Disciplinary meeting :(

xxEmmaxx_3

Hi,

I have a disciplinary meeting next week because a customer made a compliant that I was unprofessional because I hung up on her.

The only reason i did this was because she was being very rude and shouting down the phone and after trying many times to calm her down she was still shouting at me and asking me to phone somebody else to check some information but she would not let me do this. In the end I said "I will get that information and call you back." and ended the call. I then got the information and called her back i did say sorry for ending the call when i phoned back.

The main problem was that there was only one manager in, the other 3 were on a company paid trip away and because the manager that was in was busy, i didn't know what else to do.

Do you think it is a good enough reason for a disciplinary?

McKneff

I guess when you said 'Ill get the information and call you back, you put the phone down a bit sharpish'
When you 'ended the call' and then apologised for it, then you have admitted that you cut her off really.

She will have interpreted it as you 'slammed' the phone down.

Yes, its a reason for a disciplinary, state your case, calmly, you may get a verbal warning, learn from it and move on.
Good luck.

pupsicola

xxEmmaxx wrote: »

Hi,

I have a disciplinary meeting next week because a customer made a compliant that I was unprofessional because I hung up on her.

The only reason i did this was because she was being very rude and shouting down the phone and after trying many times to calm her down she was still shouting at me and asking me to phone somebody else to check some information but she would not let me do this. In the end I said "I will get that information and call you back." and ended the call. I then got the information and called her back i did say sorry for ending the call when i phoned back.

The main problem was that there was only one manager in, the other 3 were on a company paid trip away and because the manager that was in was busy, i didn't know what else to do.

Do you think it is a good enough reason for a disciplinary?

Given the circumstances I think you handled the situation in the only way you could. I dont think you should be facing a disciplinary. The situation needs talking through but you shouldn't be treated in a heavy handed manner. If your managers are reasonable people and you explain to them what happened, as you just have here, I hope they will back you up.

I worked for a company once that allowed us to hang up on people that were swearing, being rude or shouting at us on the phone (not that it happened very often). We had to ask them not to speak to us in that manner and advise that if it continued the call would be ended.

When you go to alot of companies or to hospitals, doctors surgeries etc there are notices up saying that verbal abuse against staff will not be tolerated. So it shouild also not be acceptable if it happens over the phone.

viktory

I give stroppy callers three warnings if they swear or are verbally aggressive. Then I terminate the call. I don't call them back and I don't apologise. But then, nor do I get disciplined for it, so I would suggest there is more to this than you are telling us. Tone of voice and attitude count for a lot.

Raksha

What is your company protocol/procedure? If you kept to this, then no, a disciplinary would be unnecessary. However, maybe you didn't keep to this, in which case your understanding of the procedure and training need to be assessed?

DVardysShadow

Raksha wrote: »

What is your company protocol/procedure? If you kept to this, then no, a disciplinary would be unnecessary. However, maybe you didn't keep to this, in which case your understanding of the procedure and training need to be assessed?

I rather suspect that there is no company procedure or protocol and that this is the root of the problem - staff are damned if they do and damned if they don't and it is a kind of retrospective justice. If there was a procedure, tha charge would be breach of procedure.

DCFC79

Are phone calls recorded as that would show that the caller was rude and shouting

FBaby

Not only I don't think you did anything wrong, but the company should be supporting you. I once had a very rude customer on the phone who actually insulted me (telling me I couldn't speak proper English... I am indeed from another country and have a slight accent but I speak very good English thank you!). I didn't hang up on her, she did, but she called my boss to complain... She certainly regretted it, expecting sympathy and promess I would be disciplined, instead she got told that he wouldn't let anyone treat his staff in a rude manner and supported me 100% with the way I handled the situation.

rchrisp

i would explain exactly what happened during the call and what steps you took afterwards, stressing that you apologised to the caller. go though your company handbooks and find out what the policy is for dealing with rude callers. if there is none, suggest that one is written to avoid similar incidents in future. if there is one, and you have breached it at all, request extra training for handling difficult calls.

cashbackproblems

I think you would have good grounds for unfair dismissal (should this be the case) and would 99% of times win.

But just hold your ground with HR and argue your case and you should be fine.