Customers subject to company Diginity at work policy?

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Nicki79

Guest
I've just been lambasted by a customer on the phone and subjected to behaviour by him that I don't think is appropriate. Is it possible to make a complaint aginst a customer?
I've worked in various call centres in my time and served my time getting shouted/sworn at on the phone by irate customers but this guy takes the biscuit. Never in my life have I been spoken to by anyone like that. I realise that he has just shown himself up as an ignoramus but I want to prevent him from doing this to someone less well able to handle it. I'm thinking, if he got through to one of the younger, more timid members of staff he could really really upset and dent their confidence. Should I get onto his company and complain about his behaviour?
 
Report the incident to your boss or supervisor immediately. As an employer myself, I have gotten rid of around 6 clients in the past few years who had verbally abused my staff on the phone. I figured either they walked or my staff would walk. Life's too short to tolerate this sort of thing.
 
Of course. Report to your supervisor and make a formal complaint. You can possibly block his telephone number from your switchboard system depending on how state of the art it is.
In a previous company I was subjected to consistent phone calls from a client that were abusive in their nature. My boss contacted the client and informed him that if he didn't improve the manner in which he spoke to me, that neither I (nor any of the other employees) would be speaking to him on the phone. We didn't hold onto him for long as a client but then again is a client who treats people like that really worth it in the long run?
 
Nicki79 said:
Should I get onto his company and complain about his behaviour?
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Not a good idea IMHO. Would you be in breach of Data Protection if you approach his employer? As mentioned previously it would be best to report the matter to your employer and let them deal with the problem.
 
sueellen said:
Not a good idea IMHO. Would you be in breach of Data Protection if you approach his employer? As mentioned previously it would be best to report the matter to your employer and let them deal with the problem.
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You are kidding me.........................are you making this statement with any degree of knowlege/expertise?
 
BlueSpud said:
You are kidding me.........................are you making this statement with any degree of knowlege/expertise?
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Maybe Nicki79 is Eircom's 1901 number!

If the 'customer' is a business customer, a properly worded compliant or phone call to his HR dept from your management would be a good idea.

Towger
 
BlueSpud said:
You are kidding me.........................are you making this statement with any degree of knowlege/expertise?
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Are you making your statement with any degree of knowledge/expertise? Use of data for a purpose other than that intended by the data subject (i.e. use of customer account information for the purposes of making a personal complaint) could very well be in breach of the Data Protection Acts.

The OP should indeed be taking their complaint up the line to their own management/HR department. Many public bodies include expected customer behaviour standards in their customer charter, making this a 2-way document.
 

You should certainly tread carefully as this area is a legal minefield.
However, personally I fail to see how a complaint to someone's employer about how they abused you has anything to do with data protection legislation.
 
KalEl said:
However, personally I fail to see how a complaint to someone's employer about how they abused you has anything to do with data protection legislation.
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If you were to use information from a customer database (e.g. phone number, employer name/contact details) to make the complaint, you would be using information for a purpose other than that intended when the data was provided.

Also, the individual employee really shouldn't decide to make a complaint off their own bat. It is up to their employer (not the customer's employer) to protect them from abuse at work.
 

I agree with you on who makes the complaint. It should certainly be made in an official capacity from the OP's superior.
However, I don't believe data protection is relevant here. This is a business related problem...plus you could just look up the number in the phonebook! There is no need to overcomplicate the situation . As others have said, no employee should be subjected to abuse and the employer has a duty to protect their staff.
 
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