Dear Editor:
On Thursday, August 1, we had a customer in the Watonga Tag Agency to renew his car tag that had expired in December 2022! He became upset by penalties when Sarah told him the price to get the tag current.
He became very rude, disrespectful, belligerent and seemingly more violent every minute he continued.
At one point the upset customer grabbed a decal from Sarah’s desk, trying to leave without paying and finalizing the transaction.
I chose at this point to call the police to try to help us de-escalate the situation and prevent the customer from leaving.
I called 9-1-1 and received Weatherford dispatch. The young man was very calming and helpful. He wanted me to stay on the line until Watonga City Police were in the building.
I told him they had just pulled in.
Officer Montoya and Officer Goodwin came into the office.
Officer Goodwin calmly asked the gentleman to go outside to talk. The gentleman was reluctant but finally calmed down enough to go talk to Officer Goodwin.
Officer Montoya talked to Sarah and me to get our side of the story.
In the 20 years I have had the Watonga Tag Agency, I have had some upset customers, but never a situation that escalated like where I felt it was out of control.
We had an office full of other customers and I want to apologize for the distraction and extra time they had to wait before we could solve the issue.
I would like to sincerely thank Officers Montoya and Goodwin for their prompt attention to our situation and helping us calm this gentleman down. Both officers were very professional, kind and helpful.
After Officer Goodwin spoke with the customer for some time, he came back into the office and asked if we would be willing to finish the transaction.
I said if the customer would stay calm and if Officer Goodwin would stay beside the customer while we completed the transaction.
Even with the issues we experienced with the customer, we did not want the customer to drive back to Oklahoma City with an expired tag.
Both Officer Goodwin and the customer came back in, and we finalized the transaction without further incident.
Again, I would like to extend my gratitude to both Officer Goodwin and Officer Montoya for their help and professionalism. I would also like to thank the dispatcher who assisted.
Sincerely,
Pam Mason Ivins Watonga Tag Agency