I work for an accounting firm. I do bookkeeping for clients who have outsourced to us. I work remotely 95% of the time, barring a few client meetings here and there and a couple of mandatory in-person staff meetings. My normal availability is 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday to Friday, Miami time. I am not paid to be on call and, unless it is a massive emergency where my boss calls me directly, I do not log in or check messages on weekends. Work-life balance, for the win!

Recently, one of my clients lodged a complaint to my boss. This is pretty rare for me, except in a handful of instances with shadier clients who have asked me to do things that were illegal. Obviously, my boss has no issue with me refusing to break the law just because a client thinks we should.

This complaint was different. This was a newer client who complained that I was ignoring all of her communications and that I was unresponsive and unhelpful. The client threatened bad reviews and that she was going to call several other clients to warn them — these were clients who had recommended us to her, and specifically to me, since I also work on their books.

I found out about it on Monday morning, when I got a call at 8:30 am, the exact time I log in from my home office. My boss gave me the customer’s complaint and forwarded the email from the client specifying that I had not responded to at least six emails and several phone calls asking for assistance.

I started pulling up my email and VOIP (through my PC) phone history and asked my boss to hop into a meeting where I could share my screen with her to show her the client’s communications.

The first email came in at 7:24 pm on Friday evening, nearly two hours after I had logged off for the weekend. There were five more increasingly rude and disparaging emails, demanding an immediate response, which came in that evening until 10:20 pm my time. I also had a series of voicemails that paired up with the emails in timing and tone, with the last one demanding an immediate call back “or else!”

My boss asked me to forward all those communications to her, along with screenshots showing the original receipt times, so she could call the client.

When my boss called me back, she told me why the client felt I was ignoring her during business hours: the client is currently vacationing in Hawaii and was assuming my availability would remain the same based on the time where she was located and not where I actually live and work.

My boss issued the client a “final warning” about treating our staff with respect, or we would stop her services with no further notice, and she reminded the client that even if it was a normal business day, it is possible I had the day off or was meeting with another client and may not be able to respond in a given three-hour window, which is why our contract specifies one full business day response time.

So, even if it was during normal hours, her behavior was still inappropriate and unprofessional. Nice to have a boss who understands contracts and has our backs!

This story is part of our ‘Clients From Hell’ roundup!

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I work for a small family business, not some large faceless giant. The owner is here to open up the office and often the last one out. The pay isn’t great; I could earn the same at one of the big global places, but it isn’t the same. I’ve had extra time off (paid) for family issues and the owner’s wife bakes us cakes on our birthdays. It really isn’t the same.

It’s probably just as well for [Coworker]. The guy treats the place and our coworkers as unimportant, he doesn’t help cover, he won’t pick up any slack, and he is quickly becoming disliked for his cavalier attitude.

Coworker: “Hey, can you pick up my customers on the twelfth?”

Me: “No, sorry, I’m out. Why?”

Coworker: “I can’t get the day off unless I get my work covered. [Coworker #2] says he can’t do it, either.”

Me: “But why do you have to get your work covered? Is that a new thing?”

Coworker: “I used up all my holiday.”

Me: “Sorry, I’m on holiday. Not a great day to take off.”

Coworker: “Yeah, it sucks. [Popular Game] comes out and I really want to pick it up in launch.”

Me: “Yeah, sorry.”

Coworker: “You couldn’t move your holiday? I mean, this is really important to me.”

Me: “Sorry, doctor’s appointment.”

Coworker: “Man, that sucks. Don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Me: “Yeah, don’t know, sorry.”

Coworker: “I might just not come in. I mean, what is [Owner] going to do?”

[Owner] sacked him and told him not to come back and not to ask for a reference. I never saw anyone get fired from that place before. He sure did earn it.

I’m busy doing something at my desk. My desk phone is ringing but I ignore it. I have a meeting later that I need to prepare for.

Then, my personal phone rings. I answer it.

Coworker: “We’ve been waiting for you for half an hour now! Everyone is getting fed up.”

Me: “What? Where are you?”

Coworker: “Meeting room one, obviously.”

A little confused, I head to the room. My coworker, boss, and his boss are there.

Coworker: “If you are going to call a meeting, you should at least be on time!”

Me: “I didn’t call a meeting.”

Boss: “This is the (monthly) meeting right?”

Me: “Not for another hour, no!”

All eyes fall to [Coworker]. I can only imagine he caused all this confusion.

Coworker: “Oh, I thought this was… Hang on. Wait… Yes, see! Eight o’clock!”

Boss: “That’s last month.”

Coworker: “Well, it’s a repeating invite, so…”

Me: “Check this morning’s, please.”

Sure enough, he pulls up this month’s meeting and it says 10:00, just as I set it.

Boss: *Sighs* “See you in an hour, then.”

I went back to my desk and prepared for the meeting. Ten o’clock came around. Not only was [Coworker] late, but he had managed to prepare all the wrong information, making himself look even more foolish.

I’ve worked with [Coworker] for many years. She used to be very quiet, refused to talk to people, and refused to go to meetings, but it didn’t affect me, so I pretty much ignored her.

Then, she started to be more outspoken and negative to others. Instead of avoiding conversation, she would be aggressive. She started calling everyone “others” or “outsiders”. To be honest, it was a little freaky and made everyone uneasy. If she wasn’t such a tiny, meek person, I think someone would have complained, but it was hard to take her seriously.

I was in a great mood one morning and completely forgot myself.

Me: “Good morning.”

Coworker: “Don’t talk to me.”

Me: “Okay… Sorry?”

Coworker: “You will be.”

That was kind of weird, but that was becoming par for the course at this stage. A few days later, I found some yellow flowers on my desk.

Me: “Oh, these are pretty.”

Coworker: “They are not ‘pretty’. It’s a curse.”

Me: “Well, thank you for the pretty curse.”

Coworker: “Gah!”

She stormed off.

I mentioned it in passing to Human Resources. They nodded and told me they’d had other “concerns” and would be dealing with them.

I knew it had been dealt with when I turned up to see paint sloshed up the side of the building. We would find bits of plants on our cars for weeks. It bothered a few people enough that the police had to be involved and a restraining order issued.

I feel bad for her a little; she clearly had some unresolved issues at home. But I don’t think black magic is the way to settle them in an office environment.

On my way home from work, a rear pocket seam on my pants starts coming undone. It’s very fixable, and the pants are still functional; my pocket just now has a hole in it. Since I don’t have any other clean work pants and I don’t have time to fix them that night, I decide to wear them the next day and just hope no one notices until I can mend it the following night.

Unfortunately, I’m the youngest in my office by about twenty years, which my coworkers seem to take as an open invitation to “parent” me, no matter how or how many times I ask them to stop. As we’re all waiting to clock in…

Coworker: “Oh, did you know your pocket has a hole in it?”

Me: “Hmm? Oh, yeah, I noticed last night, but I didn’t have time to fix it. I’ll do it tonight.”

Coworker: “I just wasn’t sure you were aware.”

Me: “I know it’s there. I’ll fix it tonight.”

Coworker: “You know, in case you try to put anything in your pocket and it falls out.”

Me: “Yes, I know.”

Coworker: “I just thought you should know.”

Me: “Yes, I know.“

Coworker: “It could be a problem if you lose something.”

Me: “Yes. I know.“

Coworker: “I wanted to make sure you were aware.”

Me: “YES. I KNOW.”

Coworker: “You could drop something important.”

Me: “YES, I KNOW!”

By this point, half the room is staring at us, and she finally seems to realize I’m annoyed.

Coworker: “Well, I was just trying to be helpful!”

By that point, I had thankfully reached the front of the queue, so I badged in and hurried off. There can be a fine line between helpful and annoying, but she wasn’t toeing that line; she stampeded headfirst over it and just kept going.