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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to hate the phrase, "no problem"

67 replies

jameelaq · 01/10/2010 16:30

Very annoying when all companies' representatives say this. I feel like saying, "well I didn't think there would be a problem" or "what? is there a problem" or "thank God for that" They all say it without thinking, as a filler.

OP posts:
purplepeony · 01/10/2010 19:45

I just hate no worries- because in my mind worry is usually used as a verb- to worry.

Whereas problem is a noun, so you can easily have no problems.

Worry is something you do but a problem is something you have.

purplepeony · 01/10/2010 19:48

p.s.

it is fine surely to mean " not a problem" by saying no problem, but it's a bit odd IMHO to say it's "not a worry" and turn that into no worries.

I do get incensed by this TBH, as a worry and a problem are very different. A problem is something that can be solved but a worry is more a state of mind.

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 19:57

yes I suppose so Rockbird. However it is also the sheer frequency which annoys me. I might ask three questions and make three statements and it seems that almost every response is just "not a problem" as if they don't have any other reponse in their brains.

OP posts:
Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 20:00

Sacha - I wouldn't sneer at someone for saying it, but now I have a chance to ask someone who used it a lot. What did you think you meant when you said "no problem" as at no point had either you or your customer indicated that there might or could be a problem. Small thing, I know. Just curious

OP posts:
marialuisa · 01/10/2010 20:09

i use it a lot and when I mean it as "ok, I'll take care of that". In my line of work I am frequently asked to do things that may be problematic, even if the requester doesn't realise it. I also say it when I'm doing something to be helpful which i could validly refuse to do (this includes at home). I don't work in a customer service role.

Rockbird · 01/10/2010 20:33

I see it as the same as saying "you're welcome". Half the time I don't mean that because they've been a royal PITA but I say it because it's expected and it's a filler.

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 20:59

So from what Rockbird says it does seem that I am not pedantically paranoid, the person who uses it does (perhaps subconsciously) believe that the other one is causing a problem/ being pita etc. Thought so. So-called "customer service" nowadays means, "I don't get paid much and certainly not enough to give a toss what you think about the company I work for who I don't give a toss about anyway because they don't give a toss about me so I'll just use this phrase so it looks like I'm helping you whereas in fact I think you're a twat for interrupting me staring into space dreaming of Magaluf....... etc etc
Dishonesty 21st century style. Do you think we will ever see an honest company that treats its staff and customers with respect. How about a mission statement along the lines of:
"We care deeply about our customers and their experience and take complaints very seriously. But we must add that we are far more interested in your money (which is why we exist, obviously) and hope that there will be no problems as no-one likes dealing with them to be honest. We put on a false image because we know if we didn't then certain types would try it on all the time and then we would lose out. We would like to help but........"
oh you get the point. Might be refreshing, no?
The next business paradigm?

OP posts:
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 21:02

Er. I agree with whoever said you were overthinking this.

Deep breaths! Grin

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 21:03

I need to get out more. My thumbs have gone weird

OP posts:
Rockbird · 01/10/2010 21:05

Nooooo, now you're putting words on my screen :o I just meant that it's something you say without thinking about the real meaning.

Rockbird · 01/10/2010 21:06

words in my mouth obviously Blush

SacharissaCripslock · 01/10/2010 21:12

Noooo, I never used it to mean someone was being a pita. I would say it to mean that there wouldn't be a problem with their order. Simple as that. We had what they wanted and they would get their meal as quickly as possible. I don't think anyone means "no problem" in the way you think it does. I'd actually be hurt if someone had thought I was being all passive agressive when I was just trying to be nice. Blush

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 21:26

Oh I thought I had it all clear until you said that Sacha. Do you think that the other person thought that there would be a problem with their order? In which case wouldn't it make more sense if someone said,
"I'd like fish and chips unless you've got a problem with that"
Then you could say, "no problem" either factually or apologetically or in any tone you chose.

Maybe next time I phone BT/Mamas and Papas/Inland Revenue/Nat West, I could say something like, "Could you be telling me why you are charging me £10.99 when I have a letter from you saying you would charge me only £7.99 or have you got a problem with that?"
It sounds a bit aggressive to me

OP posts:
Rockbird · 01/10/2010 21:31

Actually, having read your previous post a bit more carefully now, I've decided to take offence at it. Not everyone on the end of a phone to you is an underling who would rather be daydreaming of a shitty holiday resort, just because they happen to answer a phone. Not everyone on the end of a phone to you is a company, or in the business of making a fat profit or being paid to sit there and have you patronise them. It's all becoming clearer now. Maybe you are a problem to them, that could be why you hear it so much and actually, they're being very polite by saying no problem. You really are quite arrogant, aren't you?

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 21:37

uh-oh. I have done an analysis of threads and it is usually about post 40 that someone decides to get offended, becomes offensive and has an operation to remove their sense of humour.
Never fear, your time is almost here. I hear on the news today that anyone who is ever offended will now be able to sue anybody else. Your time has come. The end is nigh.
I don't take offence at your post.
Do you think I should use emoticons to make my things clearer?

OP posts:
Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:05

I forgive you for calling me arrogant. I would like to know what I said that you thought offensive? You will notice that I left a series of dots after the word Magaluf meaning I could go on and on and on painting a picture but decided not to. I could have gone upper class, lower class, left or right black or white but I didn't. Damn, I knew I shouldn't have used the word Magaluf. How about Antibes? would that suit you better? I don't really get the rest of your post, come on admit it. You just made it up didn't you, as you were going along.
Ok ok some history. I am pissed off at companies like BT. I get an OFCOM judgement against them for the shameful way they have treated me. They are told to write a letter of apology for ripping me off, for phoning me over 100 times (even though I said I would only communicate with them in writing)they are told to send me over £400 compensation and what? Nothing. I think I have reason to be pissed off tbh

OP posts:
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:06

I think you have ignored my post on purpose because it goes against your theory that there is no possible justification for saying "no problem"!

There is, and it involves people wanting to politely assure you that there is every reason to expect your request to be granted, and that doing so is problem-free. Like Sacharissa said.

I tell you what, OP, it's MUCH more annoying when people are deliberately obtuse then when they obligingly say "no problem"!

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:14

Sorry Martini, didn't mean to ignore your post. I liked it in fact. very thoughtful. I didn't know the protocol was to reply to every post however. My God, one would do nothing else all day.
Tell me more about situations when people are obtuse and say "no problem"

OP posts:
DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:17

Grin no you don't have to reply to every post. I just felt left out of the bunfight

I have no more to offer

Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:19

No, go on, you can't just leave it hanging. What is the obtuse thing?
please?

OP posts:
ginhag · 01/10/2010 22:23

OP I get the impression you have never worked in any of the 'customer service' type industries?

I could be wrong, but it does rather sound that way.

BeenBeta · 01/10/2010 22:28

I think its the equivalent of the Spanish phrase "de nada" which means 'of nothing' or 'think nothing of it'.

It is said habitually and instinctivey by everyone in Spain as a reply when someone thanks someone. Its a sort of modern version of the old fashioned 'you're welcome'.

DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:30

I meant that you were apparently being deliberately obtuse, ignoring the perfectly clear explanation given by Sacharissa and also backed up by what I was trying to say.

DirtyMartini · 01/10/2010 22:31
Original poster
jameelaq · 01/10/2010 22:36

ginhag. I have worked in everything from the very bottom to the very top. This is not a sociological/political/class thread it is a linguistic/O Tempora O Mores thread. At least that was my intention.

BeenBeta. I agree entirely as to its Spanish equivalence, if one were to translate it. However the Spanish equivalence has been extant for how long 50, 100, 200 years? I really don't know. The phrases we have been talking about have only really become common parlance in the UK in the last 5 years or so.

Don't get me wrong, I don't get particularly hung up about it. I'm not barking.

OP posts:
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