Has No Hang-Ups About Hanging Up, Part 2

(I have little tolerance for rude people, and although my work has a no-hang-up policy, I often hang up on people who are yelling at me. This phone call occurs after a long day, five minutes before the end of my shift and closing time.)

Customer: “I’m looking for an item.”

Me: “Well, we have lots of items, so you’re going to have to be more specific.”

Customer: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Do you know the name or serial number of the product you’re looking for?”

Customer: *getting huffy* “Well, you’re the employee; you tell me!”

Me: “I can’t possibly know what you’re looking for without you telling me anything about the item.”

Customer: *yelling* “How dare you? I’m the customer! You should know what I want!”

Me: “Ma’am, if you don’t lower your voice, I’m going to hang up on you.”

Customer: *still yelling* “You can’t hang up on me!”

(I hang up. The phone rings and I answer after a few rings.)

Me: “Thank y—”

Customer: *screaming* “How dare you!”

(I hang up again. The phone rings and I ignore it, but pick up quickly when it starts ringing again.)

Me: “Thank you for calling—”

Customer: *yelling again* “Now, you listen to me!”

Me: “No, you shut up and listen to me! You called and asked for an item, then got angry when I asked for specifics of said item! I’m not psychic and can’t read your mind. So, you’re either going to stop yelling at me and talk to me like a normal human being, or I’m going to keep hanging up on you. The choice is yours!”

(The woman screeches into the phone so I hang up.)

Coworker: “It’s amazing they haven’t fired you yet. But then again, who else would we give the irate ones to?”

(By then it was time to close, but the phone rang for the entire 45 minutes my coworkers and I were closing up shop.)

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Has No Hang-Ups About Hanging Up