How do you deal with an angry customer at a bank as a bank teller?

Handling a difficult customer at the bank is similar to handling a difficult customer in any other line of work, but you must keep in mind that a person's finances often represent their livelihood and so are a very sensitive, emotional subject. This means things can become very volatile, very quickly, so it's important to:

- Listen completely to understand exactly what the problem is, and paraphrase the problem as you understand it to ensure that you are addressing the customer's true issue

- Empathize with the difficulty the customer is experiencing: yes, it is frustrating.

- Apologize, if appropriate, and done sincerely. Apologizing does not necessarily mean taking responsibility or that you are admitting a mistake (most of the time, the bank is not actually at fault), it simply means you are sorry the customer is experiencing this difficulty and genuinely want to assist.

- Explain how the situation can be resolved, by whom, and when. If necessary and possible, explain why the situation happened and how it could be prevented in the future.

- Ensure the situation gets resolved, or is addressed by someone with an appropriate level of authority to determine whatever the final solution should be.