Mortifying incident at work

[mortifedtoday]

I've done something really unprofessional and have been called out. Ages ago a client overheard me saying some less than unflattering things about them. Another colleague was on the phone and unbeknown to me had to put the call on hold while asking me something about this client. The client is tricky, difficult and generally annoying. This isn't an excuse, but mentioned for context.

A few days later they phoned back and mentioned to my colleague that they had overheard the conversation. Nothing more was said.

Today the client has called and spoken to me about something else. She didn't agree with the charge we are making for something. Not something I have control over and cannot be changed, it is what it is. During her first call she was fine and didn't mention the other incident. When I emailed her about the change she called back to question it and because I couldn't help/change it she then told me how rude I'd been a few months ago, calling my unprofessional and unedifying. I agree, it was out of order and I apologised, but I feel terrible.

There shouldn't be any repercussions at work as she is known to be difficult and not well liked, but I feel I need to make amends. Do I email and apologise again, or should I just leave it? Safe to say, lesson learnt and I will be making sure I don't do it again!

Weve all done it. I did it ten years ago with a supplier. The mute button was faulty and I didn’t know.

You’ve apologised leave it and don’t put anything in writing. It may not even have been you she overhead, you were all talking, but she manipulated the facts to try and get you to change something and give her a better deal on whatever it is you do.

She’s tricky. Your boss knows that. I don’t think anything else will happen if she brings it up again to her, you’ve told her, and if it does then you point out you were all talking and all were unprofessional. Your boss can’t sack the whole team they’ll be no staff left!

Now before I bitch I press mute and say ‘hello mr Smith are you there’ or whatever the callers name is, if no reply I know I’ve got a working muted phone and can bitch, but even so I cover the mouthpiece on the phone and butch to the minimum until I hang up - while remembering other callers on colleagues calls may overhear me bitch to others so I keep it down a bit.

Mortified, bless you - LEAVE IT.

If she is perpetually obnoxious & that's a widely held opinion amongst your colleagues, you were only wrong in getting caught, not in commiting the 'crime'!

Funny how the client wasn't upset enough to pull you up months ago when it happened, but is prepared to weaponise your 'crime' now. Not.

If people don't want to be called arseholes, not persistently behaving like an arsehole generally helps.

& just to raise a smile - an old boss of mine once responded to a repeat-offender client -
"I am sorry to hear you are dissatisfied with the level of customer service you receive from XYZ.
Like you, we often review both suppliers & customers, & in this instance I must inform you that we expect a high quality of communication & respect from our customers & sadly, you have not made the grade.

You sound deeply unprofessional

& this sounds deeply pompous.
HTH

I'll bet the next massively overused word on Mumsnet will be deeply

Oh, I deeply anticipate it will be @Absolutepowercorrupts.
After all, it conveys so much ... hauteur, without adding any meaning whatsoever, no?

Perfect for MN Bingo

For those who mute, if your company records your calls there is a possibility it still records your muted chat. Ours does and if a subject access request is made the company would have to release the whole thing.

@exWifebeginsAgainat46. I think what you said sounds entirely fair. In a similar position, I once wrote that an alcoholic client had clearly been drunk, a colleague felt this was subjective and pejorative, but I held firm, they asked what the client had done, and I explained he’d phoned 10 times in a row and been really offensive, when told to call no more, he phoned a further 200 times, completely blocking the phone lines, and only desisted when the Police visited him and told him to stop and yes they confirmed he was hammered! Sometimes i5 needs saying and why should we put up with abuse?

No chance of the call being recorded thankfully! It's only a small company. Colleague does need training in putting people on hold in future. She was very patronising to me on the phone. When I suggested that she could speak to other colleague on Monday if she wanted to discuss the charge further (they go way back and are sort of friends), she said, 'thank you for your permission to speak to X, I really don't need to be told that'. And then launched into 'and another thing...you we're very unprofessional...bla bla bla'.

They could be milking the situation to get the charges reduced. If they are that bothered, they will go elsewhere.

Not an option Hoghgyni unfortunately. We're stuck with her. I can't say what we do as it would out me, but safe to say overall she gets a good deal from us which she wouldn't get elsewhere, more's the pity!

The firm has already apologised. Reiterate that if she brings it up again, then let her fester, as she's proving a point as to how difficult she is.

FGS, don’t put anything in email 🤦‍♀️ If it was me, i’d just carry on as if the first incident didn’t happen. You’ve apologised, what more do they want??!! They can just suck it up and jog on.