Narrative:

We had just passed lax VOR and we're approaching the top of descent point. The center controller called out traffic for us at 12 o'clock; 1000 ft below us. The first officer responded 'traffic in sight.' as the traffic passed underneath us; I commented to the first officer that we needed to start down. She then transmitted to the controller that we would like 'lower when possible.' the controller laughed unprofessionally over the radio and stated 'well I guess you didn't see company' (our traffic) and then cleared us to descend to FL340 (we were cruising at FL390). The first officer repeated the clearance to descend to FL340. I selected 34;000 ft in the MCP altitude window; pointed at the window and stated 'FL340' and began a quick descent. We leveled the aircraft at FL340. The first officer was busy getting the ATIS and working our landing performance data; so after about 60-90 seconds at FL340; I decided to transmit to ATC that we needed to continue our descent. I wanted to give ATC a heads up. I stated 'just as a heads up; we are not going to be able to make our crossing restrictions on the arrival if we don't get lower.' we had also been given an airspeed of 270 knots and I knew this was going to be a problem too in terms of making crossing restrictions. This is the response from the controller: 'I gave you lower...you asked for lower and I gave it to you'. (I put this in caps because he basically yelled and did not use our call sign). I replied that we needed lower from FL340 to make the bayvu restriction. He stated 'I gave you FL240' (again; loudly). I replied that we heard FL340; not FL240; and that we had responded 'FL340'. He then repeated our clearance to FL240. We then continued our descent to FL240 as expeditiously as possible given our speed restriction. We continued to a normal landing.I have no idea why the controller was upset or annoyed with us (which was obvious). His emotion and unprofessional radio transmissions caused a communication failure that could have potentially affected the safety of our flight. It would have been simple to work out our descent issues with professional communication; without emotion; and that could have changed our level off at the wrong altitude.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported a lack of professionalism on the part of the ATC Controller played a part in a misunderstanding of their descent clearance.

Narrative: We had just passed LAX VOR and we're approaching the Top of Descent point. The Center Controller called out traffic for us at 12 o'clock; 1000 ft below us. The FO responded 'traffic in sight.' As the traffic passed underneath us; I commented to the FO that we needed to start down. She then transmitted to the Controller that we would like 'lower when possible.' The Controller laughed unprofessionally over the radio and stated 'Well I guess you didn't see company' (our traffic) and then cleared us to descend to FL340 (we were cruising at FL390). The FO repeated the clearance to descend to FL340. I selected 34;000 ft in the MCP altitude window; pointed at the window and stated 'FL340' and began a quick descent. We leveled the aircraft at FL340. The FO was busy getting the ATIS and working our landing performance data; so after about 60-90 seconds at FL340; I decided to transmit to ATC that we needed to continue our descent. I wanted to give ATC a heads up. I stated 'Just as a heads up; we are not going to be able to make our crossing restrictions on the arrival if we don't get lower.' We had also been given an airspeed of 270 knots and I knew this was going to be a problem too in terms of making crossing restrictions. This is the response from the controller: 'I GAVE YOU LOWER...YOU ASKED FOR LOWER AND I GAVE IT TO YOU'. (I put this in caps because he basically yelled and did not use our call sign). I replied that we needed lower from FL340 to make the BAYVU restriction. He stated 'I GAVE YOU FL240' (again; loudly). I replied that we heard FL340; not FL240; and that we had responded 'FL340'. He then repeated our clearance to FL240. We then continued our descent to FL240 as expeditiously as possible given our speed restriction. We continued to a normal landing.I have no idea why the Controller was upset or annoyed with us (which was obvious). His emotion and unprofessional radio transmissions caused a communication failure that could have potentially affected the safety of our flight. It would have been simple to work out our descent issues with professional communication; without emotion; and that could have changed our level off at the wrong altitude.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.