'I'M TRYING TO PROTECT YOU': Call center employee showcases top tier de-escalation tactics when handling Karen customers on the phone

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Apr 19, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

Customer service jobs have a way of testing your patience. For some reason, entitled Karens and Kevins see their interactions with customer service representatives as an opportunity to be a certified pain in the rear, so oftentimes employees will turn on their 'teacher voice' and stick to the script. Polite, calm, and always helpful, it's easy to get caught in the crosshairs of a frustrated customer, but at what point does a customer service rep succumb to the pressure?

Apparently, for the lady in our next story, cracking under the weight of an angry, unhelpful customer was not in her rulebook. Kennedy is a call center rep for an insurance company and helps customers with their claims online. Naturally, she deals with a lot of difficult clients, but demonstrated her superb deescalation capabilities recently after recording an interaction she had over the phone. Cool as a cucumber, Kennedy showcases how every customer service employee feels when dealing with a Karen (or Kevin) and she stops her client's punitive fury in its tracks.