WIBTAH for hanging up on a customer?
A customer service employee is dealing with an angry customer who refuses to stop berating them despite multiple attempts to explain the situation. The employee has already provided a solution, but the customer keeps repeating their frustrations. The employee is considering hanging up on the customer to end the call but is unsure if that would be wrong , see the full post below…
‘ WIBTAH for hanging up on a customer ?’
So, here’s the situation. I work in customer service, and I’m currently dealing with a very angry customer. The customer is upset because I can’t find their purchase history by name or phone number in our system—likely because their name was misspelled in the system by another employee.
They’re going off on me for several minutes, not letting me say anything, and showing no signs of stopping. I finally managed to speak up and explained that I understood their frustration but that I couldn’t find their profile at the moment.
I suggested they come in person, as there was no manager available, and asked if there was anything else I could help with. But they continued to berate me, repeating the same things over and over again. At this point, it’s not only a waste of my time, but also emotionally draining. I wanted to hang up, but I didn’t.
Now, I’m wondering if I would be the asshole for hanging up next time if they won’t stop. I’m getting paid $17/hr, and it feels like I’m being subjected to adult tantrums for free. So, WIBTAH if I hung up on them?
Here’s how people reacted to the post:
TheVaneja − Ask your employer what the policy is for harassment by customers over the phone. You might be NTA but if you hang up on customers against your employer’s wishes you also might be not employed.
InkedMumNextDoor − Explain that if they can’t control their tone and have a productive conversation then you will be terminating the phone call. If they continue then hang up.
VespaRed − NTA, as nobody should be abused, but you might be unemployed
FortuneTwirl − Yikes, abit of a tough situation I would say NTA. You handled that situation way better than most people would have. Like, you were patient, professional, and even gave them a potential solution.
If they’re just going to keep yelling after that, it’s not on you to absorb all that negativity. Hanging up doesn’t make you an AH it’s setting boundaries. People like that don’t deserve your time or energy.
j4ckb1ng − NTA. But you should verify with your manager what the company policy is regarding verbal harassment. In most cases, if a person is yelling or just repeating himself (VERY annoying, I believe you), that alone might not rise to the level of allowing you to hang up.
Unfortunately, allowing callers to be annoying is a part of working in customer service. And remember, $17 per hour is better than ZERO per hour.
No-Statistician-9156 − As someone who gets yelled at often over the phone. I state once if you can’t control your tone I will hang up and you are welcome to call back when you have calmed down.
Its something my boss and I have agreed too. Another good one is youre tone is preventing me from assisting you any further have a good day. Call back when calm.
Automatic-Diamond-52 − Always hang up when you are talking That seems like a dropped call and not a hangup
Halospite − One technique I’ve deployed is just to let them rant. I stay quiet long enough that the silence becomes uncomfortable, then repeat what I already said. This always triggers another rant so I just do it again. I repeat the exact words I said before. There’s never another rant after that.
If that doesn’t work, and you’re not allowed to say something like “if you can’t treat me with respect I’ll have to hang up the phone”, my last ditch method is to pretend the line cut out.
Would it be wrong to hang up on an irate customer, especially after trying to resolve the issue and being repeatedly berated? How would you handle this situation in a customer service role? Share your thoughts below!