Please Share Complaints Made About You

[SallySummerPop]

Hi,

I'm really sad that I've received a complaint against me today. Someone had complained that I lacked empathy in a meeting about their health. I feel others emotions and I am very empathetic but I struggle socially and I'm very aware of it, when I heard the complaint, it made me really punish myself and question if I'm right for the role. At the time of this meeting I was going through a really hard time mentally and so was probably being too process driven and not as sympathetic as I could have been but I meant well. Please share complaints you've received so I know I'm not the only one?

Manager went nuts because I found an error in some software they had purchased without consulting IT. Complained to my boss.

Customer went mad because they received a debt collectors letter re Council Tax. Stood and watched him having a tantrum for at least 5 minutes until I could finally point out the letter was from Edinburgh City Council and we were Midlothian Council...Complained I didn't help.

Another Customer having a tantrum because they had a broken toilet, had to remind them that they along with their adult kids had purchased their Council house 2 years prior and they needed to call a plumber as they were no longer our tenant. Complained about me as no one told them owners pay for their own bills.

My personal favorite (30 years ago ish), 'customer' had been to the bank and managed to get £50 in 1p's to pay some court fine. He tipped all the coins out of the little money bags really pleased with himself until I explained due to money regulations we could only accept 10p in coppers. Best tantrum ever, he eventually gathered up all the coins into a carrier bag after we asked him to leave or we would call The Police. Best bit, I live in a very small town, we all know everyone.....my SIL worked in the bank and refused to take the coins back until he had bagged them all back up into the little coin bags i.e each bag had to weight exactly to £1...he went mental 🤣.

Obviously complained about me and SIL!

I used to work in a department of an Investment bank in a non-customer facing, desk-based job.
A bigwig who was a manger overseas was visiting out office and complained to my manager that my hair colour "did not align with the corporate image."

It is worth pointing out what we shared premises with 3 other companies, none of which required staff to wear a uniform nor have face-to-face contact with customers.

When a company was trying to get rid of me it was alleged that when I was being instructed I “did looks as though I was listening”

I asked for more information but there was none. I asked if they wanted me to listen or worry about if I looked as if I was listening.

They didn’t have an answer for that either.

That my personality was too big for the NHS. I wasn't a good fit, not political enough. I left shortly after and everyone believed a sigh of relief😂

Omg tonnes.

My first ever job. A manager took me to one side to tell me that I wasn't friendly enough. Two weeks later the same manager took me to one side to tell me I was talking too much.

Council job looking after city parks and commons. A landowner complained to me that the cows on the common next to his land had come onto his property, eaten his wife's flowers and shat against their front door. All the boundaries were his to secure.

At this same job my manager quietly told me that I needed to work fewer hours.

Different job. Accidentally flooded someone's garden remotely. Fully deserved a bollocking on this but my employee were surprisingly nice about it.

I now work from home 90% of the time and almost exclusively with professional companies not the public. Bliss.

FFS. That sounds like a tiresomely narcissistic person who clearly doesn’t have much empathy themselves. I’m sorry that’s happened to you.

Working in a box office as a student I was told I typed far too quickly and so obviously wasn’t suited to the role as I was going to make lots of mistakes by the octogenarian manager.

I now work in a school and best complaint I had was from a parent calling me a ‘f-ing fat bully’ for asking her daughter to remove her acrylic nails as she needed to wear them for her mental health. School does not allow acrylic nails. I’m also not that fat.

Oh dear, I think I’d laugh at that.

Parents complain all the time that we’ve embarrassed them by carrying out child protection medicals. The ones who complain are almost always more worried about their reputations than the injuries to their child that triggered the process in the first place…. 🤔

I had lots of complaints that I'm rude. In reality I just have a job where I have to say "no" a lot and clients don't like that. Luckily, my boss if often around when I have to say no so he knows I'm not rude when I have to do it but it does wear thin! Especially as a people pleaser, it's difficult to say no sometimes.

That I was too friendly on the phone and it was unsettling... My manager laughed out loud.

I am a tutor and a complaint came from an organisation that I had discussed another learners results (failed) with first learner. I had a very officious team leader who micromanaged everything so she called a massive meeting with top HR ,Big boss etc.
I am very experienced so I said I can't imagine for a moment I did share the information but if I had I would happily apologise unreservedly. The micromanaging batch team leader really wanted my head on a plate.
It turned out it was the complainant mother who did admin for her that had been indiscreet 😂. The micromanaging batch didn't even apologise, thankfully she left soon after.

I was criticised by my new boss about not knowing the Accounting rules, and when I did immediately quote them off by heart I was told they were wrong and I was wrong. Questioned my qualifications and my skills. It later turned out he was a fraud and had lied about being qualified when he wasn't.

I've been called a vampire and a cockroach by a complainant because they don't think they have to pay their council tax

My colleague complained I am not friendly enough. Actually I am really shy and struggle a lot. It made me feel like shit.

I used to always get complaints for being rude when actually I was just being honest and had the balls to say what everyone else was saying. Can't please everyone

DD works at a college doing the lunches. Has 2 part time jobs. One young man was very rude to her so she gave him a talking to. Said she didn't like his language and to have more respect. She's not even 5 foot. Anyway a teacher heard and made a complaint. Poor little cherub apparently should be allowed to speak to young women like shit if they do menial work.

I had a complaint made about me and it was totally pie in the sky levels of made up. Such a ridiculous suggestion that it was just written off as made up.

Running a training course and had to set up IT at the beginning. Everyone arrived in ones and twos over the first 5/10 mins. I said hello to everyone as they entered. While I tried to sort out the presentation. Then someone complained that I hadn't "stood to greet them when they came in" 🙄

Years ago part of my job was chasing up money that contractors owed us. One of them complained to the office manager that i was chasing too aggressively, (the payment was late and I had chased in ONCE!)
But the best bit was when the office manager, who had no authority over my role, and was a bit of a cow took great pleasure in telling me there was a complaint about me. However the Project manager (who was my boss) took great pleasure in laughing at her, telling her I was obviously doing my job and told me to keep up the good work.

A few years ago I got a complaint from someone at work saying I was dismissive and unprofessional to them.

This person was in a different department but would always ask me about systems etc (I'd previously done the role) and id always help, even though our roles hardly interacted. One day they came up to me stressed as they'd forgotten to action something. I'd said I had a meeting and would help when I was out but to speak to their manager or team.

My manager spoke to me about it, I was absolutely shocked and miffed. Explained to my manager about what had happened and how much support I was given the colleague. My manager explained to the other teams manager that they need to support their team better and the accusation was ridiculous.

Once had a man complain that I was too friendly when dealing with his wife (as a health care professional) I'd immediately clocked him as controlling, I think he was threatened that I'd make some sort of relationship with her that she might feel able to tell me what he was like.

Oh wow and he was getting away with it by making people doubt themselves instead of him...!!!

I've been told that I'm too bluntly spoken sometimes when I'm speaking, but people don't understand that's just how I am, I don't mean anything nasty or negative.

I had an odd request from a manager I had not to talk about popping into the garden for five minutes on a teams group chat. None of the other managers batted an eyelid over it, and they mentioned non-work activities themselves sometimes on that chat.

There was a complaint I had bullied another colleague and I asked where and when?

I then said ok, what did I do and say?

I was told

i then asked how I had done this? The manager looked confused 🫤

well how did I do that? I was asked if it was a denial, I said no as I was off sick that day the previous day and the day afterwards

the whole thing was dropped like a hot potato, never heard any more about it