Stop Abusing Call Centre Workers

donutheadhomer

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

testicle

Work for a decent company so!

aidan_walsh

testicle wrote: »

Work for a decent company so!

You'd be surprised how little difference the company in question makes to a telephone warrior who is always right.

Einstein

Or you could do what we did when we worked in Call Centres and insisted if people couldn't continue the phonecall without being polite that we would kill them.

I've been on the run for two years.*

*I'm not really on the run...we just hung up on them

Dudess

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

Lol - that'll work!

Professional Griefer

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

Now you know how we feel when we have problems with the ****ty product.

Gooch2k4

testicle wrote: »

Work for a decent company so!

What would you call a decent company? Id like you to find me a single company that someone doesnt have an axe to grind with

But back to the OP's point yes i would be 100% behind this, same goes for retail stores, were not paid to take your abuse

Mint Sauce

Einstein wrote: »

Or you could do what we did when we worked in Call Centres and insisted if people couldn't continue the phonecall without being polite that we would kill them.

I've been on the run for two years.*

*I'm not really on the run...we just hung up on them

My companys policy was just to end the call if they persisted.

:eek:

Roar

Gooch2k4 wrote: »

were not paid to take your abuse

umm.. yeah, you are.

Gooch2k4

Ix Deadmau5 wrote: »

Now you know how we feel when we have problems with the ****ty product.

but do we make the product? do we have any direct control over said product? no

Gooch2k4

Roar wrote: »

umm.. yeah, you are.

no were not, were paid to try to help

starbelgrade

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

Does that mean that you are fat?

maglite

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

You actually sound like the type of person i hate to get onto, dont care, dont want to be there, going through a script no manners, no tack no nothing,


Are you surprised people hate you. Have a look at how the american call centers and the good India centers threat people... You might learn something.

dr.bollocko

The trouble is, on both sides of the fence, it's easy to be a wanker over the phone. And with some call centres, you have to be a wanker to get anything done because the staff just don't care.

Joey the lips

Mary electric: Hi I am mary can i have 5min of your time sir....

Moi: No. I am busy trying to clean up.

Mary Electric: This will just take five minutes and will be of advantage to you.

Moi: No I am busy.

Mary Electric: Ok sir what would be a good time to call back.


Moi: Never.

Mary Electric: Ahh sir dont be like that.


Moi: Look **** off and leave me along i had 5 electricity fcukers knock at my door already and your now on the phone.

FortuneChip

Only finished working in a call centre for a gambling company, and some of the stuff that has been said down the line to me was terrible. I've been blamed for jockeys not trying hard enough to win a race, I've even been blamed for Balloons causing football teams to lose matches!

Customers seem to be under the impression that EVERY cent they lose goes straight into the pocket of the next person they talk to in the company! That is not the case, agreed if the company didn't make money, we wouldn't have a job, but on the flip side, if they didn't risk their money in the first place, they'd still have it!

FatherLen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a77xUFS1pts

Donkey Oaty

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me. I have worked in many call centres and its always the same. People think because we are on the phone they can say what they want to us and we don't get bothered by it - we do.
People think they can talk to us like dirt and it is acceptable - its not. We are real people who are just workiing in poorly paid jobs to avoid drawing the dole in most cases. We have no personal interest in your problems and the less you abuse us the faster we can fix them.

Thanks

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Is there anything else I can help you with?

Gooch2k4

Joey the lips wrote: »

Mary electric: Hi I am mary can i have 5min of your time sir....

Moi: No. I am busy trying to clean up.

Mary Electric: This will just take five minutes and will be of advantage to you.

Moi: No I am busy.

Mary Electric: Ok sir what would be a good time to call back.


Moi: Never.

Mary Electric: Ahh sir dont be like that.


Moi: Look **** off and leave me along i had 5 electricity fcukers knock at my door already and your now on the phone.

Ok with cold callers you might have a point, but theyre only doing their job

Professional Griefer

Gooch2k4 wrote: »

but do we make the product? do we have any control over said product? no

You know what I meant.

And its oh so much fun listening to those songs while put on hold for what some times can last up a hour+.

Don't forget when on the phone people can hide behind the phone and act tough.

Einstein

I can understand people getting upset at people in call centres. Call centre staff are the first point of contact for the customer. So happy / annoyed, the call centre staff are gonna be the ones to take it all!
I worked as Tech Support for IBM for the US market for 2 years...we just told them that we'd hang up if they didn't stop shouting / cursing.

That's no excuse for Call Centre workers that have a bad attitude though.

6 months is the average burn out time for Call centre workers!

donutheadhomer

Gooch2k4 wrote: »

What would you call a decent company? Id like you to find me a single company that someone doesnt have an axe to grind with

But back to the OP's point yes i would be 100% behind this, same goes for retail stores, were not paid to take your abuse

I read that thread and thats why I stared this one.

I matters not which company one works - the customers' ****ty attitude is still the same. angry bitter and vengeful. none seem to realise we are just simple minions in the company and trying our best to resolve things politely and quickly.

biko

I was a tech support for a while and the amount of home grown engineers calling in knowing best was pretty amazing.

"Well, if you're so damn smart how come you have to ring me for help?" I felt like shouting back at them.

Gooch2k4

Ix Deadmau5 wrote: »

You know what I meant.

And its oh so much fun listening to those songs while put on hold for what some times can last up a hour+.

Don't forget when on the phone people can hide behind the phone and act tough.

Similar stuff happens in stores, trust me, ive been threatened before in a store

gbee

EurasianBadger wrote: »

the faster we can fix them. Thanks

If you are referring to Ireland then a good grasp of English is a perquisite. Personally have hung up on too many so called help desks because of language difficulties and then add in a lack of product knowledge .... 'click'

Dudess

testicle wrote: »

Work for a decent company so!

I love that retarded standard response during a recession...

Roar wrote: »

umm.. yeah, you are.

No. They're not. And if someone is particularly abusive, the call will be terminated.

Gooch2k4

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I read that thread and thats why I stared this one.

I matters not which company one works - the customers' ****ty attitude is still the same. angry bitter and vengeful. none seem to realise we are just simple minions in the company and trying our best to resolve things politely and quickly.

Its got alot worse this past 2 or 3 years too

donutheadhomer

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Is there anything else I can help you with?

no, but thank you for asking....... have a nice day

gbee

biko wrote: »

"Well, if you're so damn smart how come you have to ring me for help?" I felt like shouting back at them.

See this only substantiates my own post here. If you as tech supper were so smart, you'd KNOW where the home diagnostics had gone wrong ... problem is, from my personal problems, tech support don't know and I score them 0/10.

Free online help and other forums 8/10

Donkey Oaty

EurasianBadger wrote: »

no, but thank you for asking....... have a nice day

Next!

Hello, you're through to Donkey Oaty in Eircom. How may I hinder you?

donutheadhomer

Dudess wrote: »

I love that retarded standard response during a recession...

No. They're not. And if someone is particularly abusive, the call will be terminated.

its not even that abusive - just this kinda tone they have with us - bitternes mainly I think.

on a second issue- why can't customers read the manual?? all issues are resolved there. Thats all I do to fix the issue.

I had a silly woman this morning that wanted to know how to type in capital ie uppercase NUMBERS

Donkey Oaty

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I had a silly woman this morning that wanted to know how to type in capital ie uppercase NUMBERS

ONE, TWO, THREE..?

yoyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7xQa8-k93A

:pac:

Nick

mickoneill30

I used to work in a call centre supporting Ireland & the UK. This was about 15 years ago but back then when you'd see the call identified as Irish you'd have to take a deep breath.

A lot of the Irish callers just seemed to be geared up for a fight and if you start off by being rude or unreasonable the guy on the other end of the call will give you the bare minimum of support. Frequently (back then anyway) we could give the official company line or bend a few rules to help out really nice or helpful customers. If you started screaming about "I know my rights" then you only got your rights.

A few years later one of the companies I used to have as a mental customer tried to recruit me to their company. The money was reasonably better than what I was on but I turned them down as I really couldn't work for somebody who escalated every tiny thing into a huge disaster that had to be fixed in the next 10 seconds or they'd be suing us.

phill106

What type of cranky called forced this thread to arise?

I remember working in one in shannon, retail store cards for uk chain stores. UK addresses only, irish not allowed to have cards.
Store rings up, goes through details blah blah.
S= Store M=Me
S:Phone number 003531 blah
M: Is that an irish number?
S: No its a new mobile number over here
Im suspicious but keep on.
M: House number and post code?
S: They dont have their postcode, number is xx
M: Ok, full address?
S: Blah blah address in dublin
M: Sorry, I cant open that account, its an irish address.
S: Oh no, thats in southern ireland, thats part of the uk. Its Northern ireland thats a republic.
M: Sorry, I'm afraid not. Good bye!

So i laugh about it with my colleague for a few seconds, then take the next call in the queue.

S: Hi, You won't believe it, I just tried to open a card for a customer, and the guy on your side tried to tell me southern ireland wasn't in the uk!
M: I would believe it. That was me. Ireland still isnt in the Uk. Goodbye!


Hundred calls in the queue between two call centres in different countries, with 50-100 staff in each place, and i get the same woman

I do support for a hosting company now, and i am amazed at how many IT people do not understand the very basics of networking!
M:

mahamageehad

I worked in retail, so I know how hard it can be. But call centers are the most frustrating thing on the planet!!!

A few months ago I was on to an Irish phone company, we'll just call them..Comet. Granted it was the weekend, but the lady I spoke to literally didn't have a clue! I rang for a simple unlock code for my phone- i have had the phone for 2 years and have put in the required credit.

After being on hold for 20 minutes, I finally get through to a real person, just as I'm about to give up. This silly bint was obviously in a rush to get back to doing her nails or something because she did not listen to one word I had to say. She managed to...wait for it... lock my phone down completely to my sim card by giving me the wrong code 3 times. I double and tripled checked the codes before I put them in each time. Then she tells me I obviously typed them wrong and I needed to go to a shop.

I go to the Comet shop where I'm told there is nothing they can do as the phone has now been locked and needs to be sent away. Oh and thats it's not under warranty so I'll have to pay for the privilege. He rings the centre to double check the code and the guy who answers immediately asks for my IMEI. Then gives him ... a completely different code.

At this stage the Comet guy apologizes for the weekend staff, but says there is nothing he can do. At this point I lose the plot and pull a loaded pistol from my back pocket*.

* this last bit may or may not have happened, i might have just rang back and asked for the dozy cow again and fcuked her out of it

dr.bollocko

phill106 wrote: »

What type of cranky called forced this thread to arise?

I remember working in one in shannon, retail store cards for uk chain stores. UK addresses only, irish not allowed to have cards.
Store rings up, goes through details blah blah.
S= Store M=Me
S:Phone number 003531 blah
M: Is that an irish number?
S: No its a new mobile number over here
Im suspicious but keep on.
M: House number and post code?
S: They dont have their postcode, number is xx
M: Ok, full address?
S: Blah blah address in dublin
M: Sorry, I cant open that account, its an irish address.
S: Oh no, thats in southern ireland, thats part of the uk. Its Northern ireland thats a republic.
M: Sorry, I'm afraid not. Good bye!

So i laugh about it with my colleague for a few seconds, then take the next call in the queue.

That's a lot of S&M for a family forum on a monday morning buddy.

krudler

EurasianBadger wrote: »

its not even that abusive - just this kinda tone they have with us - bitternes mainly I think.

on a second issue- why can't customers read the manual?? all issues are resolved there. Thats all I do to fix the issue.

I had a silly woman this morning that wanted to know how to type in capital ie uppercase NUMBERS

Because most people are stupid and lazy.

I'm in the same boat, I feel your pain buddy, ringing a call centre is usually my last port of call, not the first, theres the manual, the internet and common fcuking sense when it comes to fixing simple issues, people dont seem to grasp this the majority of the time.

also the lack of personal responsibility is incredible "my bill is huge! i used about a thousand times my allocated minutes and you mean I have to pay for it! I'm ringing Joe duffy!"

Pretending I dont know who Joe Duffy is and listening in case i actually hear someones head explode on a call is one of the few pleasure in work i have left.

Tiddlypeeps

I hate call centers, I don't think I have ever had a good experience with one. They are always totally void of any technical knowledge altogether. I try not to be rude to them because I know its not their fault that its company policy to hire people that are not qualified to do the job.

It really really gets to me tho when your on the phone to an internet provider. My parents change provider pretty much once a year and things always go wrong for them. I'm always the one called over to fix it because I have a background in computing. Sometimes the router is just fu**ed so I have to call up the help center and they just insist on going through this check list of stuff and even when I insist I tried it before I called they would make me do it again. THE ROUTER IS BROKE! JUST SEND ME A NEW ONE!
So fustrating, just wasting everybodies time, and those call centers usually aren't free to call either.

whydoibother?

I totally agree that people need to stop abusing call centre workers. I did this (very briefly for this reason) during one of my summer holidays. The problem is that the person in the call centre has very little control over how to fix many of the problems, and little discretion also e.g. the company I worked for had just increased it's charges for non direct debit customers, which it had reserved the right to do in the terms and conditions, but had not notified people very well of the change. I got endless abuse from people very annoyed (quite rightly) about this, but I had no discretion to change the charge. I remember one guy got me 5 mins before I was due to head out the door and kept shouting at me for 40 mins which of course I had to stay for because you can NEVER end a call. He'd clearly had a bad day at work and regarded shouting at me as a form of free therapy. Now whenever I have a problem with a company I ring the call centre first and if they can't do anything I just politely let it go. Then I write a quick email of complaint to the company about the issue. Solves two problems - anything in writing gets taken way more seriously, avoids abusing people who are in no way at fault and whos hands are tied.

phill106

dr.bollocko wrote: »

That's a lot of S&M for a family forum on a monday morning buddy.

Only you would think that
Should i save it all for the afternoon then?

PanchoVilla

After being sacked from Xtravision for telling several customers to go fúck themselves, I learned that customer service jobs require a certain personality trait that I simply do not possess. If you take things personally or are easily upset by arseholes then maybe working at a call center is just not the right job for you.

donutheadhomer

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

I hate call centers, I don't think I have ever had a good experience with one. They are always totally void of any technical knowledge altogether. I try not to be rude to them because I know its not their fault that its company policy to hire people that are not qualified to do the job.

It really really gets to me tho when your on the phone to an internet provider. My parents change provider pretty much once a year and things always go wrong for them. I'm always the one called over to fix it because I have a background in computing. Sometimes the router is just fu**ed so I have to call up the help center and they just insist on going through this check list of stuff and even when I insist I tried it before I called they would make me do it again. THE ROUTER IS BROKE! JUST SEND ME A NEW ONE!
So fustrating, just wasting everybodies time, and those call centers usually aren't free to call either.

my one is free to call. last week someone called to ask what time it is

donutheadhomer

PanchoVilla wrote: »

After being sacked from Xtravision for telling several customers to go fúck themselves, I learned that customer service jobs require a certain personality trait that I simply do not possess. If you take things personally or are easily upset by arseholes then maybe working at a call center is just not the right job for you.

nawh I've done this a long while. its not me (well not often me)
Customers are getting worse and worse, very few nice ones anymore

PanchoVilla

EurasianBadger wrote: »

nawh I've done this a long while. its not me (well not often me)
Customers are getting worse and worse, very few nice ones anymore

Sounds like you're just getting burned out and starting to let things get to you more. Either that or you're so fed up with the job that people calling the center pick up on it and automatically get a bit pissy. I know if I call customer service and they answer the phone like they don't wanna talk to me I'll be fairly rude to them.

ChopShop

Call center staff generally get treated like something scraped off the pavement.

Starts with the company they're working for, they push them to the edge of what's legal then look for ways to push them further, whilst finding the best way to shaft the callers and just skirt the limits of their entitlements too.

And the people who have take the calls are the pigs in the f*cking middle.

Is it any bloody wonder they're miserable?

...and yes i do speak from experience.

phill106 wrote: »

Hundred calls in the queue between two call centres in different countries, with 50-100 staff in each place, and i get the same woman

I suspect there's something that routes the customer back to the same agent as before, if they're available at the time.

LK_Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdoogjic4I

......sorry if somebody posted this already

Mr Benevolent

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Next!

Hello, you're through to Donkey Oaty in Eircom. How may I hinder you?

Eircom have the worst call center I've ever worked in. Their way of motivating employees is to hold a lottery. The winner of the lottery gets to... wait for it.... fix their shifts for the next three weeks.

Truley

Worked for a market research company that involved a bit of cold calling so I can understand why we were considered a pain for many people. BUT this company was very strict on interviewing willing participants only and we were under no circumstances allowed to persue or badger people into taking part. As soon as a person stated they weren't interested their number was permanently blocked and we wouldn't go near them again.

The only problem is people often don't outright say that they're not interested. So while they try and fob the caller off with an excuse, (I'm having my dinner, I'll do it another time, I'm too busy right now...) they may be entered into the database as a potential recall. So when we did call them again people could get extremely abusive because they claimed they had said no when in fact they said 'maybe another time.'

So word of advise if you ever get called for a market research survey clearly (and politely!) state that you are not interested so the caller knows straight up not to waste their time persuing you and a future caller might be spared another b*ll*cking. Not all call centres are shysters, many people are happy to take part in surveys which in turn provide a valuable service to business and agencies. Not to mention the employment they provide for 100s of Irish people. I would wager many of the people who harp on about call centres are the same people that complain about the lack of jobs and the number of welfare receipients in this country.

ToxicPaddy

Einstein wrote: »

...I worked as Tech Support for IBM for the US market..

Snap.. me too..

Einstein wrote: »

...we just told them that we'd hang up if they didn't stop shouting / cursing.

Ahh me too.. and did it many a time, jeez Americans know how to complain, whine, give out, moan etc.. gotta love that call disconnect button..


On another note, I was trying to get through to a call centre that handles a certain bank's transactions that I do business with.. When I eventually got through, I informed them that there was a problem with their phone system and they continually drop calls and there is no voicemail service available despite the system saying there was..

After 5 mins of the agent in question informing me that there are no such problems happening with their system, the line drops..

He calls me back about 30 seconds later rather sheepishly and apologises, then puts me on hold to check if the answer service is working.. again, he comes back apologising..

I wasnt rude to him, or impolite, just pointed out some issues..

Simple fact is, if you get an incompetent idiot on the phone who comes across as not giving a toss, with long deep sighs and an attitude problem, that is not going to make the already irate customer any more easy to deal with, if anything its going to piss them off even more..

So always be polite, act interested even if you're not and talk to the customer, let them say what they need to say, even let them rant a little, once they have it off their chest you'd be surprised how much they calm down and become more co-operative..

Tox

MitchKoobski

I started off in a call centre trying to be as nice as possible to every single caller. 1 in every 50 calls was nice and said thanks when I was able to help. Eventually as I slowly died inside I became sarcastic and stopped being nice because I never got anything done. Got given out to for it once or twice, but after I became an uncaring bastard on the phone I got more work done, and my customer satisfaction reports doubled.

If you're getting bored, try playing the random word game or the swear game. When there was an old bag on the phone I would sign off with "Have a nice day, fuck you very much." Got away with it for a while too....

Once someone swears at me though I generally lose all sympathy. Other ways to void my help is using the phrase "YOU TOLD ME.." . No I didnt. Some feckin sales eejit in India did.

"Do you have call centres in Ireland?" No, you're through to a shed.
"Why can't I speak to an english person?" Because we're generally nicer.
"You don't understand, you don't live in England." I still have a phone and broadband though...

Best one was last week...
"IVE BEEN THROUGH TO 3 DIFFERENT PEOPLE OVER THE LAST 4 HOURS--"
call log shows she called once, 15 mins ago
"-- AND I WANT YOUR NAME AND YOUR DEPARTMENT!!"
MitchKoobski, the boards department
"AHA! I HAVE YOU NOW YOU ****ER!! IF YOU DONT SOLVE MY PROBLEM NOW IM GONNA GET YOU SACKED WITH A COMPLAINT!! AND THEN YOUL--"
dingdingdingdingdingding
Sorry ma'am but theres a fire alarm going off so I have to terminate this call....buh bye now