Getting Scolded

(Artistic Impression of the fucker who scolded me)

The title cannot be clearer. In my line of work, customer service is an important facet. Staff at the community centres face a barrage of unreasonable customers all the time. Empirically, it is possible for a counter staff to be verbally abused at least once a day.

As per all customer service doctrine, the golden rule has always been, "The customer is always right". But how right are these customers if you ask? What about the unreasonable customers?

The recent issuance of the transport vouchers was another perfect episode for the community centre counter staff to be abused again. Usually, the point of contention arises due to complaint 1) the resident did not produce his/her NRIC card which is needed for the application and complaint 2) the resident blaming us when they are notified that all vouchers are given out.

Historically in the past, the norm has been that the counter-staff would be verbally abused by unreasonable residents. Because most of the time, the counter staff are ladies, they tend to be submissive and not retort back. Most importantly due to the scene created by the rowdy resident, the manager would usually step in and grant whatever the customer demands. The signal delivered from the manager's gesture is crystal clear to the public: "All i need to get my way is to RAISE my voice and create a scene. The staff of all community centres will give in."

This is definitely NOT applicable for me. I met an unreasonable customer this week. I informed him that the application of the voucher is closed. He was furious.

"I took off today to come to make the application" (customer)

"Sir, application is closed. HQ has ordered it so." (me)

"Who said so? SHow me Black & white. WHere? Where?" (cust)

"HQ sir. The boss upstairs in HQ." (me)

"I dun care. I want to talk to your boss now" (cust)

I ignored him and served another customer waiting in line. I stared at him. My counter staff who sensed that trouble was brewing called for my boss to receive the customer. In any case, the customer declared loudly that he wanted to file a complaint on me. I stared at him and replied, "Go ahead. I am not afraid. I do not give in to tyrants like you". In the meanwhile, my boss who is a sweet lady managed to pacify him and explained to him properly.

Later i learnt that this fucker also came in late to apply for the vouchers last year. The staff at the counter gave in to him. Now that explained why he assumed that this year, he could do the same again. Too bad, he met the wrong dude to mess with. I will never forget his face and his tone and his "Come-beat-me-up face". I beliveved that I would have beaten him up. I swear i would. A man's ego is not to be messed with. I was not born to be shouted and verbally abused by people.

Some residents are just really cheap. When they see the counter staff is a lady, they will raise their voice and bully them. It takes a strong will to say NO. Because yielding to these customers will only invite MORE abuses in the subsequent years and days to come.

I was fuming mad for the next few days. Mad because i met such a customer. Furious because my Boss gave in to him. Agitated because i did not get to beat him up.

The turning point came when i did my block visit with my MP yesterday. In typical practice, there will be an entourage of officials from the town council, the police, NEA, LTA, HDB and lastly from the CC (i.e. me) who will follow the MP in the block visit. The logic for the presence of the other agencies representives is that whenever a complaint is made to the MP, the MP could quickly on the spot refer to the right chap from the right agency for answers.

After the debrief session, all the agencies reps sat down at my RC centre. The MP has left and we were casually feasting on the food that my RC has prepared. I remarked, "The residents in this constituency are really pampered, spoilt and unreasonable."

The reps from the other agencies all laughed and shared their experiences of unreasonable residents' complaints / demands. The list of complaints / demands ranged from

(From the Police)

1) My neighbour above me is dragging the furniture across the room. I cannot sleep. Go and arrest them. (Its 3pm in the afternoon, mind you)

2) My son is confined in the army camp. He is just a young boy at 18 years. I want you to enter the camp to arrest his commanding officer and bring my boy back. Oh he is such a poor thing.

3) Wild cats are mating furiously in my void deck. My little girls ask me to explain that sound. I can't. I demand you to kill these cats.

(From the Town Council)

1) I am about to dry my clothes on the bamboo pole. But it is going to rain. Can you make the rain stop? (DUH, WTF!!!! JACk ASS Resident)

2) The airplanes are disturbing my reading hour at 1pm. I demand you to ground the flights or i will complain to the minister. (Complaint filed during the Paya Lebar Airbase Open House)

(NEA)

1) I have mosquito larvaes in my dentures cup. I expect you to come to my place within the next 1hr to remove the larvae without touching my dentures in the cup.

(LTA)

1) The roads are too dull and dark. Can you get your workers to paint the road in front of me in pink?

2) Street lamps are too bright and shines into my reading room. It disrupts my reading hour. I demand them to be shut down after 7pm.

At the end of the sharing session, i felt so much better because other agencies have it worser....much worser.