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One of my least favourite customers was in yesterday, but I wasn't dealing with the public so my colleague got to see her.
I'm half convinced that this woman is like Munchausen's syndrome but for advice rather than medical help. She creates these weird and inexplicable problems she wants us to unravel, or alternatively just comes in about really pointless/bizarre/imagined stuff.
She's been my least favourite customer since the time she managed to leave letters with other workers 3 TIMES IN 1 MONTH lying and saying that I was dealing with the issue. I never did what she was trying to manipulate me into doing but spent just as long writing the letters to her explaining that I wouldn't be doing anything, took no responsibility for the issues concerned and she would have to go through normal channels to get advice. (In a "teach a man to fish" way I feel it is worth spending more time making someone go away sometimes - helping people when you shouldn't may be quick but it encourages people to try the same thing over and over).
This morning we're closed to the public, but she rings the doorbell and asks for my colleague. She's meant to have been offered an appointment by another agency, and they didn't ring when they promised. My colleague ways up how annoyed she is with the customer, and how annoyed with the agency and agrees she'll see the customer so they chase up this appointment.
Appointment arranged the customer tries to make my colleague complete a job application she's working on. Nothing to do with the work we do, completely inappropriate as the form is meant to showcase her abilities (and she really shouldn't be applying as a teaching assistant if she can't fill in an application form, or as on a previous occasion read the application date).
My colleague firmly tells her she'll have to do it herself, or seek help elsewhere.
Half an hour later we discover she's managed to make another customer in the waiting room do bits of the form for her
An hour later she makes someone ring up for my colleague (we lurk upstairs when we're not seeing customers) and tries to persuade her to rearrange the agency appointment so she can spend the rest of the day doing the form. My colleague states that if she wants to change the appointment an hour after it's made she'll have to do it herself and gives her the number. At this point we all wonder what the hell the women is still doing in the building. No one should be in the waiting room unsupervised, and we don't have a full time receptionist on non-customer days.
My colleague tells her she has to go - and she claims she has nowhere else to do the form. My colleague has to take her to the door, point and say "library - half a block that way!".
Grrr.
Victoria J
I'm half convinced that this woman is like Munchausen's syndrome but for advice rather than medical help. She creates these weird and inexplicable problems she wants us to unravel, or alternatively just comes in about really pointless/bizarre/imagined stuff.
She's been my least favourite customer since the time she managed to leave letters with other workers 3 TIMES IN 1 MONTH lying and saying that I was dealing with the issue. I never did what she was trying to manipulate me into doing but spent just as long writing the letters to her explaining that I wouldn't be doing anything, took no responsibility for the issues concerned and she would have to go through normal channels to get advice. (In a "teach a man to fish" way I feel it is worth spending more time making someone go away sometimes - helping people when you shouldn't may be quick but it encourages people to try the same thing over and over).
This morning we're closed to the public, but she rings the doorbell and asks for my colleague. She's meant to have been offered an appointment by another agency, and they didn't ring when they promised. My colleague ways up how annoyed she is with the customer, and how annoyed with the agency and agrees she'll see the customer so they chase up this appointment.
Appointment arranged the customer tries to make my colleague complete a job application she's working on. Nothing to do with the work we do, completely inappropriate as the form is meant to showcase her abilities (and she really shouldn't be applying as a teaching assistant if she can't fill in an application form, or as on a previous occasion read the application date).
My colleague firmly tells her she'll have to do it herself, or seek help elsewhere.
Half an hour later we discover she's managed to make another customer in the waiting room do bits of the form for her
An hour later she makes someone ring up for my colleague (we lurk upstairs when we're not seeing customers) and tries to persuade her to rearrange the agency appointment so she can spend the rest of the day doing the form. My colleague states that if she wants to change the appointment an hour after it's made she'll have to do it herself and gives her the number. At this point we all wonder what the hell the women is still doing in the building. No one should be in the waiting room unsupervised, and we don't have a full time receptionist on non-customer days.
My colleague tells her she has to go - and she claims she has nowhere else to do the form. My colleague has to take her to the door, point and say "library - half a block that way!".
Grrr.
Victoria J
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