Why are people that call or co-workers like this?

Question

I worked in the insurance business for 12 years and people who called were very mean and difficult

Also what really got me mad and got my back up was the callers that would call the reception desk, some callers would come back to my board 10-15 times harrasing me, belittling me, cursing at me and I was even threatened a couple of times also. These people that called really had a lot of balls or a lot of nerve.

I did my job the best I could and I was not allowed to get away with ANYTHING. But my question is why do people treat the receptionist like the hired help and treat the receptionist like she is stupid? I have NEVER EVER talked to ANYONE in that fashion.

Why are people like this? I can only imagine how they treat thier family and friends.

One caller threatened to bomb my office if he did not get his check and he said there will be no more receptionist left that was the straw that broke the camels back and I went to another postion.

What is your take on this?

My title I mean to say Why are callers like this?

Answer 1

Well I work for customer service at a call center and when people call in and start degrading I give them three warnings and if they don't stop, I terminate the call. I also let them know that their nasty attitude won't do any good and what I can and can't do, if they have a problem with it, they can write to corporate. * I don't tolerate the "customer is always right" bull sh1t, I let them know who's going to control the call tactfully hehehehe!

Answer 2

People get mean when it comes to money, hun. Unfortunatly you have/had a crappy job. People treat the receptionist bad because they can. They have a lot of frustration and anger, and unfortunatly you were available to take that out on.

I was in this kind of job before and I understand how hard it is. Unfortunatly, when people are in bad situations (especially those that require getting an insurance company involved) they aren't thiniking about the feelings of others.

The only advice I can give you is to take every day with a grain of salt and try your hardest to not let it effect you.

Also, you can talk to your managers about having a "non-abusive work environment" policy that is focused on the patrons who call/come in. Where I worked, we enforced a policy that gave the receptionist the right to terminate a call / conversation in the event of verbal abuse. She first had to respectfully and calmly state: "Sr/Ma'am, I understand your frustration and I am here to help you. However, I can not help you if you are verbally abusive to me. Please calm down and let me help you." If that did not work then you say, "Sir/Ma'am, I am sorry but I can not help you when you are being verbally abusive. I am not terminating this phone call/ conversation. Thank you." Then hang up/ ask the person to leave. You can then tell them you will call the police if they refuse to leave. Then call the police if they do not leave. Also make sure you report the incident to your supervisor. I had an incident report that I filled out for each incident.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

People do that a lot to people in service positions, because they feel they can get away with it. They may have some kind of stressful situation and will take it out on whoever they think they can take it out on.....personally, I would talk to my supervisor about it and ask if there is something that can be done when the situation comes up. Where I used to work ( at the unemployment office) Times would would come up like that for me too....and I wasn't a receptionist. Usually I just say sir/ma'am, you are being rude, and I am trying to hear what they are saying so I can try and help them.......usually they were brought down to the right level and communicated properly.....if they kept on cussing I let them know at least twice that I would disconnect the call if they didn't stop using profanity towards me....then....I did it :-P

Sometimes, especially when it comes to money, people are stressed and will just need to vent, so after I tell them about there rudeness they will apologize.....and i'd listen to what's really going on with them.

Answer 4

When you work in a complaint department, or interact with people who are upset, they're going to take it out on you. You represent the company that is saying, "We're not paying you money."

I work for an insurance company and I work in tandem with the call center reps. They are always taking abuse. One always starts off with combative callers by saying, "I'm trying to help you. We're on the same team. I need you to calm down so we can talk this through."

It often works, though not always. But it's a part of the job. People are calling because something's WRONG, not to say you're doing a great job and thank you. It's the way it works.

Sorry.

Answer 5

It is called dealing with the public. A great many people take out their frustration on whoever is answering the phone. Some people are just arrogant and have no respect for anyone and talk down to everyone. And then there are those that are just plain ignorant and don't really know any better. And last but not least there are those that are having a bad day and just looking for someone to take it out on.

Answer 6

do you recognize if he has a larger half already or has been relationship all and sundry? Are you equals at artwork or is one in all you at a extra advantageous point than the different? How long have you ever been working at the same time and how plenty place of work is it (small/super/artwork heavily at the same time)? All of those can element into the alternative. yet finally, in case you experience strongly approximately him and think of that is reciporicated - then that is well worth it. in simple terms be arranged for him to assert that he thinks that is awkward or a foul concept. Now if he says this, he's not saying he doesnt experience a similar way, yet extremely he would have in the past dated somebody he works with or knows somebody who has and it worked out poorly and jaded his innovations on that project. So if that does ensue, please dont take it as rejection. I did dad my boss, two times. as quickly as became into in undemanding terms a quick volume of time, the different became into longer and finally worked out that somebody stated it and it became an HR project. never exciting. yet on a similar factor, I had 3 diverse instruments of couples who have been coworkers (who have been friends) and ended up getting married. I say decide for it in case you're up for despite would ensue. it is recommended to even have something arranged in case you does say he's apprehensive approximately it being strange in simple terms so which you dont experience strange around him the next day. sturdy success.

Answer 7

OMG, I can relate. I do not know why people love to do this. It's as if they live to treat people like crap. It's the same if you have a slight accent, people think you know less and treat you like an idiot.

I have worked as a receptionist before and hated the way people treated me and my co-workers. It's a tough job, I think that is why there is a high turn around rate for those types of positions.

I do not know why they do it, but I guess it makes them feel better about themselves.

Answer 8

I know what you're saying, when I was a teenager and I worked in fast food people always treated me like crap and talked down to me like I was stupid or lazy for working there.

I've come to the conclusion that when people pay you for a service, they tend to treat you like "the help" which is wrong in itself as well by the way. They see it as, "well if I pay for something I should get it like I want it, when I want it and then some. Never mind circumstance or issues. I don't like how this is going so I'm going to yell and scream and be an a** cause blah blah blah." They act like paying you is a favor in itself so any sort of screw up demands an outrage.

Answer 9

Because when they call, they're mad - and you're the first person they get. This is especially true if they're forced to go through one of those obnoxious automated "press 1 for this, press 2 for that" menus that seem to go on forever.

I've been there, and it's very hard not to take it personally. My father was a department store manager for years and years, and his position was to always "Kill them with kindness." If you treat a rude and irrational person with extreme care and kindness, you catch them off guard and they lower their defenses and, sometimes, that makes them calm down a little bit. It doesn't always work, of course, but it may make things easier. They can hear it in your voice if you're not smiling, and, like a bully, your resolve cracking is just the ammo they need to keep on going.

Answer 10

Because people need someone to be angry with and unfortunately it usually ends up being the first person they speak with on the phone. All the pent up frustration with the insurance company is all vented towards the person answering the phone. It's not right, it's very rude and people will always still do it. Sorry.