A lot of women working in customer service learn that they need some sort of strategy to prevent unwanted flirting.

This employee had spent years working customer service jobs over the phone and was extremely good at what she did. The problem was that some male customers kept taking her friendly voice as an invitation to flirt with her during calls.

After dealing with it over and over again, she found that saying she was married usually stopped the behavior immediately.

Apparently, though, one coworker thought that made her dishonest.

Read on to see why the situation became an issue for her.

AITA for telling customers I’m married?

I have been in customer service for over a decade, and I am really really good at it. I’m so good I have trained people, been a trainer, and have won so many awards for customer service.

When I had to send off supervisor calls still, most were because the customer wanted to compliment my work.

There’s only one issue, a lot of men seem to think I have a gorgeous voice and because of that I am often flirted with.

When I worked for a bank, it happened so often I started telling the customers I was married when they would ask.

Then, a coworker overheard what she said.

I would never offer this, but definitely would say ‘Yeah I’m married,’ when they asked.

It became nearly automatic now and usually seems to end all flirting. I did try telling a guy I was in a relationship (I was at the time and am in a new relationship), but that did not seem to be enough to keep the flirting from happening.

A coworker was asking what they should do when this happens to them, and I let them know what I do. Well, another coworker overheard us and said I was lying to customers and it was a jerk move. So, give me your true feelings on this one.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why she resorted to this habit.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a cashier who met a customer outside of work, and now they can never go back to their old relationship.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think about it.

This woman thinks it’s the best way to handle it.

These are great ways to handle it.

So true.

For this reader, it’s the easiest way to shut down the behavior.

This person doesn’t see that she did anything wrong.

The coworker sounds jealous it doesn’t happen to her or something.

Ultimately, the employee found a harmless way to keep conversations professional and shut things down before they became uncomfortable.

And the fact of the matter is that women shouldn’t even have to come up with little lines like this to avoid unwanted flirting while they are trying to work. People should just know better.

So, if saying “I’m married” works, then it works.