‘Normalize hanging up on rude customers’: Customer service rep films co-worker hanging up on customer berating her
A video of a customer service representative catching her co-worker hanging up on a rude customer has gone viral on TikTok.
The representative, Abigail Opperlee (@abiopperlee), posted the video on March 4. In just one day on the platform, the video attracted more than 4.9 million views.
In it, Opperlee chronicled a snippet of her co-worker's call using text overlay to describe the situation.
"Ma'am, what kind of vehicles are they?" Opperlee reported her co-working asking. In response, the caller said, "SHUT UP I'LL JUST DRIVE THE F*CK UP THERE AND —"
@abiopperlee Normalize hanging up on rude customers!! Working in customer service takes alot out of you, especially dealing with people like this. I will not tolerate being spoken too like that. Neither should you. Be respectful over the phone because 9/10 the person you are speaking to did nothing wrong and is just trying to help. #fy #fyp #customerservice #karen #rude #disrespectful ♬ original sound - AbigailOpperlee
At the end of the 10-second video, the co-worker hung up on the rude customer while Opperlee put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.
In the caption, Opperlee noted: "Working in customer service takes a lot out of you, especially dealing with people like this. I will not tolerate being spoken too [sic] like that. Neither should you. Be respectful over the phone because 9/10 the person you are speaking to did nothing wrong and is just trying to help."
Opperlee uploaded a follow-up video of her co-worker providing further details on the incident.
"Hello, I'm the girl from the video who hung up the phone on that nasty-ass lady," the co-worker said.
@abiopperlee Replying to @carrehendrickson86 words of encouragement at the end for all my customer service workers 🫶🏻 #fy #fyp #customerservice #karen #rude #disrespectful #part2 ♬ original sound - AbigailOpperlee
In the subsequent clip, Opperlee's co-worker revealed that the video was taken over a year ago, and she no longer works at the car dealership where it was filmed.
She noted that the "Karen" she was on the phone with was "pissed off at the world from the jump." She was willing to help the Karen but first needed to clarify the make of the two vehicles the woman needed serviced. Opperlee's co-worker explained that the dealership had a Honda side and a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep side, and the make of the car in need of service determined where a customer was directed.
The Karen was having none of it, though. As the co-worker relayed, "I was talking to her for like five minutes. She was cussing at me the whole entire time, screaming at me." She then asserted that after giving the Karen multiple warnings, she hung up.
In the comments section of the initial video, customer service workers shared how they handle rude customers.
"I know I could never be paid enough to stay on the phone with a rude customer," one viewer wrote. "Not worth the mental strain."
Another recalled, "I once told a guy 'I hope you can direct this energy somewhere productive today because it's not working here' and then hung up."
One, referencing a classic Seinfeld character, noted, "Me and my boss don't tolerate rude customers on the phone and will hang up then put them on a 'no soup for you' list and delete their future orders."
The Daily Dot reached out to Angie Opperlee via TikTok comment.
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