AIBU, or should clients not expect you to be at your desk 24 hours a day?

[iamnotjustaworker]

Namechanged for this, as don't want to get myself into trouble..

but

ok, so I work in the city. Yes, it's high pressured, and the pay is not bad.
BUT, clients, you should understand this:

• I do, contrary to what you may expect of your advisers, have a life. I try not to express or reveal that if at all possible, but, yes, I have a life that exists outside of the office.

• I do, also, have other clients. They also want my undivided attention. Sorry about that.

• I do, also, have managers wanting other various pieces of me. Sorry about that as well, but if I didn't attend to that, I wouldn't be here in the office advising you at all as I would be out of a job.

• If I don't respond to an email or phone call within 30 minutes, that does not mean I have disappeared. That means I might have something else that is equally urgent. It might even mean that I am busy taking care of your matter and ensuring that I can give you the best advice that I can.

I've finished now. Thank you for listening.
Do tell me if IABU.

We're not your clients (well, I'm clearly not. I have no idea what someone who works "in the city" does). Don't tell us; tell them.

By the way, it's like that in pretty much every job I've ever done as well. But with less pay.

If they are trying to contact you during your business hours, your 'life' shouldn't come into it at all, imo.

What city?

I pay an extortionate amount (well my company does) for legal advice and I expect my solicitor to make me feel like I am her most important client. Sorry about that.

Sounds like my clients- what do you do? I'm a tax advisor.

so I didn't express myself in the best way - as trying not to give away too much.

But a couple of times recently my life has got in the way - those were for unavoidable medical reasons, for max. 3 hours? client did not know about that. Thought I was in a meeting. So, yes, sometimes even during working hours, people are still human and still have a life.

I know you're not my clients, but I can't tell them! It's just how it is. So I'm telling someone, which is you. but if you were my client, would you say I was BU? Of course you would!

Sounds like my clients too.

I'm a teacher.

good client service is about pretending all of the above isn't true, whilst trying to manage expectations around the fact that it is.

i collect debt on the phone..it's not the money...it's the principle...

Louwn - accountant.

point taken. Think I'll just go away and die now.

YANBU.

When I had voicemail at work, I often used to come into the office to messages left on Saturday, or at 9pm on a weeknight. To be fair, they usually would say 'I thought you'd be there...oh wait, it's Saturday...' etc.

The rude feckers were the ones who emailed an angry rant and expected an immediate reply. For them the stock response was 'all emails are printed off, treated as post and dealt with in date order'

The alternative was that you replied to Mr Angry Rant's email shortly after receipt. He, because he has nothing better to do other than whip himself into a frenzy about what you have or haven't done about his case, would respond within seconds. So you then reply again. He replies. You reply. And before you know it you've wasted a whole afternoon playing email tennis with a client you will never please however hard you try!

Thankfully it is a long time since I worked in the City. And most of our clients don't (strictly speaking) pay for our services - despite the frequent 'I pay your wages' comments , so the demands are less.

I don't work in the city. I often come in to voicemails left on a Sunday evening. I can't imagine for a moment the client thought I would there, just that they made the call when it was convenient to them to do so.

Your clients know you are a person and have a life. They just don't give a shit. Deal with it.

I feel your pain. I get this too (not in city & not on city pay!). I do sometime want to shout "I have another 100+ clients and some of their work in genuinely urgent". But I haven't. Yet.

And don't get me started on the ones who want several updates per day and then complain about the bill (every unit of time - 6 mins - is billed for at £16 per unit, so every time they call me, it costs them money. And no, I don't get paid anything like £16 per 6 minutes!)

I once received an e-mail from a colleague that took a very irritated tone. The opening line was, 'I have just tried to call you, but you were not at your desk'. The message was timed at 10.15pm.

Have also been woken at 5am by blackberry ringing, and been asked at 9pm on a Saturday night to prepare an advice note 'um, well, now' (cue logging on and doing advice til 1.30am, then a conference call til 2.30am).

Such is life in the City, I'm afraid!

I once said to a(nother) colleague (on a particularly bad day), 'I don't get paid enough for this'. She said, 'Newsflash!!! - We do'. She was right.

So.... YABU, but I do get where you're coming from!

YANBU. I used to work in customer services, and once a woman screamed at me because the office had been closed on Christmas Day and she'd wanted to place an order.

I want to say YANBU, but as an ex-big 4 auditor (now a client of one :)) and with a husband who still is, it sucks but that's how it is. I think a lot depends on the client, a very few can be reasonable but not many!

I think the point is this:

• usually I have no problem with this attitude - that's the deal - client pays a lot of money and so expects superior service, including being available and attentive at all times

• I actually enjoy this most of the time. On the whole, I love my job. It's interesting, challenging, and I get a buzz when I'm on flow (that is, working hard and well).

• clients usually are reasonably reasonable

• I quite often send out emails late at night or early in the morning - that doesn't mean I require a response then, it's just a convenient time for me.

• I am familiar with the attitude of 'suck it up' and that's fine - I can do that, and that;s the professional thing to do.

However..

just occasionally, it would also be nice to give some acknowledgement to the fact that we are human and, strange as it may seem, may delay matters for a reason that is in the best interests of the client (e.g. delayed email because you have noticed a problem with the client's accounts and you are looking into why this might be and how it might be fixed).

Hmf.

I think part of the problem these days is things like email and answer phone messages. People expect immediate responses. In the past a phone call got answered when you actually got through, and letters took a day or two.

DH doesn't prioritise emails over letters and deals with them in the same time frame as he would a letter, thereby treating his clients equally.

That is precisely the problem Hulababy - sometimes you are not given a chance to even think about anything any more

YADNBU. Just finished client call myself at 10.10. News flash, I'm not paid enough but am so afraid of losing my job I do it.

Another good point Winnie.

It's all very well saying that I am BU (and I know I asked the question!) but, even taking into account all that 'that's how it is in the City' and 'I expect my solicitor to make me feel like I am her most important client' because I pay her enough .. isn't this just like another thread I was reading on the nanny board (I think that's where it was?) about a well-paid nanny to two professionals, who pay her enough (but not brilliantly) yet expect her to pick up the slack day or night whenever they feel like it .. because that;s how it is.

Actually, it's not how it is. Unless you're the Prime Minister, saving someone's life, or something equally important, it's really THAT important.. and even those people are people too!

It is irritating when people say "The City" and expect us to guess.

In my honest opinion it's a situation that professionals and their clients have brought on themselves in order to create an air of importance. Yes work needs to be done professionally and in a timely manner but an overtly macho culture where one has to be seen to be working 24 hours a day and be indisposable in order to boost ones ego has created a situation where people have totally lost sight of what is important in life. Deals need to be done but from what I can gather most have artifical deadlines plucked out of the air by generally by the client who has no idea how long things actually take.

There is nothing wrong with loving ones job and working hard, but it's sad that so many people seem to do that to the detriment of everything in their life. But hey what does having a life outside of work matter as long as you the partners in your firm are making pots of cash

sorry, London - or more precisely the City of London - isn't London the only city where you talk about "the City", as in, working in "the City" - or maybe that's just my London upbringing and IABU!

I agree thefurryone.

I know that I am one of those professionals, but I honestly don't think firms should be run on this basis.