Is This What You'd Call Extreme Customer Service?

To begin, I just have to say that this probably isn't want you will expect to read when you first read the title of my post.. BUT after reading my post, you will know that it is fitting.

In attempt to stay as anonymous as I possibly can, I will just say that I work as a project coordinator in a crazy business. My company supplies certain lines of product to customers such as contractors and I run big projects. We do projects with many different companies, but none compare to this certain man and his company. Let's just call him customer/company "X".

Company "X" gives us a LOT of business, and it's hard to say but in these tight times, if it weren't for company "X", I might not have a job right now. "X" has always been known as a player and will do what he can to ensure that he makes the most money he can possibly make. Up until two years ago, he had his moments, but he was manageable and things were good. "X" is getting much older now though (ie. I should have retired several years ago) and in his older age, he is getting harder and harder to deal with.

This past year has been the worst for me so far. In the past, I had always dealt with the girls who work for "X" and would never actually hear from "X" himself. If something was really wrong, he would just go up the ladder. Things have completely changed this year though -- perhaps in the past 6 months to be exact. Phone calls from "X" have become a daily occurrence and I am always finding myself dreading them. I can honestly say that "X" has absolutely ZERO talent and manners when it comes to telephone conversations. He calls all up on his high horse, yells at me, puts me and my company down and darn right brings me close to tears every time...He even swore at me before! It has gotten so bad that I am afraid to answer my phone sometimes and just let it go to voice mail.

I have spoken to my boss about it, and he understands how I am feeling. The yelling from "X" is not only something that I get to experience, but everyone up the ladder gets to hear it too. The worst part is that he never even has justifiable reasons for yelling. He makes up different stories for different people in attempt to make our company look bad and in the wrong. It frustrates the hell out of me. We can't stop him from calling me unfortunately because he is our customer and as mentioned before, we make a lot of money off of him. If it were different times, my company would probably just fire him as a customer because things have gotten so bad. Unfortunately, we're already at the point where I, along with all of my colleagues have to take 1 day off per month with no pay in attempt to avoid any more layoffs.

I've tried to avoid writing about "X" before as I have been trying to fluff him off and just feel sorry for him and the type of person he has become. But this morning I had the pleasure of receiving another voice mail of him yelling at me about BS. I had asked for a simple piece of paper with his signature waiving approval for something that he had asked me to get shipped to him. (normally we need approval from engineers) His response, a yelling voice mail saying my company is useless and threats to take away orders.... It's just not how I'd like to start my day.

This is one of those days where I absolutely HATE my job and so wish that I could make money training horses/ponies! Thank goodness Friday marks the start of my 11 days off! Thanks for reading my rant!