Old coworker's refund advice saved me from a 45 minute screaming match

Back in 2018 I worked register at a hardware store in Dayton and this crusty old guy named Jerry told me to always start angry customers with, "I hear you, and here is what I CAN do." I thought it was corny until this woman came in with a rusted shovel she'd clearly used for two years demanding her money back. I tried his line, she paused, then calmly accepted a store credit instead of blowing up like she did with my manager the week before. Jerry retired but I still use that exact phrase at my current job, it works maybe 8 out of 10 times even now. Has anyone else gotten one weird piece of customer service advice that actually stuck for years?

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the_eric8d agoMost Upvoted

Did the calm ones still seem pissed underneath, or genuinely cool with it?