Behavioral Interview Questions
Master 31 behavioral interview questions covering past experiences, conflict resolution, and decision-making.
Question 13 of 31
Tell me about a time when you had to address an angry customer. What was the problem and how did you resolve it?
The Goal
Example Answer
Admin
Marketing
Sales
Retail
Teacher
Manager
How to Answer
Pro Tip
What to Avoid
Community Answers
Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.
The interviewer wants to know that you can professionally handle stressful or uncomfortable customer-related situations. The goal of your response is to showcase your ability to de-escalate customer issues and deliver professional service.
Christine Pasqueretta is a human resource and recruitment professional with experience creating, developing, implementing, leading, and measuring HR impact initiatives.
"(Situation) Last year, I worked in a retail customer care center of a company with many service complaints. (Task) As a Customer Care Representative, I had to navigate angry customer experiences more times than I would have liked. (Action) To cope, I took the stance that people who are upset want to be heard and respected. I would listen, empathize, and reassure the customer that I was there to support them and resolve the matter. If I needed to check on an order or get back to the customer, I would explain what I was doing and when they would hear back. (Result) I am proud to say that I successfully turned more detractors into promoters than anyone else in that organization."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) In my current role, I address angry customers daily. (Task) As an Administrative Assistant, I often encounter people who are upset about being asked to hold. (Action) When this happens, I 'kill them with kindness' by profusely thanking them for their patience and letting them know they now have my full attention. (Result) I would say this communication approach works 99% of the time."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) Just last week, a customer called our design team because he was unhappy with a particular design we were creating for him. (Task) As the Marketing Manager, it was up to me to fix the situation. (Action) I called the client and reassured him that we would modify the design to his liking before finalizing the project. After we spoke further, I realized he was feeling uncomfortable because he was not a part of the decision-making every step of the way. I remained patient, listened to his concerns, and reassured him that we would satisfy his requests. (Result) As a result of the conversation, we were back on track and delivered a stellar design in the end."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) Recently, a client was delivered a damaged piece of goods that we sold him. For a 30,000 piece of inventory, he was understandably agitated. (Task) As his Key Account Manager, it was up to me to turn the situation around. (Action) Within five minutes of receiving his angry email, I hopped on the phone with him to address the issue. I had my COO and Director of Operations in the room so he would feel that the issue was being taken care of by upper management. (Result) Through a 10-minute conversation, we resolved his issue, bought back the piece of inventory, and had a pick-up arranged for that very afternoon. The client was so happy with our proactive approach that he committed to buying another five pieces of inventory that same week."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) I was challenged during a rollout of my current employers' new return policy. (Task) As a cashier, I had to request identification from any customer making a return without a receipt. (Action) One customer became irate after being asked for ID. She assumed it was a race issue. I took a step back and explained the reason for the new policy and assured her it was a new company-wide policy. (Result) After taking the time to hear her concerns, validate her feelings, and explain it all in context, she handed over her ID and apologized for her explosion."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) Last year, I had a parent upset that their child experienced exclusion from Spanish class. (Task) As the primary Spanish teacher, the parent chose to come to me. (Action) I looked into the situation and found that the exclusion was due to the student's IEP and special services scheduling. The student went to speech and social work during my Spanish class. This fact didn't stop the parent from showing frustration with me, so I made sure to find time to sit down and speak with her and show that I heard her frustration. I asked our principal to join us as well. (Result) We were able to figure out a better schedule for the following semester that would allow her child to attend Spanish class. By showing that I understood her frustration and was willing to work with her, she softened and was thrilled that we were so receptive to her concerns."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"(Situation) I once worked at a call center that took high volumes of client disputes. (Task) As the Call Centre Manager, I took many escalations from angry customers. (Action) I remember one instance quite well. The customers' order was missing items. When I told her that our policy was to send the order back for a refund, she blew up. She just wanted us to ship the missing pieces. I decided to comply, as it was not worth upsetting her further. (Result) The customer ended up getting a refund in the end and was satisfied. After this situation, I spoke with our corporate head office about the possibility of changing our return policies."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Briefly describe a time you resolved a customer service issue. Be sure to highlight your ability to remain patient and rational in the face of conflict. Focus the bulk of your response on the positive action you took and the resolution you came to with the customer rather than details of the conflict itself.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Behavioral-based interview questions that begin with 'Tell me about a time...' are best answered using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the interviewer with the right amount of information and detail to form a compelling answer.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
Avoid providing a long, drawn-out story that focuses on the drama surrounding an angry customer. It's easy to get lost in stories surrounding conflicts.
Anonymous Answer
When I was a reseller at a bookstore I learned how to handle different types of customers in both stressful and calm environments. For example, when it was during Christmas time and many wanted to buy books as presents we needed to say customers to wrap their presents by themselves because of our time limitation due to the number of customers. The result was, of course, some angry customers who thought it was bad service. My approach was then to handle these customers by telling them that we have not resourced to wrap and handle all the customers these days, that if we would do that the queue would be even longer and many customers prefer to wrap their presents by themselves instead of wait in line for a longer time. The result was usually good because they calm down because they understood the situation and by comparing to a worse case if we would have done it in another way, they understood and agreed that this was the best approach right now.
Rachelle's Feedback
Try to keep your answer more brief with less repetition.
"I once worked at a bookstore over the holidays. We did not offer gift-wrapping, which angered a lot of the customers. When approached, I patiently let the customers know that we were not set up for gift-wrapping. I pointed out that if we did offer gift wrapping, the line would take even longer, making customers wait for their turn. Most of the customers understood the situation and were happier to take a shorter wait time in line."
Anonymous Answer
I had a student who was not allowed to the workshop because he did not have all the safety equipment that was required. I could see the student was angry as he would miss the practical training for the day. I explained to the student the importance of the health and safety issues for our vocational program and that we cannot have him take any risk that would lead to serious injury. I gave him an alternative option that he could join the other group by attending the theory class. The student was satisfied with my solution.
Rachelle's Feedback
Concise answer, and very good example. Great work!
Anonymous Answer
A patient came in furious because someone the day before told her that the medication was not covered but when she called her insurance company they said it was covered. When I interpreted the rejection I saw that our preferred manufacturer was not covered however a different one would be. I apologized to the patient and told them I would find them a pharmacy in the area that has it because I know it is time sensitive. I knew another store uses different preferred generics so I was able to locate one that had it and transferred the prescription. I now order a few non preferred generics of this medication to have in stock because I know many of my patients have the same insurance.
Rachelle's Feedback
Excellent answer! It's perfect that you ended your response showing the proactive steps you took, to prevent this customer issue from happening again.
Anonymous Answer
We had a regular customer who always came in and ordered the same coffee and muffin. We had a new employee who was training, and she took a long time taking orders, so the customer yelled at her to hurry up.
I stepped up as soon as I noticed what was going on and apologized and explained that she was new. I quickly made his coffee and got his muffin and added another extra muffin in the bag. I apologized again and wished him well with his day. I let him know that we would see him again the following day for his usual order.
Rachelle's Feedback
Your instinct for customer service sounds good! I have reworded this slightly for clarity.
"At {company} we had a regular customer who always came in and ordered the same coffee and muffin. One day, a new trainee took the customers' order and took too long. The customer yelled at her. I stepped up and apologized, explaining that she was in training. I quickly made his coffee and added an extra muffin into his order. I wished him well and let him know we would see him the following day for his usual order."
Anonymous Answer
The customer is always right. I would ask the client what issues they were having and how I could assist in resolving the problem. I would put the plan into action and give them a time frame of when I would get back to them about a solution to reassure them that I am here to support them and solve the issue.
Rachelle's Feedback
Similar feedback to Q1. If you have a specific example, be sure to incorporate this into your response.
"The customer is always right. I had a customer who was not satisfied with the timeline given. I asked the client a few discovery questions, and then put a plan into action, giving them a more specific timeframe. I felt good about the solution I provided, while also reassuring the client that we were there to offer support and exceptional service."
Anonymous Answer
While working at my previous job as a climber, I was often tasked with knocking on people's doors and explaining what needed to be done. When I knocked on one customer's door, a woman answered and was very upset. She didn't want us removing her palm tree. She didn't understand why it needed to be done.
My task was to calm her down and try to get the work done. I empathized with her that I understood why she was upset. Then I explained that if we continued trimming the top of the palm tree, it would die eventually and that we had to remove it because it was growing right into the power lines. The result was she let us remove it.
Rachelle's Feedback
Very good example!
"While working at Davey Tree as a climber, I am often tasked with knocking on people's doors and explaining the work that needs doing. In one instance, a woman answered and was very upset because she didn't want us removing her palm tree. She didn't understand why it needed removal, so it was my job to calm her down and get the work done. I empathized with her and understood why she was upset. I explained that if we continued trimming the top, it would eventually die, and we had to remove it because it was growing into the power lines. In the end, she understood, and we were able to remove the tree."
Anonymous Answer
I had a customer call me because her prescription copay doubled. Her doctor decreased her dose, and the days supply on her insulin exceeded 30 days, and she was charged another copay.
I saw that she had been on the same dose for many months with a days supply of 30 days, so I decided to call the doctor, and he agreed to rewrite the prescription as a sliding scale with a maximum of 50 units per day. I also asked if he could send us a new prescription with these directions and he did so later in the day.
I then documented to sliding scale directions on the prescription and rebilled it for a 30 day supply, and we were able to provide the patient with a 50 refund. We then deactivated the old RX and put a note on it to see the new prescription for auditing purposes.
Rachelle's Feedback
You went over and above to help this customer, and were able to gain the cooperation of other parties as well. This is an excellent example. Nicely done :)
Anonymous Answer
A customer wants cigarettes and he looks below 25 years old. To make sure he is not a minor I asked for id. He got angry and said; do I look like a kid? I am old enough, look at my beard, etc.. I politely told him, it is the store's policy that we asked for id who looks like below 25, and I pointed to the sticker we had in the store; show id, please. He still argues and again I explain to him, sir, I can't sell you until I am sure that you are not minor. And finally, I told him, selling cigarettes to minors is illegal and prohibited by law. Finally, he understood and went to his car to get his license.
Rachelle's Feedback
You handled yourself well, but not giving in and standing your ground! Good answer. I have shortened it up a bit, to help with clarity and flow.
"While working at {store name}, I had a customer come in to purchase cigarettes, who looked below the age of 25. I asked for ID, and he yelled at me, asking if I thought he looked like a kid, etc. I calmly explained to him that it was the law for me to ID anyone who looks under the age of 25. I committed to my stance, and he finally settled down and went to his car to grab his license."
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