Whether it’s someone at work, a member of your family, or a person you encounter while running errands, when someone turns what should be a quick and painless conversation or task into a time-consuming and mentally taxing ordeal, it can throw off your entire day. But people often don’t realize that they’re causing a problem, and losing your patience with them probably won’t solve anything.

Use these customer service phrases to respond to difficult people

Let’s learn from the professionals, shall we? Not only are customer service reps trained to handle complaints and disgruntled people, but they’re often given scripts written using insights into what’s been most effective in the past. Not everything in these scripts will be applicable to your situation, but you may want to try using one of these phrases the next time you have to respond to someone difficult:

1. “From what I understand, the issue you’re having is [paraphrase the issue].”

According to Joel Wolfe, the founder and CEO of HiredSupport, an outsourcing customer service agency, phrases like this one can help de-escalate tough interactions. “You’d say this to show the other person that you’ve been listening, and that you understand their problem,” he says. “Once you’ve confirmed the key facts, you can move on to the next step of suggesting a solution.”

2. “Let’s work together to find the best solution for you.”

Data from Runmic.com, a company providing real-time call support for customer service, sales, and customer success teams, indicate that changing how customers see the customer service agent—from someone they’re up against, to a teammate—is a quick and effective way to defuse tension, says Omar Kouhlani, the company’s CEO. But don’t wait too long: He encourages taking a more collaborative approach early in a conversation.

3. “Are there any other details you’d like to share? I want to make sure I understand the situation to help you.”

Much of the time, people simply want to be heard. “We’ve seen a positive boost when customers are given ample space to openly share their thoughts during calls,” says Kouhlani. To try apply this strategy in your own life, he recommends incorporating empathetic phrases, paired with probing questions that demonstrate active listening.

“There is a belief in the industry that limiting a customer’s expression saves time and money, but we’ve seen the opposite,” Kouhlani explains. “Providing customers with initial space may seem time-consuming for agents, but it’s a strategic time-saver for the company, minimizing follow-up calls.”

4. “I am so sorry about this; I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

According to Melissa Copeland, a customer service expert and principal of Blue Orbit Consulting, if someone is being difficult in response to something that’s your fault, the best thing you can do is offer them a sincere apology. “Acknowledging that someone is in or has a bad situation is key to people feeling heard,” she says. “Validating what someone feels is a valuable skill in building or rebuilding trust.”

5. “This sounds difficult. Here is what I am going to do: First, [let the person know what you need from them]. Once I have that information, I can explain what we do next.”

Situations involving health, family, and other complicated issues tend to make people feel out of control. So, if someone comes to you for help, but is being unrealistic, demanding, or having trouble articulating what they need, Copeland recommends being clear about what you can do for them, and explaining the process you’re going to follow. This can be helpful “in terms of setting expectations and being there for someone,” she says.

6. “While I don’t think I can do that, here’s what I can do instead…”

You can’t always give the other person exactly what they want, but you can give them options. “Instead of saying an outright ‘no,’ which will only aggravate them and prolong the argument, suggest an alternative that’s within your power to do and addresses the key points that they’re most upset about,” says Wolfe.

Feel free to put your own spin on these phrases—especially if the situation calls for a more casual response. People are difficult for a variety of reasons, but making them feel heard and approaching them with empathy can go a long way.

Apple released the first developer beta for iOS 17.4 today, Jan. 25. This closely follows the official release of iOS 17.3, which included anticipated new features like Stolen Device Protection and collaborative playlists in Apple Music.

As it happens, iOS 17.4 is actually one of the most groundbreaking iOS updates ever. Unfortunately, most of the big changes only affect those living in the E.U. (at least for now). But the rest of us will find some fun new changes too.

Alternative app marketplaces (E.U. only)

One of the biggest pieces of news with iOS 17.4 is the introduction of support for alternative app marketplaces. It’s a big point of contention in the E.U. The European Union has ordered Apple to open up iOS to allow third-party app stores in addition to Apple’s proprietary App Store. The idea is to encourage competition in the marketplace, as the government argues Apple currently has a monopoly on the apps it allows to be sold and downloaded on iPhone.

That doesn’t mean that any app can be made and sold through iOS in the E.U. post-iOS 17.4. Any app store that is created for iOS needs to be abide by Apple’s checklist of rules in order to actually be approved. In addition, while developers now have a choice whether to sell their apps through Apple’s stores or a third-party option, their apps will always need to go through similar security checks.

I imagine many developers will choose the third-party route, as they’ll be able to skirt the steep percentage fees Apple charges for apps sold via their official App Store. That said, there will still be a “Core Technology Fee,” even on third-party stores, which will charge half a euro per download, per account once an app reaches one million downloads. If you choose to host your app on Apple’s store, though, their cut drops from 30% to 17%, and subscription fees drop from 15% to 10%.

As a user, you’ll be able to set a default app marketplace, so iOS will know where you want to download the majority of your apps going forward.

Use whatever browser you want (E.U. only)

Apple’s default iOS browser is Safari. If you want to use another browser, like Chrome or Firefox, you can download it from the App Store, same as you would on a Mac. However, the key difference is, on iOS, all web browsers must be built on WebKit, the underlying platform powering Safari. While third-party browsers can offer slightly different features, or allow you to sync certain data with their desktop counterparts, all browsers on iOS are, at their core, Safari in disguise.

That, too, is changing, at least in the E.U. Starting with iOS 17.4, European iPhone users will be able to download third-party browsers that aren’t built with WebKit. Google can offer the same Chrome browser they offer on Android, as can Firefox. What’s more, Apple will allow you to choose from many different third-party browsers to serve as the default, including options like Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge.

NFC payments open to third parties (E.U. only)

In addition, third parties, including apps, can take advantage of NFC payments on iOS without going through Apple Pay. Users will be able to choose which app they want to use for NFC payments.

Apple doesn’t want these features to come to the U.S.

To be clear, Apple is not happy about these mandated changes in the E.U., saying they leave Apple users and devices vulnerable. The company wants to keep these changes limited to the E.U., but it doesn’t seem like that will hold forever. The cat’s out of the bag, and whether its government or market forces, Apple will likely need to open up its platform in similar ways around the world over the next few years.

118 new emojis

Finally, we get to new features all of us can use on iOS 17.4, including something everyone loves: new emojis. This new update adds support for emojis from Unicode 15.1, which brings 118 new icons to your iPhone. There’s a shaking head, a nodding head, a phoenix, lime, new mushroom, broken chain, as well as new people emojis, including a person in manual wheelchair, a person in motorized wheelchair, and a person with a white cane.

New option to always require security delay for Stolen Device Protection

With Stolen Device Protection enabled, there’s a delay before you can change security settings when away from known locations, like your home. With iOS 17.4, Apple added a new toggle that forces this delay at all times, even when iOS detects you’re somewhere safe.

Latin American Spanish on Rosetta Stone is on sale for $119.99 right now (reg. $299). Rosetta Stone is the highly-trusted language learning platform used by top organizations like NASA and TripAdvisor, and it helps you learn by engaging with interactive activities, hearing native speakers using real-world scenarios, and TruAccent speech-recognition technology that gives real-time feedback on your progress. It includes bite-sized lessons—as little as 10 minutes at a time— and the app works on most Macs, PCs, tablets, and phones (though, if you need, you should check that your operating system works with the program). 

The sale comes with a lifetime subscription to learn Latin American Spanish with Rosetta Stone on sale for $119.99 right now (reg. $299), though prices can change at any time.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2024 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing approximately $11.5 million in 38 cooperative agreements that support innovative, scalable waste management plans to reduce and divert food waste from landfills. The Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements, which are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, are part of USDA’s broad support for urban agriculture.

WASHINGTON, January 25, 2024 – As students across the nation returned to school for the Spring semester, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small is continuing a multi-week college tour throughout the United States. During her tour, the Deputy is visiting campuses in at least seven states to highlight how the Biden-Harris Administration is working with Land-grant Universities to advance rural prosperity, climate-smart practices, competition, and sustainability.

Dell currently has several items on sale, at least for the next 48 hours. Those items include a rather beefy Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop, which is usually priced at $2,299.99, according to Dell’s website. Currently, though, you can get the Aurora R15 for up to $500 off, making it just $1,799.99 for a limited time.

That price gets you a configuration with Windows 11 Home, an AMD Ryzen 9 7900 with 76MB total cache, 12 cores, 24 threads, and up to 5.40 GHz when using Max Boost Clock. This model also ships with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, a 512GB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, as well as 1TB of HDD SATA storage. That’s more than enough storage to get your gaming collection running, though you may want to expand to a larger SSD in the future.

Of course, part of the allure of Alienware’s gaming desktops is their design, and the Aurora R15 sports that same smooth and futuristic appearance that the company has become so well known for. It’s a unique machine that will fit nicely in any high-end gaming setup. With this particular configuration, you get an Nvidia RTX 4070 with 12GB video memory, which should be enough to handle any newer games at high graphics quality. When our friends at PCMag reviewed the Aurora R15, they called it an “out-of-this-world gaming rig” and gave it a rating of four out of five stars.

This deal is only available for a limited time, so make sure to act quickly. And, if you find it somewhere cheaper, Dell even offers price matching to ensure you get the best price available.

Looking for more gaming desktop deals? Here are a few worth checking out:

• Alienware Aurora R15 Intel i7 RTX 4070 1TB SSD Desktop for $1,599.99 (List Price $2,299.99)

• Acer Predator Orion 5000 Intel i7 RTX 3080 1TB SSD Desktop for $1,699.99 (List Price $2,199.99)

• Alienware Aurora R15 Intel i7 RTX 4080 1TB SSD Desktop for $1,999.99 (List Price $2,599.99)

You can get this 10″ Touchscreen Wireless/Wifi/Bluetooth Car Display on sale for $125.99 right now (reg. $199). The touchscreen display is built on an Android 12 system and comes with support for Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, wifi, and downloading apps. Of course, knowing where you’re going and keeping your eye on the road are most important, so it connects to phones via bluetooth so you can check messages, view navigation, and make calls through the mountable display. It also comes with an FM radio and multimedia playback with its own built-in speakers.

You can get this 10″ Touchscreen Wireless/Wifi/Bluetooth Car Display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support on sale for $125.99 right now (reg. $199), though prices can change at any time.