Dodged a bullet with this SC...(or, How Dare You Pronounce The SC's Name Wrong)

[BeenThereDoneThat]

So I took a call today that went OK until the very end. The customer originally wanted to speak to another agent who was in another office (in another state), but that person was unavailable, so initially I tried to help her out myself. After a couple of minutes, though, it really sounded like the person who was helping her previously would probably handle her issue better due to having much more knowledge of the situation, so I said I'd leave a message for the other agent. I then went to end the call and mispronounced the customer's name. She immediately corrected me rather haughtily, and I apologized and went on with my closing but from that point on it was like I'd just dumped garbage on her head and she barely even said goodbye.

I was a bit puzzled by all of that until, as I was entering my own notes on the order, I read back into the other notes. Turns out there were PAGES AND PAGES of them...and evidently, the customer is not only a real bitch when things don't go her way (and apparently that's often), but she has a REAL issue with how her name is pronounced. I counted at least 3 separate places where different agents actually put the phonetics in after her name so everybody would know how it was SUPPOSED to be said. WTF?? People mangle my name all the time and it's not even as "different" as hers is...and I usually just let it slide unless the person asks if they got it right or there is a VERY good reason I need to correct them. I am soooooooooooo glad I got out of helping her further with her return/exchange issue...I have a feeling I would not only have been talking to her or hearing her yell at me for a long time on that call, but I'd be talking to her again many times in the future. I feel like sending flowers to the agent who is stuck with her.

[Kristev]

Oh my. What a nightmare.

[dalesys]

Not so much Mrs. Bouquet as Mizzass Bowser-Kitteh, I'll say.

[Sheldonrs]

Just have everyone call her Bitch. It's easy to pronounce and remember.

[taxguykarl]

At the tax office, we get a lot with faux-African names. I try to avoid the OP's scenario this way:
"Correct me if I'm mispronouncing, Ms. [best guess]".

[earl colby pottinger]

Was it

The name of the woman would be Bucket by chance?

Look up "Keeping up Appearances" if you don't know what I mean.

[EricKei]

The name of the woman would be Bucket by chance?

Or, perhaps, Dumass...?

~ "The name is DuMAHS" ~

[ApolloSZ]

"Its spelt Raymond Luxury-yacht, but its pronounced Throat Warbler-Mangrove"

[Engmfj]

Got to love a Python reference

[Shalom]

Or Exy? (It's short for Eczema.)

Lots more examples on that page.

ETA: Didn't P.G. Wodehouse (pronnouced "woodhouse") write about someone named Mapledurham? (pronounced Mum). Hell, if your given names are Pelham Grenville, you've gotta make jokes about names.

[BlaqueKatt]

"He was so unique he spelled his name Hen3ry-the three was silent you see....."

[MadMike]

~ "The name is DuMAHS" ~

What a dumbass!

ETA: Didn't P.G. Wodehouse (pronnouced "woodhouse") write about someone named Mapledurham? (pronounced Mum).

I remember riding bikes with my friends when I was a kid, and we spotted a mailbox belonging to a guy whose last name was "Sloppy." I thought it was pretty funny, but my friend knew the guy, and apparently he pronounced it "Slope-y."

I remember the late great George Carlin talking about how you can pronounce your name anyway you want.

"Your name could be spelled S-M-I-T-H, and you could pronounce it 'Jonofsky' is you wanted."

"What's the name?"

"Jonofsky."

"How do you spell that?"

"S-M-I-T-H."

"Huh?"

"They're all silent, never mind."

[XCashier]

My last name is easy to pronounce if you remember basic pronunciation rules, namely that a vowel followed by a double consonant has a short sound. Unfortunately, few people remember that, and I've had my name mispronounced so many ways, it isn't funny. Yes, it does get a little annoying, but it's hardly worth throwing a conniption fit over.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I have a simple four letter last name, a very common word, and yet it has been mispronounced. It is a one syllable word, but the manglers somehow manage to make it a two syllable word.

[BrenDAnn]

My last name is pronounced the way it looks. Four letter name. Yet I've had people say it wrong. The best was when a telemarkter called and asked me "Is this the *spells out my last name instead of trying to pronounce it* residence?" Hahahaha! My name is NOT that hard to say!