Complaint calls

[mojo]

Pretty much what we did, and it helps that the schools are on the same page as us.

On the other hand, at every stop I've been at the high school coaches have always been appreciative of the coverage their teams get. Never had a HS coach act like coverage was an entitlement or give me the Where were you last week? Of course, I've been covering 1A to 4A teams that are generally flying below the radar of the five or so northern Colorado dailies. I've been given playbooks by football coaches, offered rides on the bus to out of town games... very generous stuff, by and large. The problems are almost always with parents.

 

[exmediahack]

I Think I Found My " Code Red" Comeback Line

Not in the newspaper end (in TV) but was in sports for ten years, now in news.

Took a great call last night right after the 10 p.m.. An "angry grandmother" calls in, her grand-daughter is on a local girls' hockey team going to state. Our sports guys covered their last three playoff games and yesterday's send-off rally. We ran it at 6 p.m.

"But your photographer said it would be on at 10 as well!"

I asked if she caught it at 6. She said yes and then launched into how we 'never' cover their team. I was going to let her go on until she wore herself out when she yelled, "I mean, c'mon, what is this ****!?!"

That woke me up.

"Whoa!" I barked back. "That's quite a potty mouth you have there. Does your granddaughter know that Grandma has the mouth of a sailor?"

Her: "Well, IT IS **** how you cover them!"

I thought about it for a second and then proceeded. "Let me get this straight. We have mass genocide in Darfur and you're complaining about girls' hockey coverage?"

Silence.

Three seconds later. "I thank you for calling. Good night."

 

[Rex Harrison]

That's not fair. Mass genocide will halt any conversation.

 

[Ace]

Did you have the mass genocide on at 10, too?

Most stations don't cover dying Darfurians for ****.

 

[exmediahack]

That's not fair. Mass genocide will halt any conversation.

Girls hockey will halt any interest.

 

[Tom Petty]

That's not fair. Mass genocide will halt any conversation.

Girls hockey will halt any interest.

**** grandma. the sports guy should have his nuts clipped for covering the send off.

 

[SportsDude]

I once made a list of retorts I could use against angry sports parents (usually mothers) that I know I would never use.

My fave was "I don't come down to the street corner raising hell and telling you how to do your job, don't tell me how to do mine."

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Did you have the mass genocide on at 10, too?

Most stations don't cover dying Darfurians for ****.

And the Kenyans work just as hard as the Darfurians.

 

[Rex Harrison]

Oh my.

 

[Aussie_Nick]

Did you have the mass genocide on at 10, too?

Most stations don't cover dying Darfurians for ****.

And the Kenyans work just as hard as the Darfurians.

Gold!

 

[KoM]

I generally handle complaints as I receive them. If they are nice and cordial, I am nice and cordial. If they are raving and using profanity, end 'o ****ing chat.

I especially like "I'm going to cancel my subscription."
"Hold please, and I'll transfer you to circulation."

 

[brendo44]

in our tv market, we have a 65 mile radius in every direction, with teams playing on all the fringes on a football friday.

So one particular friday, we jam in every game played that night into a 7:30 sports cast, and I get this call waiting for me on my desk.

"YOU ARE ALL MOTHER-EFFING CUNTS! ALL THIS FOOTBALL AND NO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SCORES. YOU ARE SICK. SICK!!!! YOU MOTHER-EFFERS"

It's still saved on voicemail, for when I miss my dad

 

[Rhody31]

This is an e-mail i received from a - drum roll please - swim parent after our state coverage.
Anything in CAPS is me replacing our school's names.

First off I would like to comment on your coverage of the girls swim meet on Saturday this past weekend. You barely mention that LOCAL TOWN girls came in at 15th. There was absolutely no mention of any girls names let alone that one of them came in 8th place in the breast stroke or that there were only 5 girls present to begin with. There are girls that put in a lot of time in the pool just as much as the boys team and because they were not as fast you totally brushed them off to the side.

For this particular paper, we cover three schools. This paren't school didn't get much mention because no one did anything and one of our schools finished top four and had one swimmer who set two state, pool and meet records - she's a future olympian.The next day at the boys meet, I featured this woman's school because they had two double gold winners and one relay wins.

In this same boys story, our local team that won five of the 11 events wasn't even close to winning and I mentioned - with quotes from coaches - about how the scoring at these meets favors the larger schools, not the ones with the best swimmers.
Apparently, this same woman didn't appreciate it.

My son graduated from STATE PRIVATE SCHOOL NOT IN OUR COVERAGE AREA and (yes local boys do go to Hendricken too and you have never covered them), do you think that OUR LOCAL BOY WITH TWO MEDALS and HIS TEAMMATE are the only hard working swimmers on the boys????? You need to have a more balanced coverage if you want to be listed as a sports
writer. You don't even mention all the boys that placed in events. What about LOCAL BOY WHO DIDN'T GET TOP THREE in the breast stroke. Take your head out of the chlorinated air and get your facts and names in the paper to be a real journalist.

So at this point, I'm agitated. Then she calls me out.

You probably will not respond to my email but if you are big enough to admit that you did an inept coverage feel free to contact my work email also that I listed in the cc section.

I wrote a response, took a break, then edited myself and sent her a final response, pointing out the fact that we are a newspaper - we report news. A bad team losing is not news. I mentioned newsworthy stuff - medal winners. She added a PS to the letter about not mentioning her daughter and I wanted to - but didn't - write something along the line of "if you want your daughter's name in the paper, tell her to swim faster."

 

[MacDaddy]

Take your head out of the chlorinated air and get your facts and names in the paper to be a real journalist.

Ma'am, stop advocating for recognition of mediocrity to be a real parent.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Take your head out of the chlorinated air and get your facts and names in the paper to be a real journalist.

Ma'am, stop advocating for recognition of mediocrity to be a real parent.

She's probably upset because your lack of coverage is going to cost her kid a college scholarship.

 

[Tom Petty]

Take your head out of the chlorinated air and get your facts and names in the paper to be a real journalist.

Ma'am, stop advocating for recognition of mediocrity to be a real parent.

She's probably upset because your lack of coverage is going to cost her kid a college scholarship.

hey you *******, she already said he worked hard.

 

[editorhoo]

Here's a question: are schools and players entitled to any coverage?

Because they act like they deserve it. Like it's their right for you to mention it.

You are entitled to get your name in the paper twice — when you're born, when you die.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Take your head out of the chlorinated air and get your facts and names in the paper to be a real journalist.

Ma'am, stop advocating for recognition of mediocrity to be a real parent.

She's probably upset because your lack of coverage is going to cost her kid a college scholarship.

And a spot on the Olympic team

 

[tapintoamerica]

Your obligation to respond to all complaints died the day that management began whacking jobs at your employer. Implicit in this alleged obligation is the belief that we, the rank and file, are responsible for cultivating readers and fostering business. If management cares so little about its consumers that it is willing to put forth a substandard product, then we are absolved of any responsibility to play nice with the customer. Thank you. That is all.

 

[Rex Harrison]

Here's a question: are schools and players entitled to any coverage?

Because they act like they deserve it. Like it's their right for you to mention it.

You are entitled to get your name in the paper twice — when you're born, when you die.

But is anyone really entitled to that much? That's one mindset I will never understand. I got tired of dealing with people who thought I owed them something or that they deserved something from me. I don't owe anyone anything, and nobody owes me anything. Rant over.