After I left a message with Agent Fiasco and she chewed out my loan officer, I was hoping we were done with it all. I told the woman who referred me to her, who happens to work in my office, that I wouldn’t be continuing that business relationship, in case she wondered, and I did tell her why.

I figured that would be the end of it. After all, when my customers sever a relationship with my business, I shrug my shoulders and move on.

We’d found a new agent, since we still wanted to own a house, and she arranged another look at the original one for us. After that, we toured another place in the area, more expensive than we wanted, but to give us an idea of what was available in the neighborhood. That one reinforced how right the original one was for us. This new agent was outstanding. She was patient with all of our questions; didn’t rush us or push us at all, and what should be obvious; didn’t yell at us.

So Junior and I discussed it, and decided to make an offer. While our new agent was spending hours with us on paperwork, my cell phone started ringing off the hook. I’m on call, so I at least have to look at it, although I’d much prefer to turn it off to conduct business. Four times in ten minutes it rang; twice with the caller ID blocked and then twice more with Agent Fiasco’s cell number coming up. This was getting ridiculous, so I answered it. I tried to tell this woman that I was in a meeting, but she didn’t draw enough breath from yelling at me to hear anything. She must have been a tuba player once upon a time, because woman had some lungs on her. Everyone in the conference room could hear her through my phone.

Finally, I talked right over her, saying firmly, “I am busy and this is not the time or the place. We can discuss it later,” and I hung up on her. Since I was being excessively rude to the agent who was working so well for us, I was not about to get into it right then and there. Immediately after, a voice mail popped up on my system, and when I was able to listen to it, it was Fiasco, with that sickly sweet voice that frenetic women get when they think they’re being dangerous. I wish I’d saved the message, but it pissed me off so bad that I immediately deleted it.

Junior heard it though, so I have a witness, and I’m starting to suspect that I may need one. In this voice mail message, Fiasco threatened to come down to my office on Monday to speak to me in person.

Well, I’m not having any of that, so when our business concluded, I stepped outside. I called Fiasco back, as requested, and told her that she was not going to come to my office, that any business relationship we had was terminated and that any further contact from her would be considered harrassment. Of course, she didn’t hear any of this, as she was too busy yelling at the top of her lungs about how I was being rude for hanging up on her and that if I were going to “talk trash” about her, she would come to my office and do the same thing to me.

Now, that part I’m not really worried about. It’s a public office, but if she shows up with one word to or about me, I will have the deputies remove her from the premises. I’m also not worried about any claims she may make on me; the only things that I did were to stop doing business with her and discuss it with two people, one of whom had the right to know. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it in front of the other one, but there sure isn’t a law against office gossip. Fiasco and I did not have any sort of contract; it had never even been mentioned on the phone. In fact, I still have no idea what she looks like, as it was her husband who showed us the house.

But I’m mad. I would never dream of treating a customer in such a way, even if they didn’t like my work. I’ve had one or two in my time discontinue my services, one even after I’d laid out some money and done some work for them. It never occurred to me to scream at them, or in fact, contact them in any way. In business, you write a certain amount of work off now and then.

I will not stand for being treated this way, however. I was hoping that it was just over, at which point I would not have pursued any action against her. If she chooses to escalate further, however, I am fully capable of taking her down. I have already contacted the local Board of Realtors to see about filing a formal complaint, and I will stand as witness in any proceedings they require.

She may be able to get away with this sort of behavior with some people, but not me. If I don’t stand up against it, who will? Some poor shlub who has no resources and gets bilked out of their life savings by being pushed into buying a house that they can’t afford? Not if someone speaking up sooner could have stopped it, and not if I can be that person. As willing as I was to walk away from that house on principle, I suspect that that would be a walk in the park compared to what this could turn into.  It’s not right to let people be pushed around, and I especially will not stand for it on my own behalf.

So think again, stupid bitch. You have no idea what kind of woman you just tried to run your scam on, and it’s going to bite you in the ass.