Monster Manners by Joanna Cole, 1985.

Rosie Monster’s parents worry about her because she just can’t seem to understand how monsters are supposed to behave. Monsters are supposed to be fearsome. They’re supposed to growl, fight, and break things. Rosie is just the opposite. She’s endlessly polite and sweet.

Rosie’s friend Prunella tries to teach her real monster manners, but no matter what, Rosie just can’t stop being polite.

It wouldn’t be such a problem for Rosie, except that she knows that her family and friends are disappointed in her.

Then, a water pipe breaks at Rosie’s house. Although her parents, and even Prunella, try calling a plumber, they can’t get him to come to the house and help them no matter how loudly they growl into the phone.

It takes Rosie’s politeness to get the message across and get the help they need!

A friend of mine who works in customer service wishes that more callers would be polite or, failing that, that he could just hang up like the plumber in the story.  Trying to help people who are determined to make the process of helping them harder than it has to be and who will curse and insult you for even trying is a frustrating experience.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.