told to answer the phone in 3 rings, now the other two are not picking up, notably Sec S who works for Boss D is not picking up the phone as she is meant to. Rather than annoy the whole office with a ringing phone, I bounce it to me to take a message for him.
Me - Me
UC: Uptight client
Me: Good Afternoon <company>!
UC: Is Boss D there?
Me: I'm sorry he is away from his desk, can I take a message?
UC: Yes, this is Uptight Client
Me: Brilliant, can I take your phone number please?
UC: Pardon?
Me: Can I take your phone number please?
UC: *pause and snotty voice* I've worked with Boss D for over 7 years, we are on first name terms, I shouldn't have to give you my phone number.
Me: Alright, I'm sorry, I don't personally work for Boss D so I'm afraid I don't know his clients, my own bosses have asked me to get a phone number for everyone that...
UC: I don't care, I've worked with him for 7 years
Me: I understand that, but my bosses like me to get the phone number so they are able to pick up the message from their blackberry and just click dial to save them scrolling through their contact list (pretty damn good idea if you ask me, most of the guys contacts are a mess!!)
UC: *sigh* Fine its 00000000000
Me: Thank you very much! I'll pass on the message to him right away
UC: What is your name?
Me: I'm sorry?
UC: What is your name, I intend to tell Boss D about this when I talk to him, it is a disgrace.
Me: My name is TwistedAlice
UC: Thank you TwistedAlice of company, I will be complaining about your rudeness *click*
I'm like ....
the hell? What did I do wrong to be spoken down to like that?
Later on that day, Boss D calls me into a spare meeting room and proceeds to rip into me for asking Uptight Client for her phone number. I'm not going to take
from anyone, I might only be a secretary to them but I deserve some respect and I procced to tell him the above. He's not listening and said that I should know all the client's names off the top of my head, and to top it all off I should chat with them and ask them about their weekend and what I'm going to do on my weekend.
Not only do I not care what the clients do at the weekend I'm sure as hell not going to tell them about my private life just to make the company seem more interesting! (I'm sure knowing that the leasing department secretary likes going to rock festivals and gigs at the weekend and dresses like a punk goth is going to score us big time?!)
After all of this going back and forth with me getting more and more fed up with him as he's expecting more from me that I'm capable of giving, he tells me my best is not good enough and I had to send a long winded reply to his client telling her that I am very sorry for seeming rude on the phone.
my email as much as I can remember went:
Dear Uptight Customer
I am very sorry that I came across rude and abrupt on the phone. I do not personally work for Boss D and I am not aware of any of his clients names or phone numbers. I work for 8 people and each of them have asked me to take phone numbers for people that phone up as sometimes clients only give their first name. I am sure you are aware that some names are much more common than others and having the clients direct like to contact them is a great deal of help to my bosses.
Once again, very sorry if I came across rude, but I was doing my job as I was instructed to.
Kind regards
TwistedAlice
PA to <insert all bosses names here - standard corporate sig that everyone has to use>
Sorry that was pretty long, happened quite a while now and after this happened the Head of Department - who I also work for - decided that having 8 people to work for was too much pressure and gave 2 of my people to the other PAs. He was on my side throughout this and although he didn't think I needed to say sorry to the client he asked me to as she was highly important. And I did it because he asked me nicely to, not because Boss D bullied me into it.
Thanks for letting me rant!
Anyone else been forced to say sorry for something they are really not sorry for or where no sorry is even needed?
That being said, we have alot of very important clients. I work for 8 people as a secretary/PA/general dogsbody and each of my bosses has god knows how many clients.
There's about 15 people in the offices divided into 3 secretaries (yes I know it sounds unfair that I'm working for 8 of them, I'm only working for 6 now but I digress...)
So... Boss D's (who I don't work for) phone goes off. We've been told to answer the phone in 3 rings, now the other two are not picking up, notably Sec S who works for Boss D is not picking up the phone as she is meant to. Rather than annoy the whole office with a ringing phone, I bounce it to me to take a message for him.
Me - Me
UC: Uptight client
Me: Good Afternoon <company>!
UC: Is Boss D there?
Me: I'm sorry he is away from his desk, can I take a message?
UC: Yes, this is Uptight Client
Me: Brilliant, can I take your phone number please?
UC: Pardon?
Me: Can I take your phone number please?
UC: *pause and snotty voice* I've worked with Boss D for over 7 years, we are on first name terms, I shouldn't have to give you my phone number.
Me: Alright, I'm sorry, I don't personally work for Boss D so I'm afraid I don't know his clients, my own bosses have asked me to get a phone number for everyone that...
UC: I don't care, I've worked with him for 7 years
Me: I understand that, but my bosses like me to get the phone number so they are able to pick up the message from their blackberry and just click dial to save them scrolling through their contact list (pretty damn good idea if you ask me, most of the guys contacts are a mess!!)
UC: *sigh* Fine its 00000000000
Me: Thank you very much! I'll pass on the message to him right away
UC: What is your name?
Me: I'm sorry?
UC: What is your name, I intend to tell Boss D about this when I talk to him, it is a disgrace.
Me: My name is TwistedAlice
UC: Thank you TwistedAlice of company, I will be complaining about your rudeness *click*
I'm like ....
the hell? What did I do wrong to be spoken down to like that?Later on that day, Boss D calls me into a spare meeting room and proceeds to rip into me for asking Uptight Client for her phone number. I'm not going to take
from anyone, I might only be a secretary to them but I deserve some respect and I procced to tell him the above. He's not listening and said that I should know all the client's names off the top of my head, and to top it all off I should chat with them and ask them about their weekend and what I'm going to do on my weekend. Not only do I not care what the clients do at the weekend I'm sure as hell not going to tell them about my private life just to make the company seem more interesting! (I'm sure knowing that the leasing department secretary likes going to rock festivals and gigs at the weekend and dresses like a punk goth is going to score us big time?!)After all of this going back and forth with me getting more and more fed up with him as he's expecting more from me that I'm capable of giving, he tells me my best is not good enough and I had to send a long winded reply to his client telling her that I am very sorry for seeming rude on the phone.
my email as much as I can remember went:
Dear Uptight Customer
I am very sorry that I came across rude and abrupt on the phone. I do not personally work for Boss D and I am not aware of any of his clients names or phone numbers. I work for 8 people and each of them have asked me to take phone numbers for people that phone up as sometimes clients only give their first name. I am sure you are aware that some names are much more common than others and having the clients direct like to contact them is a great deal of help to my bosses.
Once again, very sorry if I came across rude, but I was doing my job as I was instructed to.
Kind regards
TwistedAlice
PA to <insert all bosses names here - standard corporate sig that everyone has to use>
Sorry that was pretty long, happened quite a while now and after this happened the Head of Department - who I also work for - decided that having 8 people to work for was too much pressure and gave 2 of my people to the other PAs. He was on my side throughout this and although he didn't think I needed to say sorry to the client he asked me to as she was highly important. And I did it because he asked me nicely to, not because Boss D bullied me into it.
Thanks for letting me rant!
Anyone else been forced to say sorry for something they are really not sorry for or where no sorry is even needed?
I miss my old job sometimes...
but that's another thread I think!
Plus we all like making money right!?
) that's becoming increasingly true.
Comment