Humour me with your irritating work conversations

[Fleura]

I had one of those irritating calls with a third party today that has really got under my skin. To try and give context, imagine we design and build cars and this person deals with the computer software that is installed within the car. So the only thing in common is the client and the end result: a car which we have differing expertise in.

Had a introductory call with them which I thought was about ensuring the right software was added before delivery to the client and it turned into a critique of the wider project and specifically our work. Insinuating our work wasn’t up to scratch - why hadn’t we done x, y and z - and that we were somehow taking advantage of our client who is not an expert. I engaged with some of it to explain the client’s brief only to get a passive aggressive comment of the likes of « well he’s never said that to me before, oh well, moving on ». He also pushed to get access to design documentation which a) has nothing to do with him and b) is irrelevant since it was signed off months ago and was annoyed I told him to speak to our client to view it.

At the time, I suggested he raise his concerns with our client directly but now, of course, I wish I’d called him out on it a bit more and haven’t stopped replaying it through my head. Like, what a way to kickstart a good working relationship by criticising work he has no expertise in and a project he hasn’t been involved in until now near completion 🙄 Also not sure what he was trying to achieve since our mandate comes direct from the client so if there are changes/feedback/concerns, that’s who we would need to get on a call with.

Doesn’t help of course that he chose to do that with two of his team on the call and that I’ve also only just gone back to work after a career break so am not back used to dealing with tricky conversations.

Anyway, please do make me feel better with examples of equally frustrating conversations and especially cases where the other person got their comeuppance!

No comeuppance, but I'm still cross/frustrated by a call with Halifax. Mortgage dd had not gone through, and so I'd waited and waited, and then manually paid it, just as they randomly reapplied the dd (weeks after they had said they would), so it meant I'd made two mortgage payments in one month, which totally cleaned me out, so I called them to see what could be done.

I got through to Alan Partridge. Seriously - on the Halifax mortgage team is a man who not only sounds like AP, but deals with customers in the same patronising/insulting way. I've never been so frustrated and yet wanted to laugh - if I had been listening to a recording of someone else dealing with him, it would have been hilarious. But it was me, and idiot was basically blaming me for making two payments as if I was stupid rather than conscientious. We went round and round in circles, before in true Alan style he suddenly gave the advice I needed. Then he ungraciously ended the call. So frustrating!

I'm sure he was wearing his driving gloves in the call centre.

Not as bad as your example op but I had to call someone who we often work in collaboration with. The employee who answered had a rather strange telephone manner. Anyway he asked me to spell the customers name so I did. He then repeated it back to me wrongly so I spelt it all using the phonetic alphabet. He repeated it back to me, wrongly again. So I spelt it out phonetically again. Yet again he repeated it back incorrectly. By this time I’m laughing to myself. I spelt it out again and he still got it wrong. Now this was only one word. Finally he got it correct. Then told me the forms which should have been sent to X had been sent to us. I asked him why as that is the incorrect procedure. He then started saying this form was sent to us at such and such time. I asked him why as that is not what should happen and will cause a delay to the client. He then corrected himself and confirmed the forms had been sent to X.
Alll in all a rather odd man.