Narrative:

Landed runway 16R, taxied east on taxiway wb. Our ramp requested we enter on taxiway bn. Ground controller cleared us on taxiway cs. I informed him of ramp's request for taxiway bn. He made a disparaging comment then said 'hold short of taxiway F, contact ramp.' I contacted ramp who cleared us in to a gate on taxiway bn. We taxied forward. Controller said 'I told you to hold short of taxiway F, contact ramp and call me back.' I told him I must have misunderstood and ramp had cleared us in. He said 'you haven't done anything I've told you to do until now, so go ahead,' plus another disparaging comment. We were puzzled since we weren't aware of having done anything incorrectly. Captain spoke to tower supervisor later and was told that another aircraft had cut off the controller's request for us to call him back.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DEN GND CTLR BECAME UPSET WHEN IT APPEARED A TAXIING ACFT WAS NOT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS TO THE GATE.

Narrative: LANDED RWY 16R, TAXIED E ON TXWY WB. OUR RAMP REQUESTED WE ENTER ON TXWY BN. GND CTLR CLRED US ON TXWY CS. I INFORMED HIM OF RAMP'S REQUEST FOR TXWY BN. HE MADE A DISPARAGING COMMENT THEN SAID 'HOLD SHORT OF TXWY F, CONTACT RAMP.' I CONTACTED RAMP WHO CLRED US IN TO A GATE ON TXWY BN. WE TAXIED FORWARD. CTLR SAID 'I TOLD YOU TO HOLD SHORT OF TXWY F, CONTACT RAMP AND CALL ME BACK.' I TOLD HIM I MUST HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD AND RAMP HAD CLRED US IN. HE SAID 'YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING I'VE TOLD YOU TO DO UNTIL NOW, SO GO AHEAD,' PLUS ANOTHER DISPARAGING COMMENT. WE WERE PUZZLED SINCE WE WEREN'T AWARE OF HAVING DONE ANYTHING INCORRECTLY. CAPT SPOKE TO TWR SUPVR LATER AND WAS TOLD THAT ANOTHER ACFT HAD CUT OFF THE CTLR'S REQUEST FOR US TO CALL HIM BACK.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.