work politics?

Question

I work in a call center for a bank. A customer called me & immediately started using profanity. He was mad because he had just called another division within our bank that we are phasing out. I listened to him yell and when I could not answer one question he asked for supervisor. My sup asked the other division’s sup to call the customer. Our response back from them was ‘the customer was mad that I (me) could not answer his question. They totally spun everything onto me!!! My division has not even been given the proper information to answer this question & I am our star phone representative.
This was escalated to our VP. At this point I sent an email to my boss explaining how rude this customer was with me because with my bosses apparently he was very nice. I was supported by my bosses and told everything was ok and not to be defensive. Shouldn’t I be defensive when the other division is making it seem like I was at fault? Also, do I need to save all the emails pertaining to this?

I guess my boss was right in telling me not to be defensive since it doesnt matter anyway.

Answer 1

To answer your last question first. Always save your emails pertaining to that sort of thing. It is the first step to the "Cover your butt" mentality in corporate life. Second, there is really no clear cut answer on the first part of your question. Employees are just not valued the way they used to be in terms of complaints and beliefs. I know it sucks, but from experience, that is exactly what is happening out there. If you are good at what you do (and it sounds like you are), there is always another company to work for if you disapprove of how your current company handles your problems. But you are just a tool for a VP who could care less about who is the star phone rep. They are only interested in maximizing profits. They don't care or want to deal with employee complaints. Again, just being honest from experience.

Answer 2

The key here is to cover your a.s.s. good. Keep all the e-mails as proof.
Second keep a record of all your calls concerning this and what was said to you and what you said.
Remember this most bosses in corporations now days didn't get there by being the brightest and smartest. They got there by being the best brown nosers and the best at covering their a,s.s.e.s. That means passing the buck to someone else to take the heat and get fired over.
The death of the unions and the death of the Mafia has also meant the death of stand up guys being the bosses.

Answer 3

That is the problem with call centers. They have to answer every ring even if it is from a raving nut job. You should save the emails since you can never tell where this customer will take his imagined woes next. Keep the file to cover yourself.