Mistaken title

Recently I recieved a call from a very irate patron. I get complaint calls every day so there is nothing new with the concept of handling angry people. This gentleman called to complain inform me that he was not properly addressed in a library correspondence. He was sent an automated fines notice via email and instead of referring to him as "Dr. Patron" the email was addressed to him by first name only. That is a reasonable concern we should be at least be drafting it in the Mr. or Ms. form however it is very difficult to know the person's gender by name only. And not every patron has a MD, or PhD. And the notices are sent automatically.

The conversation began on a negative point from the start. I picked up phone and he did not respond to my greeting with a "hi" or "hello" rather he lays into me."You just sent me an email about fines." More loud talking that turns into ranting with no pausing left me sitting with the phone held away from my ear. I was unable to say much due to his string of accusatory remarks. He had many issues and it was at first difficult to determine if he was upset about the fines letter, being addressed incorrectly or just having to pay fines in general. Likely all. The strong worded complaint lasted a few minutes. I was keeping track on my notepad of his concerns because after years of handling upset people I find that keeping notes helps me remember what they were mad about from the start. He repeated in detail about how he's "Dr. Patron" and was not addressed properly in the email. (He also noted how important he was in his department here at the University). I made the mistake of trying to explain something about the patron database. By telling him there are no classifications that would indicate a person's education level that made him more angry. I was getting irritated with the circular discussion and realized this was pointless. I thought that perhaps by asking him how he would prefer to be addressed would finally resolve this issue. Maybe somehow I could update his name in the system to add "Dr" to the first part of his name to prevent any future issues. However his barbed response was "Well, I assume that you went to school." I could sense the smirk on his face.

You know moments like these really test my ability to keep my sarcasm under control. The things I could have said would have been hilarious. But when you're on the clock you have to be professional, there's no time for comedy. I replied 'Sir you just insulted me.' Then he says "Well you insulted me." followed by a phone being slammed down. The end of our conversation which I took as relief. Interestingly he too failed to heed his own advice. Unfortunately when angry people call and do not get closure they always call back. I shared my interaction with a colleague because I knew that the next time this patron called I'd have to pass the call over so that the patron would not repeat the same process. We sat around waiting for him to call back.  Eventually he called back and my colleague answered the call. This doctor felt he was interacting with a person of similar educational rank and merit which resulted in a totally different outcome. The same explanation was provided yet he was pleasant, friendly, and accepting of the information.

This is why customer service staff are driven to the drink....I'm joking but it does make our heads spin.