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I don't think it's rude to say "No one else is complaining". It could be that they wanted you to know they weren't dropping the ball. In other words, could be your landlord wants you to know he wasn't sitting around eating bonbons while the building went on fire. It is not the smoothest way of making that point, but it could be he meant no harm.
If the person is just trying to be obnoxious, I don't think dishing attitude back at them is helpful. You can just explain your case further. Sometimes people don't understand what's really bothering you. For example, it took me 4 times to explain to payroll why/how my paycheck was wrong. Things do get lost in communication--that is not necessarily one person's fault.
Another point of view is that perhaps you should take a step back and see if 1) you are over-reacting or 2) you are on the complain train and you need to get off on the next stop.
I wasn't sure where to post this thread, so if it needs to be moved, that's fine.
Is it me, or does it seem like the latest response to any kind of complaint these days, is to act completely baffled that you are complaining, and then say, "Huh, no on else has complained about that."
I've been hearing this from my landlord, which I know is not true, and other merchants here and there when I want to return something, and again today I heard it from a seller on Amazon over a product I wanted to return, that was obviously faulty.
I swear, this must be the new technique taught in seminars around the country on how to deal with complaints. Just look baffled and say, "Huh, nobody else has ever complained about that."
Is anyone else experiencing this phenomenon? I have proof that both of the examples above were lies (talking to other tenants, and the Amazon seller's feedback). But, I don't remember hearing it as often as I do now. It seems like it's the standard response. Instead of, "I'm sorry things don't work right, or that the thing broke, etc.," they all now immediately act surprised and say, "No one else has complained about that." And what is the point? You'll feel crazy and stupid out there alone on the complaining branch, so you'll apologize and run away? I don't get it.
Anyway, I've been trying to perfect a comeback to this line. I'd love to hear suggestions.
"Always nice to be first" was my sisters response when hit with that comment.
Yes, my office tried that on me once. "Nobody else is complaining about the noise."
Well, turns out "the noise", came from construction which drilled through an ethernet line in our floor, and took out the Internet from several cubicles, mine included.
I guess you could try a joke... "yeah, my family calls me the first responder. Others may follow."
I absolutely agree it's said/tried as a way to shut you up, and not benign. "Thanks for bothering us, you oversensitive jerk faker."
ETA: Oh, and I remember a tech board or two, where that was the default answer. It was a thorny problem for a lot of people, I remember it because eventually, Person #1 started passing to all other people down the line, their own case number, with the exact same repetitious problem listed. "Tell 'em your order number is Blank." the law of averages would indicate that either nobody was actually inputting this order number when they were given it, or that the name of the game at said tech company, was "dumb insolence" in response to any and all complaints.
I tell the person " Just because other people haven't complained doesn't mean they haven't experienced the same issues. And that fact is irrelevant anyway. I have a problem, thus I'm discussing it with you." This describes my occasional experience as a customer who has bought whatever item, rather than other complaints I discuss in my life. It has been shown that many unhappy customers don't actually voice their complaints directly to the business. They just act on their dissatisfaction in other ways: by not purchasing the item again, not going to the store again, discouraging their friends and family from shopping at that store, or scaling back the frequency that they patronize that store. Those are the hidden complaints businesses never find out about, and there are more of those than the ones they hear.
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