I work at Ticketmaster. Why do you hate me?

Question

What is it with people and getting mad at ME because they think prices are too high? I agree they're high, but I can't control that, I just work there. Not just that, but people get pissed off for a bunch of reason that I can't change. For example, I can't give refunds, and people will YELL at me because they want a refund. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I literally have NO WAY of giving refunds. There is no program or process that I can use in my computer to give a refund. People get mad about the long hold time, the extra charges, EVERYTHING. One guy called & was mad that his tickets hadn't arrived by mail yet, so I said that if he didn't recieve the tickets in the mail 48 hrs before the event that we would put them at the box office for him to pick up. well he got so mad & was SHRIEKING at me and called me a moron and an idiot. So, WHY do people, who I'm sure are polite in person, behave like that over the phone? And have you ever called and acted like that and why?

Answer 1

I am really sorry you have been treated this way, it's not right and must be very frustrating. Please try to remember that you, personally, are not really the object of this person's frustrations, you are just the person they are "venting" to.

Whenever, on the rare occasions that I have to, I feel need to call and complain to a company about a service or product I have received, the first thing I do is ask for someone who will be able to take my complaint. Then I begin by stating that I am not angry at the person I am talking to directly, but I am angry and would like to voice my complaint. I always make sure I am calm before I make a call like that.
I think if others would practice good etiquette skills like those, the world would be a calmer and more sane place to live.