Foreigners who think Filipinos are stupid?

i had a caller today who asked about our company and wanted to get the contact details of our ceos and managing director. like with most companies, details as such are confidential and should not be divulged to anyone. i apologized to the caller and said that i cannot give the details then asked him for his name and contact details so that i could forward it to the managers. he insisted but i politely refused. then he called me a 'stupid Filipino' and slammed the phone.

how would you handle situations like this? have you had a similar experience? what did you say? what would you do?

I'm sorry that happened to you xtra0 but don't take it personally. It's just a fact of life. Here in US, stupid is a commonly uttered word whenever people are not in agreement but Americans don't take it personally. Having entered customer service job, I believe you understand that such incidents are inevitable. The customers statement is uncalled for. Kudos to you on how you handle the incident with tact and maintaining your cool.

Taking the customer's manner aside, In my opinion, I think there is nothing wrong in giving out contact info and business e-mails of company owners or managers to clients/customers (US setting). Customers have the right to know who is running the business and whom to contact for other business matters like marketing and advertising or for some other issues that CSR and Tech support can't solve. Some companies post these infos in their sites. Even store receipts has printed name of store manager and phone number for complaints and feedback.

In my experience calling CSRs for my phone service (I guess they are also Filipinos because of their accent and their "um" word) for issues re overcharged bills. My case is never solved despite explaining thoroughly my case to a lot of Customer Service Rep who sometimes pass me from one CSR to another until someone hangs up. Well I googled and found the contact number of their CEO. So I called and politely left a message and an explanation of what's been going on. That same day, I got a call back from an account retention rep informing me that all my disputed charges were looked at and is taken down from my account. What a relief.

First of all I would call that being arrogant and a 鈥淣O鈥?for an answer and not getting what they want just drives them crazy, just like a little babies crying out loud for not getting what they want.
My dear, everything you have demonstrated in your communication with the caller reflects the degree of professionalism and high standard of communication and Telephone etiquette. You have done the right thing and I would not do it any other way. Protecting the privacy of your top management staff is a priority within any corporation. Asking for his name, telephone number for someone to get back to him was the right thing to do also.
I am sure this happens everyday and people at call centers have to put up with much more abuse than you have encountered. I am sure that western people have the tendency to show emotions with some superiority mixed with a harsh voice tone.
If I have the chance to hire you as an employee just for doing the right thing, I would do it in a blink of an eye.

It has been my philosophy to avoid repetition of bad incidents. In your management meeting, address the issue you had experienced and ask what is the company policy when someone asks contact details. You might be surprised to know that there are policies encouraging divulging of such information for marketing and sales purposes. So the next time you encountered the same situation you already know what to do.

You did the right thing.

It's all in a day's work. There will be more of these or similar encounters. The more you get adept in handling these insane callers, the healthier your outlook in life will be. And the happier you will be at work, and off work.

I will not even say that the caller was the one who was stupid. I will just think that he was having a bad day, and probably regretted his action after he slammed the phone.

It is healthy to think that people are generally and normally nice. That was an off-chance, so just forget about it.

Don't take it too personal. That kind of person doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. And I personally consider those kind of people more stupid and uneducated because they don't know what they're doing. Sometimes they even call for customer service or technical support without even knowing exactly what they want. Pathetic, isn't it? That person who called you "stupid Filipino" is one hell of an idiot. Just let it go. Just think that, out of your 100 ripe mangoes, 1 is rot. And its him....

And you know what, you did the right job! Maintain that professionalism.

...my work doesn't involve direct dealing with the public but i would have done exactly the same thing you did. even if your company is publicly traded in which case contact details about the big bosses are not confidential, such info should not be divulge on the phone. unfortunately, there would always be people like that whose phone manners leave so much to be desired. not to mention, being racist too.

since you cannot get back to the caller and you did your job very well, you can only deal with it on a personal level - just accept that there will always be people like that so long as traveling and interactions are permitted. we have to accept that even (some) filipinos overseas may sometimes utter the words "stupid..." when they're totally upset and frustrated. at the end of the day, all you can do is to write the incident down in your log, go and be with family and friends, and appreciate the goodness and beauty of life!

He's telling that to you because he couldn't get pass to you. Dun care if he called you stupid Filipino because he is ignorant as hell. Which employee would divulge confidential numbers of his manager/CEO? If you do that, your boss will tell you not to report to work the day after.

What you did is the right thing! In a big company, before they get to see the top man. They have to go through a series of frontliners, middle mgmt etc. Thats corporate life.

if i were in your shoes id just probably do the same thing...you dont need to be bothered by what he said to you..you that you did your job..maybe i will just also inform the the person that it is our companies policy not to disclose such information and even if you insist and as much as i wanted to help you i dont wanna jeorpadize my job..so heres what i can do for you...if you can give me your contact number i would gladly pass it to the person you wish to speak with so they can communicate with you directly...i hope you understand ...
but if he still doesnt understand...well then its proves he is an idiot..and even if he said that your the one whose idiot dont mind it...you know better...

They are simple foreigners who were born to a culture that holds White Supremacy.

Just don't pay attention to that kind of person as you will not get anything. Just keep doing your job and from what I read, I'm pretty sure that you're doing your job well.

Give that foreigner some benefit of the doubt, like maybe he is not feeling well or he has cancer, something like that, and you will feel relieved.

Well, we couldn't avoid those kind of people who have a bad behavior or attitude problem. If I were you I will consider that as a challenge for me to prove that he is doing wrong since he can say whatever he wants to say but through my controlled actions and careful words I will be patient and still manage to be kind because if I act the way he does we are surely the same kind of person and the conversation will go nowhere so I'll just keep doing the right thing for him to realize he is doing wrong.

You did your job well. Your manager or boss should be made aware of the kind of crap you have to put up with to protect them. Fortunately the people who behave that way are a very small percentage of people so don't let them cause you to be angry too. The best pay back is to continue to be nice. Thats why he hung up because he lost. If you got angry back to him, he wins.

You did everything right. Both personally and professionally. It's not your fault some people are closed to the real ways of the world. Just ignore those kinds of people and concentrate on the fine work your doing. People can say all sorts of things on the phone but that may change when they are face to face with a person.

basically,

most foreigners look down on filipinos because this place is a third world country.

well, they say that 3rd world countries are those that are still developing. but if you ask me, i'd say that the situation of this place is not even close... because we're drifting.

You handled yourself exceptionally well and we're all very proud of you. Now forget that ill-mannered caller. Don't let him get into your head. There will always be those who can't help but show off their stupidity. It's probably their only asset. But you - you keep up the good work!

Next time he calls and recognize his voice, refer him to a telephone number of the worst gansta you could think of, preferably a known hitman.

My company does not do business with racist pigs. So if he were a customer of ours, I would have called him back and let him know our company would no longer do business with him.

Don't mind him.

Duh!! Filipinos are smart and great!!

We have many prides! Charice Pempengco, Ariel Pineda, Manny Pacquiao.

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!!!!!!!

Wow, I would laugh, tell my friends about the retard I just had on the phone. Some people were born idiots, raised as iidiots, and will die as one.

I would trace his number and harrass him. I would give his number to those people who sell stuff by calling you. they are so annoying.

put poison in his food! haha

nahh... its obvious he is one of many Foreigners who aint have values, be proud to be a Filipino, dont step down to his level :D

Just forget it. It's a one-off incident that could happen to anyone, anywhere in the world.

Meh don't take it personally, karma will get him.

Don't worry about it,


Just remember "It takes one to know one"

just dont mind him...

il drink lots of coffee

Naa....... I won't worry too much about it 'cause what goes around comes around.

be proud,stupid people rule the country

It's part of the job.. The best you can do is to tell him that it was inappropriate but since he just hanged up then just don't fret about it... I was wondering though why your company hierarchy is confidential.. Shouldn't it be a public information? Most companies actually don't treat them as confidential.. Their contact numbers and information are confidential but their names and ownership is not..

I am a Filipino and some of the people who calls me to sell stuff to our company are actually Filipinos.. Most are good but some seems to be untrained. They either follow too many protocols or just assume things..

I can understand why people gets upset but they do not have a right to be racist or derogatory... People are people and customer service departments handle them everyday no matter what their mood or values are.. Either you get used to it or find a more tactful way of dealing with rowdy customers..
Goodluck

Since he slammed the phone on you, there's nothing really you can do to get back. Just remember his voice and warn the others who he'll probably call next.

Chill out, he's stupid, not you. Take pride that you have done the right thing and has refused to be harassed by a racist.

Working in the corporate office, these type of calls gets directed to the Executive Secretary and to me. I never did divulge anything, stating that I have no authority to give the info. I added that if the caller insists, I ask for the specific purpose and says that he can leave his contact detail or wait to be called back if my manager approves. If he insists, he can always call back and requests to be transferred directly to my boss. (Our receptionist is likewise trained not to divulge contact details and to verify purpose of calls - which if not satisfactory the call still ends up with me. So he loses, not me)

If it had happened to me and I have a chance to retaliate, I'll keep my cool and make him more frustrated saying I am not allowed to divulge anything, nobody in authority is around and will ask the receptionist to transfer his calls only to me. =))

If you are sure that you were in the right & the other person was in the wrong, then do not let it bother you.

I was born in the Philippines & I have been living abroad for many years now & I get to deal with people like that all the time. And it's not only Filipinos who are on the receiving end, it's everybody that is DIFFERENT from them. Such as the Mexicans & other Hispanics, the Chinese & other Asians, the Pacific Islanders, etc.

How did I handle it, pretty much how you did it, with courtesy & diplomacy. But usually I use a little more forceful approach, if not the legalise terminology approach, & usually all that with a little sense of humor included & a whole lot of patience. A couple of times I blew my top but those were really over-the-top exemptions.

Remember other nationalities that perceive all Filipinos as dumber than them & those with no manners at all, are usually the dumber ones, heck they cannot even master one language when the normal Filipino can speak 3 or more.

"Que barbaridad!" (How awful!) and ironic.