YMCA
I was a member of the gym at YMCA Central in London for several years on and off. It attracts an odd mix of taxi drivers and gay men but the reason I used to go is that is it is near to where I work and is cheap. But I digress.

For a while, every few weeks or so, the entrance gate would beep and I would be called back to the desk because my membership fee hadn't been paid. They were doing something very strange with the direct debit which meant that the bank would reject it every month.

Every month, I would have to pay at the desk and fill out yet another direct debit form. This went on for months and I would have endless discussions with them where they accused me of cancelling the direct debit (no) and I would say they'd done something wrong (yes). I did eventually convince them that they had cocked it up and they would promise me that I wouldn't have to do this again. Of course, they lied and I had to go again. This went on for ages.

The final straw came when I got back from holiday to find a letter from them saying that my bank had rejected their direct debit request and would I like to call them to talk to the membership manager.

I read the letter and decided to call. I wasn't in a good mood.

I launched into a major rant, explaining what had happened (again) and how disappointed I was that this hadn't been fixed. I went on a bit and didn't notice that the bloke at the end of the line had gone rather quiet.

I accused the person in charge of direct debits of being incompetent (without realising that it was the bloke I was talking to) and then I asked him a question. I forget what it was or how I responded to his answer but the bit that lives on in my memory was that when he answered I realised he was crying.

I had made a grown man cry over the phone.

Not one of my good days, I fear.
(BearWithLittleBrain, Sat 4 Sep 2010, 18:01, 1 reply)

As someone who has also made a grown man cry...
I know that horrible feeling you get inside. I'm an awful person for doing that. Bitterly disappointed in myself.
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Sat 4 Sep 2010, 20:38, closed)