Oh mylanta, where do I begin? So yesterday was one of my more interesting (painful) days at work. If you know me at all, even a little, I have a sassy (okay, more like foul) mouth and I exercise it quite frequently at my discretion. But yesterday was a day that I was unable to voice my opinion and consequently almost cried at work. (I really hate not speaking my mind!)
Let's start with Lesson #1: Using Your Better Judgement
I have never really possessed the magical life necessity, "better judgement." To give you an example... I once met this girl through a mutual friend of mine. We became like best friends in the next 5 minutes that we talked. I liked her so much that I had already cast her in the role of bridesmaid in my fictional wedding. So we start to hang out and the more I hang out with her, the more I realized that her recreational drug use wasn't so much excessive, but more so like I wanted to give her a hug and put her in the nearest rehab center I could find. (Picking friends has never been my forte either.) In fact, I spent the majority of my high school years grounded from lack of better judgement and from hanging out with my "friends." So there you have it. Common sense and a knack for character just aren't my thing. So this all leads to my awful day, right?
Yesterday I was put in charge of moving an entire filing case of binders, books, and pamphlets of past company info. My boss and I were supposed to shred those that weren't 4th quarter and those that were before we went private. These were mainly quarterly reports and such. So I bring the cart to the shredding bin and we tear away, throwing away pounds of paper, binders, and whatever else I could get my hands on. (Shredding is kinda fun...) And continue to shred, throw away, and destroy things until my co-worker runs into the file room shrieking that we have shredded her information and binders and that they were not just old binders that nobody wanted. My boss and I frantically try to unlock the shredding bin, so that we can remove whats left of the files and try to piece the binders back together, but it just so happens that the shredding bin that we used is from a company that we no longer do business with. So now I am STRESSED out!
Why didn't I double check the binders or make sure that they weren't important? Or give her a call and ask? I'm not really sure. I got carried away by the fascinating world of shredding and took it a bit too far. We ended up having to have the lock cut off the the shredding bin and put the files back together but it definitely made me upset! Talk about breaking a sweat...
Lesson 2: Delivering Customer Service With a .... Smile?
Oh, customer service... How I despise you. Let me start by saying that although we are taught that "the customer is always right", this is not necessarily true. In fact, it's not true the majority of the time. The reason is because in a business like this, most of your customers are just plain bat shit crazy and you have to make sure that they stay happy. Yesterday, the same day that I destroyed my company's financial records, I also had to deal with a psychotic, repeat caller who didn't speak English. Can you think of anything worse? I can't. She called and called begging me to let her speak to our CEO...Which would never happen. However, since I am loyal to the idea that the customer is always right, at least at work, I try to reason with her. She now lives in a community that we haven't owned, operated, or managed in 10 years. (Why are you just now calling about a refund? That's flippin' ignorant.) But I continued to tell her that she needed to contact her current management. Things began to take a turn for the worst after the first time she hung up in my face. I thought the fiasco was over, but I was very mistaken.
She called me another 2 times and I spent a total of 45 minutes repeating myself to her. There are few things I hate in the this world and they include (in order of importance): Repeating myself, butter beans, and ignorant people. She has now made me a part of 2 of the 3. Now I am livid and having to speak with her in a cheery tone when I really just want to tell her I want to punch her in the face. So I finally had calmed down and I have my speech memorized that I am going to tell her. Seriously people, I wouldn't have had to hang up in her face, except for the part where she was screaming bloody murder in my ear and all I could make out was "You are lying!" I'm not real sure why she thought I was feverishly witholding her refund check from 20348 years ago, but I wasn't and I can't stand being yelled at. I am simply the messenger, and for a lot of you lovely residents out there, I am the bearer of bad news. I'm sure you're all wondering why I haven't hung up at this point. Well, because it's my job to see the customer through to satisfaction and in some way resolve their concerns (and then I feel a sense of accomplishment and happy that I've done the right thing), but yesterday, I wasn't so much concerned about this woman and her money, but more so for my ears and my rising blood pressure. So with permission from my co-worker I gave her my speech, told her to never call our office again, that she couldn't speak to our CEO, and that we weren't and never were going to refund her money... and then I slammed the phone in her ear. If this weren't at work and a phone I might not have had to pay for, I would have beaten the receiver with it. How's that for customer service?
Soo you guys are much cheaper than a therapist, as yesterday was a bit of a trying day. And I am not usually a crier, unless I am very frustrated. But goodness gracious was I frustrated yesterday. It may seem a bit trivial, to be that upset over a crazy foreign caller... But I take pride in my job, and I like to get things done the right way and give it my all. And when I'm unable to do that in any life situation, I get a bit pissy. So thank you guys for reading my ramblings!
And my GOOD news is.... I just signed a lease for another 6 months in Denver! So we are putting Boulder on the backburner until we save up a little more money. Sad thing but a good thing, because despite what you just read, I LOVE my job and the people who work there. AND... Danny and Ricky (Our friends from Jackson Hole for those that might not remember) have arrived in Denver and are staying the night with us while they look for housing and jobs. I didn't think they were serious but they are moving to Denver come the first of November and Kayla and I are very excited!
I hope you all are having a great week and are looking forward to Halloween just like I am! I can't wait! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment