Last month, I was thisclose to folding my side business after having to deal with a rash of insanely belligerent and rude customers. I had one person request a refund for a $25 purchase she made six years ago WTF?. Another person, who had been using one of 'our' products for years without complaint, sent me a profanity-laced screed out of the blue one day telling me how I was trying to cheat him out of his $25 registration fee and how he was going to to spread the word about how evil I was, etc.. He had trouble setting up our program on a new computer and was sick of my shit - now, note that he didn't ask for help or anything first, there was no request for assistance, no "hey, can you tell me what I'm doing wrong here?" - he just worked himself into a lather all on his own, and sent me the kind of thing that I'd be afraid to send to a stranger, lest that stranger turn out to be a guy with a gun, a short temper and an overactive sense of dignity. So, after much wrangling to get him to tell me enough information about his order so I could even verify that he was an actual customer, I gave him a refund because I wanted get rid of any obligation I had to him. He, apparently wanting to be a martyr about this, said he didn't want a refund, he just wanted to scream at me because I was such a dick (though, again, he hadn't even tried to ask for help or contacted me in any way). Another person bought the program, had trouble with the setup and instead of asking for assistance sent me a screaming CAPSLOCKFUCKYOUBASTARDCOCKSUCKERFUCKYOU letter. Another refund. Now, I don't get upset about refunds, it's the assholes that make the job unpleasant. So, after a few weeks of dealing with the mentally unstable, I was about to close up shop. The money's nice, but not life-changing, and really, the relative joy from the cash is easy to offset with the aggravation of having to convince myself over and over that their problems are bigger than anything my tech support can fix.
Then, yesterday, I got a FedEx package from a customer who was happy with the tech support I provided. He sent me, all the way from Switzerland, a surprise package of chocolates and champagne. Fuck all the rest, Arthur, you're the best.
See, if you was sellin’ audio cables….
…hmmm .
do ya suppose audiophiles are less likely to fly into an incoherent rage than PC users ?
i have no data on which to base an opinion.
This is why I could never have a job that would require me to deal with random members of Joe Public. I hate them.
yup. same here. it’s the biggest reason i won’t give out my phone number for support (though a people few have dug it up and called me). i only do support on-line. at least that’s on my schedule.
thankfully, my day job keeps me well-insulated from customers.
And is it just me, or is Bob McManus making more and more sense over at unfogged? Still crazy, but not absoluetly batsh!t crazy.
he scares me. he makes sense in a way that makes me want to build a bomb shelter and stock up on beef-a-roni.