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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wish I’d told this client to fuck off

31 replies

lastqueenofscotland · 13/02/2019 20:50

I have a meeting with a client tomorrow it was meant to be me and a colleague in a different department attending. We have gone above and beyond for this client doing a lot of stuff we wouldn’t usually do but she was very nice and polite so we were happy to help.
We arranged this yesterday and the client said “oh whenever works for you I’m not busy.”

So all pencilled in and today colleagues son gets blue lighted to hospital and she is unlikely to be in work tomorrow as her son is very ill and our boss told her not to worry.

I call the client and let her know I am happy to do the meeting as scheduled for tomorrow or we can rearrange for when both of us can get there. She flies off the handle saying working with us was the most stressful experience she’s ever had (singing our praises yesterday Hmm ) we are soooo unprofessional don’t we know how busy she is and it HAS to happen at the time originally stated.
Obviously I say that’s fine as I’ve already mentioned I can do that time.

I send her an email confirming saying “hi client I will meet you at your office at 10 tomorrow as previously arranged”

The client the. Calls up in another rage shouting IT BETRER BE 10am NOT PM IVE HAD ENOUGH OF STUFF GOING WRONG.

It took everything I had to not say “of course it’s 10am you daft cow”
AIBU to be really annoyed at her. It’s been weighing on my mind all evening

OP posts:
IDontLikeZombies · 13/02/2019 20:57

YANBU but just go in tomorrow with gritted teeth, get it done and thank God you're not the heartless wanker she is.

Fromage · 13/02/2019 20:58

Is she confusing you with someone else?!

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 13/02/2019 21:02

How bizarre! 10pm would be a bit odd!

Is she using you for something that she’s really wound up by and she’s (massively) misdirecting her stress?

Lifecraft · 13/02/2019 21:14

How much money do you make out of her? People bang on about treating all your clients, big and small, the same. But back on planet Earth, There's a sliding scale between the shit you have to put up with set against the amount of money you're making out of them.

Original poster
lastqueenofscotland · 13/02/2019 21:15

Life really not much at all... it would be really outing to explain what I do but realistically we are talking 7/8k a year at most?

OP posts:
WarpedGalaxy · 13/02/2019 21:17

It doesn't excuse her rudeness and shitty attitude but your 'mistake' was to give her information she didn't need. As you are able and prepared to conduct the meeting without your coworker there what was the need to tell her anything about your coworker not being able to attend? You could simply have made your coworkers excuses/apologies at the meeting itself.

We have touchy clients like this, we work to very tight deadlines and they get stressy at the first hint of potential problems/hold ups so we say nothing until a potential problem becomes an actual problem.

AzureApps · 13/02/2019 21:29

Grit your teeth and be ten minutes early. Don’t reference this exchange

KC225 · 13/02/2019 21:32

What strange behaviour. I admire your restraint OP. She is clearly off loading her other life stresses on you which is not fair. Bite your teeth tomorrow, you know you are professional and you know you have gone above and beyond. Bin her off once the cheque clears

Princessmushroom · 13/02/2019 21:49

Life is too short to work with shitty clients. Can you fill the space/income elsewhere?

Tinkobell · 13/02/2019 21:51

I feel very sorry that you've had to suffer that from someone In a position of power that you need. I think I would be tempted to go to the meeting, run it seamlessly. Then at the end of the meeting, all going well, deliver a polite word
"X I am sorry we had to pull my colleague out at short notice today; but hopefully you are satisfied. I was concerned it may have come across as an poor excuse, but I have to quickly let you know that her young son is in critical care fighting for his life as we speak. Anyway, jut thought I'd mention it and so sorry to have inconvenienced you in anyway, pleased to be of service"

IncrediblySadToo · 13/02/2019 21:52

I binned off a client who I was absolutely fed up of. It still brings me a great sense of satisfaction when I think about it. She was an incredibly rude, demanding, obnoxious bitch. When I told my DH (we owned the business together), he was cross...but only because I’d denied him the opportunity 🤣

As it’s not your business, you might be better just fantasising about about telling her to fuck off.

DoughnutCowboy · 13/02/2019 22:04

This type of thing is why I left the corporate world.

Princessmushroom · 13/02/2019 22:07

Life is too short to work with shitty clients. Can you fill the space/income elsewhere?

AmIRightOrAMeringue · 13/02/2019 22:10

I think people like this always screw themselves over in the end. Found a way you could save your clients money? Oops forgot to tell her? Had a job cancelled so you can move someone else to the top of the queue? That'll be the one that's nice and polite to you

I think people like this literally don't think about anything else that's not their life. She has completely ignored the kid in hospital and all she has heard is 'meeting might change'. I think sometimes pointing out the bit they've missed can shame them into acting like a human and other times it backfires as they actually don't give a shit and it can get you in trouble

WarpedGalaxy · 13/02/2019 22:11

No, don't do what Tinkobell said, that is so unprofessional and really emotionally manipulative which is never a good move like some bloody X Factor background sob story.

OP, you clearly care about your coworker and her son and quite rightly but this client doesn't know them, all she has is a business relationship with your company. Frankly, the personal lives and problems of your company's employees are not her concern or her problem, it seems harsh but it's business. She's paying you to do a job and you need to be as professional as possible and do that job.

blueshoes · 13/02/2019 22:14

If you are employed by a company and she is the company's client, I am afraid you have to bite your tongue with the client. She sounds like a nightmare Jekyll & Hyde character and could make trouble for you with your boss.

I agree with Warped Galaxy that now you know what she is like, to not re-schedule meetings and try to do them on your own if necessary and brief your colleague later.

There is not excuse for her behaviour. Hopefully it is something temporary in her life which is stressing her out and when she is finally free of it she will realise what a d_ck she was and be grateful for your restraint and professionalism.

Rainbowshine · 13/02/2019 22:14

We no don’t disclose private information about your colleague’s situation to the client Hmm. Just remain professional and take satisfaction that you have the moral high ground. If you can ditch the client then do.

Fraying · 13/02/2019 22:28

I'd be trying to find out what she thinks has gone wrong tbh. Either you were getting the brunt of a bad day or your company has been lax in ways you don't realise.

AlpacaLypse · 13/02/2019 22:29

I very politely dumped a potential client earlier this week. And she wasn't even anything like as rude as yours.

ChrisPrattsFace · 13/02/2019 22:30

We ‘sack’ clients like this. And I love it!
Basically they get an email saying we don’t tolerate abuse or such behaviour, sometimes add in a list of all the things we done above and beyond and tell them they have X amount of days to find someone else. Tell them all paperwork or whatever is available to forward where necessary.
My work is usually shit, but even my boss and management support in clients like this!
Life’s to short to spend your time appeasing or pleasing dickheads.

Al2O3 · 13/02/2019 22:53

Take a leaf out of Lord Hain's book!

julensaor · 14/02/2019 03:09

this sounds odd, would you be prepared. to share the verbatim emails, I can't shake that feeling that something has been massively misunderstood in writing, because it is so negative a reaction to a completely understandable situation..

Handprints2018 · 14/02/2019 06:16

I would wonder from that over reaction if she's angling for a reduction in fees based on her 'terrible experience'.

GertrudeCB · 14/02/2019 06:29

I once witnessed my bosses bosses boss ( IE, the MD) fire a client who had been horrifically abusive to me ( I was on reception).
She had phoned up as the phone system was being rebooted by an engineer - the call came through half an hour early by mistake but as I was in early I answered - she had been calling from 6 am ( we opened lines at 9 ) and she was incandescent despite my apologies, explanation that we worked office hours only and pointing out that I could help her now. The MD listed to the call, asked me up to his office and called her back to tell her that the company had a zero tolerance policy towards staff being abused.

Purplecatshopaholic · 14/02/2019 06:40

She sounds a bit batshit - of course it was 10 am , not pm! (Unless you routinely have meetings at 10pm....)