I get paid above average for this job, so that isn't really my complaint. My complaint is the affect this is having on my mental health. I got “written up” for not showing enough empathy to customer who was calling me a “see you next Tuesday” and every other name in the book, as well as not listening to what I was saying and screaming at/over me. Of course, I dealt professionally with the caller and didn't even hang up on him. He complained, and as a result, someone listened to the call and their takeaway was I didn't apologize enough or show enough empathy.
THis whole situation brought me back to when I was in an abusive marriage and would just curl up as small as I could and not say anything other than how great he was, how much I loved him, how sorry I was for upsetting him, etc.
I am at the tail end of my working career, so I can't get a new job. I just want to know if this is a widespread thing? I quit a job YEARS ago over a customer calling in and revealing rape fantasies, and I was not allowed to hang up on him. I could deal with it, but I worried about other co-workers.