Some gatekeepers take their job so seriously that there’s no getting around them.

So, what would you do if a secretary flat-out refused to transfer your call and insisted her manager never contacted you, even though you were literally responding to his email request? Would you give up quickly? Or would you keep asking until she ended the call?

In the following story, one business advisor finds himself in this situation and can’t understand people like this. Here’s what happened.

Problems with gatekeeping/ entitled secretaries.

I’ve just read a gatekeeping post on another sub, and it reminded me of a not-so-fun call I had once.

A few years ago, I worked as a ‘business adviser,’ and my job was essentially to help small businesses in England set up apprenticeships.

It was a government-provided service, all free for the employers, so I worked through many requests each day and didn’t have much time to waste.

-I received an email one morning from a manager at a hospice/care center type place asking for a call about 11 am to discuss his options regarding hiring an apprentice.

The call started off pretty normal.

This was the call, paraphrased from memory:

Gatekeeper: “Good morning, this is Hospice. How can I help?”

Me: “Hi, it’s Charlie calling from Service. Can I speak to Mr. Smith, please?”

Gatekeeper: “Is he expecting your call?”

Me: “He should be, he emailed me this morning asking for a call about 11.”

Here’s where she started with the attitude.

Gatekeeper: “I highly doubt that.”

Me: “I’m sorry, what?”

Gatekeeper: “I highly doubt Mr. Smith would have emailed YOU.”

Me (getting a bit irritated): “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m looking at his email now, it definitely says 11 am. Is now not a good time? I have some availability about 3 pm if that would be a better time to call.”

No matter what he said, she wouldn’t believe him.

Gatekeeper: “I will NOT be transferring you to Mr. Smith. He doesn’t want what you’re selling.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not selling anything. I work for Service. Mr. Smith emailed me earlier as he wants some help with getting an apprentice or two.”

Gatekeeper: “We’re not hiring any apprentices, so I know you’re lying. Do NOT call again.”

Me: “He really did email…”

Then, she hung the phone up.

*Dead tone*

So, I emailed Mr. Smith, explained the situation and advised I, unfortunately, would not be able to call him again as I would not speak to Gatekeeper due to her unprofessional behaviour. He sent me his mobile number, apologised and asked for a call back.

He was a lovely man to talk to and I enjoyed working with him.

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I just don’t understand why some secretaries are so aggressive and rude. I probably had a few calls like this every month, which doesn’t sound like many, but it shouldn’t happen at all. Manners are free, there’s no excuse for rudeness.

Wow! She was determined to not let one call get through.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit feel about gatekeepers.

This reader gets tired of liars.

Here’s someone who dislikes a certain type of call.

According to this comment, some callers are relentless.

These are thoughts from a gatekeeper.

Maybe he should change his approach. It must too scammy or something.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who refused to keep giving his coworker rides to work because he left a mess in his car.