Quote Originally Posted by Trent View Post
The tone of this paragraph is clearly inflammatory.
I'm not denying that it was inflammatory, what I'm saying is that I don't see a way it could be raised without it being inflammatory to some degree.

If for example I could have responded with this (and this is about as non-inflammatory a manner of phrasing it as I can think of under the circumstances):

If Popculcha wont source replacement parts for customers, then why is it that the gentleman from Popculcha whom I spoke to by the name to Toby, made it clear in no uncertain terms that they most definitely would attempt to source replacement parts from Hot Toys? In fact the only reason which they didn't help me out is because as they are a retailer rather than a supplier, they require you to directly contact them about this issue.
Even though that is somewhat less combative, that can still be taken by someone looking for a fight, as me accusing them of blatantly lying to me.

The other thing is that, looking at his responses, I'm honestly convinced that toning in down would have made no difference. He's made it clear in those messages that:

  • he is only willing to contact suppliers who offer spare parts, about spare parts, if it concerns something he owns and not as a part of his after sales service
  • that carrying out such a service to customers is something which he considers to take time away from his business
  • that a customer making such a request makes them "a hassle"
    that customers product issues which turn into complaints have nothing to do
  • with his business and should be made outside of the official lines of communication for his business


The other thing is that I can't help but notice a certain degree of irony in your post, even though I do take your point about the higher road.

You were talking about your role as what I imagine is some form of customer service agent/public liason officer and applying it to the situation here, where you try to keep calm and polite in your day to day job when dealing with angry customers to try and defuse them. Here in this case, I was a calm customer who was making a reasonable request, but was instead aggravated by someone in customer service who was unprofessional and refused to keep calm and polite.

Don't get me wrong, I'll definitely keep it in mind, but are you sure you're not having this particular discussion with the wrong person in this particular case?