# Yelled At Customer



## drealm

We were extremely busy at work and this customer was halting business. When I approached the customer to fix the problem he immediately took me for a sucker and started yelling at me. In that moment something phenomenal happened for the first time in my life. Instead of shrinking into a skiddish rodent, I roared with thunder at the top of my lungs and crushed the customer's own shouts. He pegged me for a skinny white dude with glasses and instead got a caged animal.

Yelling at another human being felt great. The afterglow last an hour, I couldn't help but re-live the memory of this victorious shouting match. For once I felt I earned my manhood. Jerks must feel this way all the time. I should get in touch with my inner jerkishness. I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel and there's no downside to being a jerk or a**hole, it's all uphill. It's the best drug in the world, it makes you feel like a god.

So in closing, be a little ruder, be a little meaner and try hurting other people's feelings once in a while. The payoff is enormous and you won't regret it. Now that I've tasted the urge, I'll look for customers to bully and pick fights with.


----------



## rdrr

There's one thing to have a backbone to defend yourself, and there's another to be mean for the joy of putting others down. Don't confuse the two.


----------



## drealm

rdrr said:


> There's one thing to have a backbone to defend yourself, and there's another to be mean for the joy of putting others down. Don't confuse the two.


It's all Zeus energy! I wanna throw a lightning bolt at whoever gets in my way.


----------



## Flame Sixtyone

I don't agree with you on "hurting other people's feelings once in a while, the pay-off is enormous", it only makes me feel like crap afterwards.
But I do like yelling at people who deserve it, makes you feel like a god! :lol


----------



## millenniumman75

You may think you had "earned your manhood", but you're lucky you didn't lose your job.


----------



## TurningPoint

millenniumman75 said:


> You may think you had "earned your manhood", but you're lucky you didn't lose your job.


Agreed. Customers can be *****es, but when you work you represent the company. Also, defending yourself doesn't always mean that you have to overpower another dude's negative rants with those of your own.


----------



## drealm

millenniumman75 said:


> You may think you had "earned your manhood", but you're lucky you didn't lose your job.


This would be the case in just about any other job on the face of the earth. However exceptions apply where I work.

1. My boss yells at customers on a regular basis (far worst than I do).

2. The customer was making the company lose money.

3. My boss would of yelled at me for NOT stepping up.


----------



## mrfixit

i would say that these are dangerous grounds BUT and thats a big BUT, if you can prove and are sure that you are right, then more power to you. you just need to make sure to explain this to your boss...if he was to find out about it.

this is standing up for your rights, just because ‘customers are always right’ doesn’t mean they can step on you when they feel like it specially when they are wrong.
i mean there’s a difference between a customer getting ripped of and complaining about it with a customer getting pissed of cus of personal issues. 

i would say on this one, you where right.


----------



## millenniumman75

drealm said:


> This would be the case in just about any other job on the face of the earth. However exceptions apply where I work.
> 
> 1. My boss yells at customers on a regular basis (far worst than I do).
> 
> 2. The customer was making the company lose money.
> 
> 3. My boss would of yelled at me for NOT stepping up.


1. Your boss is not setting the right example.
2. The customer should have been told that there was an issue - that is taken up by your management. 
3. You don't need to yell to step up - I had a customer cuss me out over French fries. The other customers must have gotten to him because he apologized. There is the phrase "kill 'em with kindness".

You are representing your company, even if your boss isn't.


----------



## Atticus

You were at work and all, and your interpretation may be a little extreme (though getting in touch with your inner jerk does sound like a best seller) but in essence you set a boundary. That's healthy. Sounds like you need to do more of it, though you don't need to be a jerk, just an assertive human being.


----------



## Tweedy

millenniumman75 said:


> 1. Your boss is not setting the right example.
> 2. The customer should have been told that there was an issue - that is taken up by your management.
> 3. You don't need to yell to step up - I had a customer cuss me out over French fries. The other customers must have gotten to him because he apologized. There is the phrase "kill 'em with kindness".
> 
> *You are representing your company, even if your boss isn't*.


Agreed. And I love the part you bolded.

I used to be a complete ***** to customers who got on my nerves but I'd always go home at the end of the day feeling awful for the way I'd treated them. I agree with killing people with kindness - you'll feel a lot better about yourself in the long term.


----------



## AkwardNisa

well, yeah it feels good in the moment and for a short while after, but in reality you end up looking like a mental patient and feeling horrible inside...but at least you stood up for yourself. lol


----------



## TheDaffodil

I think it just depends on the person. Everyone loses their cool at some point. I do, but always apologize later because most things that are yelled about aren't worth yelling about in my opinion. I think there's a healthy amount...again, just losing your cool sometimes and realizing that you did. But when it feels powerful and you keep doing it over and over...well, it's all that power corrupts business in the end. There's a way to communicate anger and frustration without yelling. There's a way to be stern and taken seriously. Admittedly there are a select few who just don't react to anything but yelling. These types I tend to write off, though. I don't care to waste my energy "beating them at their own game" when I know in the end I'm saving myself the stress of it. Anyway, enjoy knowing that you can do this when needed but don't take advantage of it. Excess of anything almost never works out for people. And no one wants to be the person they despise, I don't think. I don't want to be the person who always bullies people and picks fights. I don't wanna be around that person so I don't wanna be that person...cuz then I'm always around that person haha, and I don't want to rub nice people the wrong way and repel them.


----------



## pita

Atticus said:


> You were at work and all, and your interpretation may be a little extreme (though getting in touch with your inner jerk does sound like a best seller) but in essence you set a boundary. That's healthy. Sounds like you need to do more of it, though you don't need to be a jerk, just an assertive human being.


These are my feelings exactly. You definitely need to set a boundary if a customer attacks you. But, in my experience, getting angry at a customer generally only makes you _feel_ powerful. If you can let the customer know that his behaviour is unacceptable while not letting him know that he has upset you, you'll be in much better control of the situation.


----------



## Ambivert

I like this thread. Two thumbs up!

Being in retail for a couple of years, I had my share of both good and bad customers. One thing I noticed is that a lot of miserable people with sad domestic lives come to the store and take it out on employees because they are miserable inside. (I know because I saw how they acted around their spouses and children)

BUT I would recommend only doing this if he starts making personal attacks on you and even insulting your parents (OOooh he's dead if he says this one to me, don't care if I get fired or not), then its fairgame to unleash the salvo. Only attack when its justified, don't make the first blow.

But in all other situations where business is business, try as MM75 said to "kill em with kindness"


----------



## drealm

I yelled at another customer today. I'm getting good at this. No guilt whatsoever so far.


----------



## Neptunus

Two wrongs don't make a right.


----------



## pita

Well, while you're at it, come yell at a couple of my mine.


----------



## drealm

Neptunus said:


> Two wrongs don't make a right.


Don't make me raise my voice missy!


----------



## JayDontCareEh

Yeah I agree, sticking up for yourself when someone is shouting at you can be quite a rush. But. After about an hour or so the anxiety sets in, and then begins the post incident autopsy. :afr


----------



## Neptunus

drealm said:


> Don't make me raise my voice missy!


 :afr :tiptoe


----------



## low

That's an awesome story. Good for you.


----------



## djr86

rdrr said:


> There's one thing to have a backbone to defend yourself, and there's another to be mean for the joy of putting others down. Don't confuse the two.


I definitely agree with the above.

I am usually pretty reserved and easy going, but there are a few rare ppl who really make me explode and I just yell at them. And usually they are very surprised and speechless because no one expects the shy, socially anxious guy to yell lol.


----------



## millenniumman75

drealm said:


> Don't make me raise my voice missy!





Neptunus said:


> :afr :tiptoe


I think this calls for a bulletin.

****Thread Lock Watch****
Snapping at a customer and snapping at another member are two different issues. The idea is CONTROL and MODERATION. Obviously, I have had to step in since boundaries were crossed.


----------



## Neptunus

^ Nah, I think he was kidding, MM75, and so was I in my response. Everything's cool. Thanks though.


----------



## mrfixit

tell them who’s the boss and spit to the side...mama raised no fool.

seriously, yelling is not good to do over and over again, to ‘defuse’ the situation one has to either use common sense or make the other person feel stupid. those are the only two options and both have their own consequences if taken over board. 

so why did you yelled this time?

lol...you better apologize to the lady:|


----------



## Johnny_Genome

I'm curious as to what type of work you're in that always has customers yelling?


----------



## mrfixit

^ i disagree here because this would only be true outside work customer service.

lets say you work with a friend behind a cash register. you look skinny and weak and the other guy looks big and tough...now the lady was not happy with her product because it was broken, wrong product, not working how it should..etc. this lady knows her rights so she complains, her only goal is to get her money back or a working product. she is not there focusing on the weak or strong because she knows she’s not in danger. she knows customers are always right. etc

moral of the story i've seen ladies yell at big strong guys behind the counter.


----------



## VIncymon

stoical said:


> *If you're truly confident and strong, it shows. Nobody yells at you,* and there is no desire to yell at anyone else. Would you yell at someone who exuded confidence? No, not in a million years. The weak go around picking on the weak.


I would like to know how that works. What do people smell confidence and shrink away from it ?

What really happens is, people who are good looking / rich / have something extraordinaty talent, are respected more, which feeds their confidence. All the average ppl have to struggle to prove themselves.

Let us talk about short-man-syndrome a bit. There is an old saying that short guys usually behave more aggressive. Do you know why that happens ? The only reason the shorter men ( _according to the stereotype, don't blame me for the stereotype_ ) behave more aggressive is because people tend to respect them less.

I don't know how else to put it .. but I am sure if the OP didn't have glasses, was 6 ft. 5" and powerfully built with a face like Bruce Willis ... nobody would dare shout at him, and nobody would interpret his shouting back at the customer as "_pretending to be confident_."

A guy looking like Bruce Willis walks around waving a gun, and everyone thinks its cool, suave and confident.

A guy looking like Mike Mayers does the same thing, and everyone mutters WT_ that he is posturing and pretending.


----------



## drealm

mrfixit said:


> so why did you yelled this time?


The woman was making my job harder. I want to be paid the most money for doing the least work. She took it on herself to create a delusional problem that wouldn't of affected her had she just followed my instructions to begin with.



Johnny_Genome said:


> I'm curious as to what type of work you're in that always has customers yelling?


I work at a car wash. Customers yell at me for several reasons.

One, they're mostly ghetto mutants who's sole possession of wealth is their beater car with bling bling rims tacked on. Ghetto trash treat their car like a caged animal does a chew toy. Make any sudden moves and they'll bark.

Two I work around machinery that sounds like 747's. To hear anything you need to yell. Quiet people die, so any customer request is default yelling.

Lastly, one wrong move and you can have a mechanical nightmare.


----------



## STKinTHEmud

Congrats, drealm! It's awesome to hear that one of us had the balls to let someone have it. We've got to defend ourselves, speak up, and make our presence known, I think. I think rationalizing ways to restrain ALL our anger and aggressive instincts only works to preserve SA. Keep on with that aggressive behavior and keep not giving a crap about what people think, and I think you'll be well on your way to a better you (perhaps with a girlfriend, too!). I'm in your corner, man.


----------



## scarpia

drealm said:


> This would be the case in just about any other job on the face of the earth. However exceptions apply where I work.
> 
> 1. My boss yells at customers on a regular basis (far worst than I do).
> 
> 2. The customer was making the company lose money.
> 
> 3. My boss would of yelled at me for NOT stepping up.


Doesn't matter. My boss used to yell at me all the time. Then I got in trouble for "threatening" someone with a bowl of pasta. It wasn't fair at all. But workplace crap is never fair. Its a Dilbert situation.


----------



## RockyD

ROFL !!!

Mate I do not know if you are are serious, trying to be funny, or serious AND trying to be funny, but I have found your posts in this thread very amusing indeed you sure have a way with words.

Look good for you. If your in a job which has a culture of behaving that way then I am glad you have this opportunity to express yourself Lol


----------



## mind_games

RockyD said:


> ..If your in a *job which has a culture of behaving that way* then I am glad you have this opportunity to express yourself Lol


Assuming that's the case I say good on you for standing up for yourself and not letting yourself get verbally beaten down. But there are consequences to these things so be you gotta be cautious about it all and use anger/confrontations sparingly.


----------



## General Specific

I used to work in retail and I believe it's crap that you are not allowed to defend yourself against abusive customers. They can swear at you all they want but if you say one word you're the bad guy and risk losing your job.

What a complete load of ****..


----------



## Georgina 22

wow, good for you heehee...yeah it does feel good sometimes to have a shout/moan at people. Rising your voice now and again from how you usually talk feels good!


----------

