There have been times when I am so pissed that I cannot hold it in. The first thing I do is tell the person what is happening and appologise for being so upset. It is the company I am pissed at not their representative. I find the person on the other side usually appreciates this, yelling at them does no good. I have almost always found caring for this other person helps as they have agreed with me.

Wow your experiences sound horrendous, sorry you've been through that. I'm not sure if people are that bad in the UK and Australia. I've found most people ok and just a few getting too personal in Australia. Or maybe that's just me. (Also you can bar them or stop serving them if you're in a pub, which is great!)

I quit a job at an insurance call center last year because I absolutely positively could not take it anymore. My job was arguing with stupid people all day who thought they knew my job better than I did. And like you said, people could stand to learn that the person helping you when you call someplace are NOT the people who make the policies, set the prices, etc.

My favorite was people who would immediately start bitching about the hold times. I always wanted to say, "What makes you think I have any control over that?" Or the idiots that would call for a quote, and then complain about the quote. "I'm not going to pay that. Why should I pay that much for this policy?!" What good does it do to bitch at me because you don't like the price? I always wanted to say, "Look, a$$hole, if you don't want it, DON'T BUY IT. Problem solved!"

Let me give y'all a piece of advice while we're at it: always, ALWAYS ask questions about something BEFORE you buy it. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to people bitch and moan and threaten to file lawsuits because they bought insurance ASSUMING it would cover something it didn't. (And what happens when we ASSUME, boys and girls?) There's a big difference between being a victim of fraud and being someone who couldn't be bothered to read the contract.

I am pretty sure if I had to work in 'customer service' the phrase "I will cut you" would be my name tag....I did work in as a 7-11 clerk back in the late 80's for a brief amount of time....but, during my shift, I called it an inconvenience store....when regulars walked in, I greeted them with either a 'whadaya want now?' or 'not you again'. New customers got a 'buy at your own risk'. The owner was the worst....a drunken 5' tall texan who had so many DUI's that his 7-11 eventually lost it's license..but the benefit was that he said,"Don't put up with no shit...if a customer is causing a problem, kick him out...it's not like we will run out of customers..."...haha! Rowdy Roddy Piper was a semi-regular....he got the 'not you again'....haha...he was awesome.

Sometimes when I talk to someone quite younger than me I find myself saying, "back in the old days" and I hated when I was young when they said that to me. But it was better back in the 50's and 60's. My first real job in 1965 was at a chain grocery store stocking shelves $1.75 hr., it was a union job minimum wage was $1.35! People earned a very livable wage then. Anti-unionism to me has strangled our wage earners and thus ridiculous wages of today.

I used to work for a municipal government. There were some good things about it, for sure. But, it was also like wearing a target on your back! I left. Now I'm a teacher. Hmm, something strangely familiar.......

Worked a lot of customer service jobs too. Reading your post reminds me of Ehrenreich's book 'Nickel and Dimed' . Even in Florida there's got to be something better. I know Florida's a right to work (for less) state but there has to be some jobs with union representation. I definitely know what you're going through. Take care. With you in the struggle.

Wow was just thinking of how unrealistic that is to the customers. Think that an employer would encourage a sick employees to seek medical care rest etc so that the employee could give the customers the best treatment in hope of repeated business.

This! I've had a man raise his cane at me, been called a liar too many times to list, been waved over, fingers snapped at me, etc. All manner of comments and hand gestures intended to humiliate me by bullies that know they can get away with it.

In the past, men have "accidently" touched my ass and/or breasts, grab me by the arm or shoulder to keep me where they want me. make comments about how I must be in bed.

And I am expected to not only tolerate it but actually fucking thank them for shopping there. Half the time, the store management is treating the female staff the same damn way.

The people we interact with the most at work are never called "customers." One of the top best things about my job is not having to make "customers" happy. We're nice to people but we will not put up with nasty people on the phone. The other day somebody called all bent out of shape about something and one of the other ladies in the office said if we don't have at least one pissed off person call a day we're not doing our jobs!

You really do have to wonder about the intelligence level of someone that will call and scream at ladies that can take their money.

As a matter of fact, if you call and scream at us, we'll use every tool at our disposal to hunt you down and take your money! And happy dance through the office when we get it. LOL!!

I get sick quite often because crew and customers come to eat or work sick. I think I have more nice customers than the rude ones. This old senior was rude. I got my boss, he was rude to her as well. He wanted free things without a purchase. He thought he was entitled and privileged. Seniors tend to think that when they rudely ask for a senior drink. "I get a free drink?!" No, you ask like this: "May I please have a senior drink?" So many elderly people are rude about it.

Very true - same culture in the UK and people in low paid customer service roles often have to use leave / holiday time as sick also if sick "too much" to be covered in work schemes /contracts.

People really do shoot the postman for the letter.

Used to do industrial sales and when dealing with a person on the other end and you need their help yelling never works nor abuse. Treat them and make them fell like only they can fix this problem even if it is their fault

I worked for Sainsbury's in the UK, one of our largest supermarket chains, for 8 years and hear you loud and clear. All employees started on minimum wage, and might get a pay increment each year, depending on a yearly performance review.

I never got to work on the Customer Service Desk itself, and wouldn't have wanted to. But as a shelf-stacker and till operator, I got my (un)fair share of abuse from customers who were pissed off because we'd sold out of an item that was on sale - probably the biggest gripe that I faced. Sainsbury's were very good in their employee training and we would often be able to turn a disgruntled customer into one of our greatest fans by offering to save the item for the customer when it was next in stock

At the time I was just starting to get into Buddhism, which helped me a lot. A smile can go a long way, and patiently and honestly explaining a situation kept me in good stead.

But then there were total assholes who just weren't interested in engaging at all.

Amen

Lifes rough out there... it is what it is... its that way at high paying jobs... i was a utility foreman. I made good money but I basically worked for all foreman, secretaries, any prick trying to suck up to his boss. The security. Note: You got bullshit at every level. I try to be nice to all people. But i want to inform you that low wage jobs aren't the only jobs with bullshit. High paying jobs catch hell too.