How do you deal with your customer or supplier who swear at you? And if he threaten to hurt you physically, will you still continue to work with him or his company?
There was a metal badge supplier (from ShenZhen) who swear at me when the payment got 1 day delay. In fact the problem came from the bank, not me. But he shout and swear at me over the phone when he cannot see the payment on his screen. End up with a one time deal.
Another case was a German customer who cannot win the argument over the phone, then he begins to swear and threaten to hurt me physically. The conversaton end like that and no more business with him and his company, even I have been doing business with his company for more than 7years.
Am I over reacting? I'm not sure. But I'm sure that I have perfect anger mangement.
If you are sure that you did your best to keep the situation cool and it didn't work, then there is nothing left to do. Just turn around and walk away. It's sad, but you have no other choice.
Personally I think that resorting to swearing, threats, and insults is a weakness as I geuinely believe that an educated and reasonable person can make his or her point known in a mature manner without the need to resort to those sorts of actions. I think that losing your temper is the quickest way to lose the argument as well as the respect of other parties involved with discussions.
I also believe that people often resort to swearing, threats, and insults when they know that they are in the wrong but do not want to admit that. Perhaps they feel cornered by the truth and this is their way of trying to fight their way out.
No matter what the reason for their actions, they have no place in professional environments. Sure we may all curse situations from time to time but once we start cursing at other people then we have crossed a line.
Pandora some people have short fuses while others don't. What is for sure is that people with short fuses often come to regret their actions.
I think the best way to deal with these sorts of situations is to calmly tell the offender that you do not appreciate their behavior and that it does not help the situation. If they continue to curse, insult, and/or threaten then I would question whether there is any value in continuing to communicate with them.
In the case of that German customer it is certainly a loss to lose such a long term customer but perhaps the hole that they leave will be filled by an even better customer. Perhaps the customer was having some issues of his own at that time which would be an excuse for his behavior but not a good reason. Perhaps he will come to regret his actions and return as a good customer in the future. Had you lost your temper and threatened, swore, and insulted him then you would have been guaranteeing that he did not return. So no matter what happens, by keeping your cool, you remain on the 'winning team'.
Quoting from [Pandora]:How do you deal with your customer or supplier who swear at you? And if he threaten to hurt you physically, will you still continue to work with him or his company?
There was a metal badge supplier (from ShenZhen) who swear at me when the payment got 1 day delay. In fact the problem came from the bank, not me. But he shout and swear at me over the phone when he cannot see the payment on his screen. End up with a one time deal.
Another case was a German customer who cannot win the argument over the phone, then he begins to swear and threaten to hurt me physically. The conversaton end like that and no more business with him and his company, even I have been doing business with his company for more than 7years.
Am I over reacting? I'm not sure. But I'm sure that I have perfect anger mangement.
your partners are so rareness.... let the shenzhen guy get in contact with the German one```````````
Hi,
I dug up this old post because I found it rather interesting.
Sometimes in business, we have to swallow our pride (that does not mean open your mouth and push your pride down your throat). It means you have to accept it's your mistake when it's not.
In the first case, the supplier was obviously anxious for his payment. If you have already explained to him that the money has been deposited in his account and will take 24 hours to clear, and there is not much else you can do, but he insist on swearing at you, then there is not much you can do.
Best thing to do is swallow your pride and say you are sorry for the late payment. Don't argue with him. He is already very angry, you will be just adding fuel to fire. Tell him to leave the matter with you and you will contact your bank to find out what is going on. Finish the conversation at that.
Second case, an angry customer is so angry with you that he is shouting at you. Something has obvously gone very wrong. THe product is not what he wanted or is faulty, or he felt he had been scammed. You might thing the product is top notch but he doesn't see it the same way.
So what do you do. Find out what has gone wrong and apologise even if you are not wrong. This is not the same as admitting you are at fault and has to replace his order. No, you are only finding ot what is wrong and if possible find a workable solution. If not, ask him to leave the problem with you for 24 hours and you try to work it out with your boss, and make sure you ring him after 24 hours.
Often it's not about who is ring and who is wrong, unless the contract has full specification and you have done a up. Business is all about problem solving.
Well, I never buy from that supplier again. It is a very silly act on swearing your customer.
For that German buyer, it is a long story. A shipment (White colour caps) shipped more than 6 months old and come back for claim that the caps are not clean? And those caps are not blank cap. These caps are for an event. When they cannot sell it, they say the caps are not clean but no production ever return to show me. When they cannot win the arguement, they just threaten to hurt me physically. They said they know people in China will take care of me.
So, you be the judge.
Some customers are just pain int the butt. You ask them to confirm details, they take it casually, but after production run, they want to complain.
In anyway, if there is a problem, the customer should show details of the problem. If the colour has faded, they should have pictures or samples to show you. Don't complain without proof. If it doesn't tand up in court, it won't fly with suppliers.
For future orders, ask they check their products as soon as they receive it and claim within 14 days of receipt.
I agree that people get angry when they realize that they are wrong, and get even louder when you prove them their own responsibility. I also worked at the counter of a power-tool service - the loudest clients were those who broke their own machines but did not want to admit it.
By the way, threatening with physical assault is a crime in most countries and definitely in Germany. So if your client becomes too unnerving you can tell this to him.
c[ ]
Quoting from [Pandora]:How do you deal with your customer or supplier who swear at you? And if he threaten to hurt you physically, will you still continue to work with him or his company?
There was a metal badge supplier (from ShenZhen) who swear at me when the payment got 1 day delay. In fact the problem came from the bank, not me. But he shout and swear at me over the phone when he cannot see the payment on his screen. End up with a one time deal.
Another case was a German customer who cannot win the argument over the phone, then he begins to swear and threaten to hurt me physically. The conversaton end like that and no more business with him and his company, even I have been doing business with his company for more than 7years.
Am I over reacting? I'm not sure. But I'm sure that I have perfect anger mangement.
I do not know why you mentioned `that the customer could not win an argument over the phone `
It´s best not to start an argument - but merely face the fact that apparently there was a problem and better fix it - instead of discussions - words do not solve it - only good actions.
better don´t speak too much - but act in proper way
Well, when someone call you and yell at you for nothing you did wrong. Do you consider that is an agruement?
Funny that it happen again lately. It's not the same guy but another German. This time I chose not to respond when he started to shout & swear. I told him my suggestion. But he just don't want to listen. He kept on shouting and swearing. At the end when he is almost finish shouting, I asked him "anything else you wanted to say?". As soon as he say "No......." I say "thank you" and hung up. And I didn't answer his phone call any more.
I don't mean I walk away the problem. I wait for 2 days when this German is cool down and I send him e-mail for solution.
After all these cases, I don't think I want to work with German again after current order. In my last 20years working experience, I never met one German understand the meaning of "courtesy" well enough to work with.
Quoting from [herbalcare]:
your partners are so rareness.... let the shenzhen guy get in contact with the German one```````````
Hahaha.... lmao