Some people don’t really talk, they just wait until you’re done so they can speak. This can easily lead to misunderstandings.

In this case, a man insisted that a tech support employee do something they couldn’t do and refused to do the one thing that would solve this problem.

Keep reading to see how the story plays out.

What do you mean you can’t email me my password? I want to talk to your boss.

I do end user implementation, training, and support for a web application that was developed by my firm. Our clients skew older.

client: I can’t get into my account. My login isn’t working. This is ridiculous. I’ve been trying for hours and now I’m locked out.

me: My apologies for the inconvenience! I’ve just reset your password. You should receive an email with a link to set and save a new password in a moment.

But it wouldn’t be so easy to help him.

c: I don’t want to set a new password. I liked my old password. It’s the same password I use for everything else and it’s easy to remember.

me: My sincere apologies, but you will need to set a new password in order to gain access to your account.

c: Can’t I just use my old password?

me: No, our data security standards do not allow that. However, if for any reason you aren’t able to follow the password reset link, I would be happy to generate a random password for you, and share it with you over the phone.

c: Do that, then, and email the password to me.

But she couldn’t do that.

me: Again, my apologies, but part of our security policy states that we cannot email passwords in plain text. I would be happy to give you a call and share you password with you over the phone.

c: Why are you being so difficult? I just want my old password to work again.

me: Sir, I’m so sorry that this process has been frustrating for you. I want you to have access to your account. Have you followed the link in the password reset email?

c: No. It looks like a virus. I don’t want to click on it.

*Sigh* She kept trying.

me: I can assure you that it is not a virus. It is a hyperlink. You can just click on it, and it’ll open a page in your browser where you can reset your password.

c: That’s ridiculous. That’s so much work. Why do you make it so hard? This should be simple. I want to speak to your manager.

me: (eager to pass them off on someone else) No problem. My manager is cc’d. He would be happy to assist you.

But he had complaints.

manager: How can I help?

c: Your employee is rude, stupid, and not helpful. I just want to log in, I don’t want to reset my password, I don’t want to click on this virus she sent me, and this is taking forever and it is ridiculous.

manager: Sir, respectfully, we are going to need you to meet us halfway and change your password.

client: (in all caps, this is via email) THIS IS ********. I DON’T WANT TO CHANGE MY PASSWORD. YOU ARE IDIOTS.

manager: Again, we are sorry that this is frustrating for you. Please let us know what we can do to help.

Things reached a boiling point.

Manager cc’s client’s boss, the director of their org and the one whose signature is on the contract. My manager does not take nonsense from clients.

Client’s boss (to their employee with us cc’d):

“Are you serious? These nice people are doing everything they can to help you, and you are abusing and belittling them.”

“This is an embarrassment to our organization.”

“You owe them both an apology, and you need to reset your password, stop complaining, and log in so you can get me that report that was supposed to be on my desk yesterday.”

“The fact that you’ve wasted your entire day on this is ridiculous and this will definitely be included in your performance review.”

Now that seemed to have solved the problem.

My manager and I were in tears.

Client’s boss was a savage and did not pull a single punch.

The client did end up resetting his password but did not apologize. Last time I sent out an email to clients, his bounced.

He got fired.

*Evil cackle*

Talk about self-sabotage.

What did Reddit think?

That sums it up!

Yup.

No logic to his decisions.

Someone shares their experience.

Another reader chimes in.

Why beat around the bush?

He had to learn the hard way.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.