Finally became clear that their thinking was because they were now part time, bank holidays, which are paid pro-rata, become not bank holidays but extra days of holiday to be taken on their normal working days. Interesting! 

Caught with glass of wine and pile of work still to be done at late hour of night, lost temper and replied a great deal more bluntly and to the point than would normally have done. Get to office, therefore, to be greeted by deeply unpleasant atmosphere from that corner and everyone else stressed to the nines and back. Customers seem to be completely unable to make a decision and stick to it at the moment so production offices are awash with corrections, changed order details and changed delivery dates. This heightens tension and doubles our work and chances of making a mistake. Production not speaking to sales. Take call from customer demanding to speak to me personally. This lady has booked a specific delivery date but failed to send us the sample she wants furniture matching until 24 hours before said date, making it physically impossible to finish her furniture in time.

She launches into same tirade that she has let loose on virtually all my staff now – that this is our fault, we are failing to take any responsibility and our customer service is appalling. I attempt response but eventually have to revert to procedure used only once every five years or so. I state slowly and clearly that I won’t have my staff screamed at for no good reason and hang up. 

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