dealtn wrote:Lootman wrote:No, nothing crude, rude or blatant. You can be polite and firm at the same time. Or just play dumb and keep asking questions. There are 101 ways of getting what you want without crossing any line.
It works, and I routinely get better outcomes in person. Typically the managers have more discretion than the underlings, so you have to be willing to ask to talk to their boss. (One time I had to go all the way up to the CEO of Natwest to get satisfaction after every underling and middle manager had declined to fix the error).
But better to train your staff not to make mistakes with other peoples' money in the first place.
Can I suggest you look up "intimidate" in a dictionary in that case. It isn't the same as asking to talk to a boss. Perhaps you can clarify if you have just been clumsy in describing what you would do, or whether you really think it appropriate to act in a way that harms and belittles someone for no fault of their own.
Bullying and carrying an entitled attitude says a lot more about the person than the victim.
Not sure why you feel so triggered by this tangent to the topic. But my point was simply that it is my experience that clerks, bureaucrats and lower-level managers respond better when you are sat or stood across from them rather than them hiding behind a call centre or chat screen.
As for negotiation tactics that depends on a variety of factors such as the nature of the mistake and my assessment of the personality I am dealing with. It's not about bullying or being entitled at all. In fact I often adopt my Columbo technique, which is the exact opposite.