Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.

Customer service rep receives praise for handling of woman’s complaint about company’s Pride post

‘You’re my customer service hero,’ one viewer wrote

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Monday 28 June 2021 16:59 BST
Comments
Customer service rep praised for handling of homophobic customer complaining about company’s Pride Month post
Customer service rep praised for handling of homophobic customer complaining about company’s Pride Month post (TikTok / @actuallynothx)

A customer service representative is being praised for her handling of a customer’s complaint over the company’s support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month.

Over the weekend, Hannah, who goes by the username @actuallynothx on TikTok, uploaded a video showing her conversation with a woman complaining about the unidentified company’s public support to the app, where it has since gone viral.

In the clip, which Hannah captioned: “This lady was mad that the company I work for posted about Pride Month on social media,” she filmed herself informing the disgruntled customer that she was going to hang up, as it seemed like she didn’t want to have a discussion, but just wanted to “yell at somebody”.

“Ma’am, it seems like you don’t want to have a discussion, it seems like you just want to yell at somebody. So if you’re going to keep yelling, and you don’t want to have a back-and-forth discussion, I’m just gonna hang up,” Hannah can be heard informing the caller.

In response, the woman shared her disapproval with the company’s Pride support, with the TikTok capturing the customer attempting to compare the social media post with peer pressure or someone putting something in a child’s drink, which Hannah then stated had “nothing to do with Pride Month”.

Despite her response, the bigoted customer continued to share her disapproval, telling Hannah that Hollywood is “glorifying” the LGBTQ+ community, and that the company she works for was “wrong” to “glorify this culture”.

“And that’s what you’re doing and I am so offended,” the woman continued, prompting Hannah to respond: “Well ma’am, people all around the world, and all around the country, and businesses, have been glorifying straight culture for hundreds and hundreds of years.”

After the woman again suggested that the company is “glorifying” the LGBTQ+ community with their message of Pride support, Hannah again threatened to hang up the phone, with the customer responding: “You are a disgusting human being.”

In response to the comment, Hannah told the woman on the phone: “Ok, well I think you’re disgusting. Bye,” before ending the call.

The TikTok has since been viewed more than 762,000 times, with many praising Hannah for her handling of the homophobic customer.

“You actually got to call her disgusting back, you’re my customer service hero,” one person commented, prompting Hannah to reveal that the call took place on her last day of work for the company.

Another said: “Thank you, from the bottom of my queer heart.”

“I wish every company would let us stand up to customers like you’re standing up to this lady,” someone else wrote.

The video also prompted some to reveal they would be using Hannah’s responses when dealing with difficult customers in their own lines of work, with the customer service rep responding: “Yes! Empower yourself politely!”

As for her feelings regarding the video, Hannah told one viewer that situations such as the one filmed are “pretty discouraging,” while revealing to another commenter that she was able to stay calm because of “40 hours per week of practise”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in