Has anyone ever a customer service agent and got serious abuse

Bowlardo

GF texted to say she is very upset(crying) after a tirade of abuse from a customer.
She was called bitch and ****ing foreigner on the call.
She warned the customer three times and hung up the call.

I know the calls are recorded. Is there anything that can be done about this?

MagicMarker

Depends, is she a bitch?

Degag

Bowlardo wrote: »

GF texted to say she is very upset(crying) after a tirade of abuse from a customer.
She was called bitch and ****ing foreigner on the call.
She warned the customer three times and hung up the call.

I know the calls are recorded. Is there anything that can be done about this?

No, it's part of the job i'm afraid.

antodeco

It'd be gas if she worked on a sex line

Ihatecuddles-old

I think you're a word in the thread title

TwoShedsJackson

She cuold mention it to management, but they won't give a toss.

token101

Bowlardo wrote: »

I know the calls are recorded. Is there anything that can be done about this?

She can probably quit because if she's crying over abuse from some clown then customer service probably isn't for her to be honest. You need to learn to take the flack and make it funny like pressing buttons on the phone as someone's complaining or doing this.

Where To

Some people are not nice. I just be super nice to the not nice people, doesn't make them any nicer but I have a nice chuckle to myself with them wondering how I am being nice despite them being not nice.

I am the nicest.

sink

I worked in a call centre before and the only way to deal with these type of customers is to ignore them and if you do get rattled take a break for 5 mins just to clear your head. There is nothing you can do, some people are just assholes, take some solace in the fact that the assholes are usually miserable people.

mikemac1

Tell her to join ranting & raving forum

The place is like therapy

And has most likely stopped a few customers from getting murdered even though they deserve it

orestes

Where To wrote: »

Some people are not nice. I just be super nice to the not nice people, doesn't make them any nicer but I have a nice chuckle to myself with them wondering how I am being nice despite them being not nice.

I am the nicest.

Screw you hippy biatch, I'm the nicest :mad:

super_furry

People are arseholes. Angry arseholes who become even bigger, angrier assholes when they're on the phone and feel as if they're ranting at some faceless corporation rather than an actual person.

Agricola

Had to listen to tonnes of abuse directed at the company when I did that job, but I can't remember one incident of it becoming personal. Well actually maybe one but it was tame stuff.

Can't see anything being done about it tbh. A paying customer is always right in management's eyes.

dd972

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAjzvy94JsM

I know it's a job but far better to GTFO

Bowlardo

MagicMarker wrote: »

Depends, is she a bitch?

Nay, she is fairly sound in fairness. fairly happy and never moody

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

She cuold mention it to management, but they won't give a toss.

Thought that. probably sound like a whine bag if you did i would imagine

sink wrote: »

I worked in a call centre before and the only way to deal with these type of customers is to ignore them and if you do get rattled take a break for 5 mins just to clear your head. There is nothing you can do, some people are just assholes, take some solace in the fact that the assholes are usually miserable people.

Did years ago myself and probably why i started smoking tbh


She usually wouldn't be rattled in fairness to her. couldn't really tell her to man up either.

tunedout

A fella once told me "You won't have a job there on Monday morning".

I said "You're dead right I won't seeing as I gave in my notice 2 weeks ago and tomorrow is my last day".

He hung up.

Agricola

dd972 wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAjzvy94JsM

I know it's a job but far better to GTFO

Freakishly accurate. I had that grating overly earnest supervisor and sat beside people with Phd's! Sad times.

WindSock

Ihatecuddles wrote: »

I think you're a word in the thread title

Accidentaly the whole thing.

BrokenArrows

I used to work in a call center but I never got abuse because I never let the conversation get that far.

You can tell when the person on the phone is looking for a fight. I always gave one warning and if they didn't chill out I would just tell them to call back later when they are more relaxed and hang up.

Then just move on.

DEFTLEFTHAND

My mother is desperate for this, she starts giving people attitude on the phone and behaves in a snobby rude manner at times. It's possible to make a complaint without being horrible to the person you speak to.

FloatingVoter

I worked in Revenue about ten years back on the PAYE enquiries line (AKA Hell). We were told never to drop a call unless the abuse became personal. Most customers were upset or confused about something but I only had to drop two calls in three years. You take a fagbreak / few deep breathes and go back into the trenches. Better that than abuse them back - then you wind up in trouble.
I didn't give a **** about the job and "resigned" eventually but it really isn't worth the mental hassle. Some people can go twelve rounds with telephone psychos, others can't.
Your girlfriend should start looking for work in a better environment - a shop etc. is face to face, less abusive/cowardly morons.

The Aussie

Could you not get their phone number and stick it up all over the place, men's jacks for example "call any time for fun"*

* not suggesting this as a course of action, here in lays any legal indemnity for poster The Aussie :pac:

Winty

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I used to work in a call center but I never got abuse because I never let the conversation get that far.

You can tell when the person on the phone is looking for a fight. I always gave one warning and if they didn't chill out I would just tell them to call back later when they are more relaxed and hang up.

Then just move on.

Did you ever think that the company you worked in supplied an item or did a service that did not preform as advertised?
Maybe the person calling the call centre was angry for a reason caused by your employer so your condescending "chill out dude" was misplaced

You were working in customer service were you not?

hatrickpatrick

I once a customer service agent. I had accidentally the whole computer.

wexie

Your girlfriend needs to keep in mind that when you're working in customer service, the people on the phones almost without fail want something, that you can either give them, or not give them. Helps dealing with any abuse.

I used to just tell people that their choice was to be civil to me, or call back, go through the whole queuing system, explain their story again etc. etc.

For the ones that were beyond redemption we found an internal unmonitored fax number to transfer them to , either that or semd them for a ride on the cold transferring rollercoaster.

With regards to management it's not always true they don't give a toss. I've known a few teamleads to call back particularly abusive customers over the years and give them an ear full. Even seen some apologies from customers.

syklops

A man rang up and said he had seen an ad saying he could get 8Mbit broadband for the same price as what he currently paid, but he only had 4 Mbit, so I suggested he call sales and ask to be upgraded to 4Mbit. He then launched a tirade of abuse at me, and he told me his business had gone bust as a direct result of his slow internet, and then he put a curse on me and wished me all kinds of bad luck and then he started crying and then he said he was going to hang up and kill himself and that it would be all my fault.

What he didnt know was the call was being monitored 'for quality purposes' and they had his name and address so the sent the Metropolitan Police around to his house to check on him.

Work gave me 2 days off, and I left their employ a few weeks later for a much better job.

wexie

Winty wrote: »

Did you ever think that the company you worked in supplied an item or did a service that did not preform as advertised?
Maybe the person calling the call centre was angry for a reason caused by your employer so your condescending "chill out dude" was misplaced

You were working in customer service were you not?

Rubbish, unless people out there are dumb enough to think that the customer service agent is actually responsible for a product/service they aren't happy with there is no excuse to give a customer service agent abuse.

You can be upset with the product, the service, the company...but NOT the person that's being paid to sort out your grievances for you.

krudler

All the time, part of the job. People seem to think acting the prick is the best way to get things done, here's a lesson: it isn't.

mufcboy1999

the kind of jobs you just do until something better comes along, very degrading when your being abused left right and center.

There's a few tricks of the trade you can learn to deal with these kind of customers like when no one's watching just drop the call.

problem solved

Doctor DooM

Winty wrote: »

Did you ever think that the company you worked in supplied an item or did a service that did not preform as advertised?
Maybe the person calling the call centre was angry for a reason caused by your employer so your condescending "chill out dude" was misplaced

You were working in customer service were you not?

This does not entitle someone to stop treating another with the respect all human beings deserve.

The Aussie

wexie wrote: »

You can be upset with the product, the service, the company...but NOT the person that's being paid to sort out your grievances for you.

+1001. Pathetic attitude

Reminds me of this story.

"A 32-year-old employee of Anglo Irish Bank committed suicide after suffering emotional trauma from the abuse of angry members of the public at the height of the banking crisis."

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Anglo-Irish-Bank-Employee-suicide-after-customer-abuse-103850599.html

FGR

What used to bother me in my days of tech support was that if you couldn't help, and that a supervisor was requested; there wasn't an actual number to forward them to or a way to formally do it. Nine times out of ten if I put the customer on hold the Team Leader on duty would just tell me to find a way to get rid of them.

An absolute joke, imo, as all it lead to was increased levels of stress for the agent.

MarkR

Cousins to keyboard warriors. They can't do anything to you, they don't even know you. I've had death threats before.

I remember once, I had this lady screaming down the phone at me. I asked her to repeat herself, as I couldn't hear over the loony shouting in the background.

Grayson

I've worked in a few. There are some people who are cnuts. Most I could deal with easilly, but there was one guy who would ring up daily and just give people abuse. He was just plain nasty.

On the other side of the scale, there was a woman who's son died in afghanistan and used to call up every saturday and cry. As much as you want to9, you can't really hang up on someone like that.

Winty

Doctor DooM wrote: »

This does not entitle someone to stop treating another with the respect all human beings deserve.

What about my right to get the product or service I pay for

dd972

The Aussie wrote: »

+1001. Pathetic attitude

Reminds me of this story.

"A 32-year-old employee of Anglo Irish Bank committed suicide after suffering emotional trauma from the abuse of angry members of the public at the height of the banking crisis."

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Anglo-Irish-Bank-Employee-suicide-after-customer-abuse-103850599.html

Terrible to read that, I think one factor that may have pushed him over the edge is that ''centre of the universe'' mentality all places of paid employment seem to have, as difficult as it is, it's healthier to maintain a distance from that and give it '' f**k you'', also there's the probability that he'd given his life to Anglo and now it was collapsing around his ears.

wexie

Winty wrote: »

What about my right to get the product or service I pay for

And you really think treating the customer service agent, that YOU want to help sort it out for YOU, is going to help you get what you want quicker? Or at all?

.......

Have a think about that for a minute

Winty

wexie wrote: »

Rubbish, unless people out there are dumb enough to think that the customer service agent is actually responsible for a product/service they aren't happy with there is no excuse to give a customer service agent abuse.
you.

What so the person working answering the phone for the company does not what?

Please explain what I should do when my laptop stops working go to the factory in India and find the guy who made it?

Grayson

MarkR wrote: »

Cousins to keyboard warriors. They can't do anything to you, they don't even know you. I've had death threats before.

I remember once, I had this lady screaming down the phone at me. I asked her to repeat herself, as I couldn't hear over the loony shouting in the background.

In one of the places I worked, if youy got a death or suicide threat we had to pass the details to security. They'd contact the police (here or the UK depending on where the person was) and the police would pay them a visit.

One guy called back after making a suicide threat asking why we'd sent the cops around.



In another place, a guy gave abuse to a co worker. English customer saying he didn't want to talk to any more effing paddies. The agent hung up after warning three times. He told his supervisor.
The supervisor left a note on the account (This was at a bif multinational PC manufacturer) and said if the customer called back, he was to be routed to the supervisor.
When the customer called back (his computer was still broken) he was told by the sup that if he didn't apologise to the agent he would be blacklisted from all future support and all future sales.

wexie

Winty wrote: »

What so the person working answering the phone for the company does not what?

Please explain what I should do when my laptop stops working go to the factory in India and find the guy who made it?

ehm....what you should do is call tech support/customer service (pay attention now because this is important) and POLITELY ask them to help you.

I think you'll find you'll have a better chance of getting decent service.
I'm guessing you're one of these people that goes around bitching at staff and then complains about the service...

Winty

wexie wrote: »

And you really think treating the customer service agent, that YOU want to help sort it out for YOU, is going to help you get what you want quicker? Or at all?
Have a think about that for a minute

All I want is the person in the little box at the end of the phone to do what my money pays them to do.
Press the buttons and do what I ask its simple, so simple that the task can be done anywhere in the world by people with little education

I do not want attitude from a call centre, I am never rude but I am demanding

Sunnyisland

Where To wrote: »

Some people are not nice. I just be super nice to the not nice people, doesn't make them any nicer but I have a nice chuckle to myself with them wondering how I am being nice despite them being not nice.

I am the nicest.

Thats the nicest post I have read in a while

Grayson

wexie wrote: »

ehm....what you should do is call tech support/customer service (pay attention now because this is important) and POLITELY ask them to help you.

I think you'll find you'll have a better chance of getting decent service.
I'm guessing you're one of these people that goes around bitching at staff and then complains about the service...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNPzgPhHeWQ&feature=endscreen

(btw, in case anyone's wondering. When anyone calls you have to confirm they are the account holder because the call might involve discloding information to the customer. So you generally have to verify three bits of personal info. name, first line of address etc and that's what the rep is doing)

wexie

Grayson wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNPzgPhHeWQ&feature=endscreen

(btw, in case anyone's wondering. When anyone calls you have to confirm they are the account holder because the call might involve discloding information to the customer. So you generally have to verify three bits of personal info. name, first line of address etc and that's what the rep is doing)

I've a sneaky suspicion we've spent a lot of time in the same building

the culture of deference

My partner works in customer service.

She says the worst arseholes on the other end of the line blow whistles when they aren't getting their way, directly into the headsets of customer service agents.

wexie

Winty wrote: »

Press the buttons and do what I ask its simple, so simple that the task can be done anywhere in the world by people with little education

That very much depends on what kind of call centre you're dealing with. There are some high level tech support ones in Ireland and there's a very good reason these haven't been sent overseas.

Odysseus

Winty wrote: »

Did you ever think that the company you worked in supplied an item or did a service that did not preform as advertised?
Maybe the person calling the call centre was angry for a reason caused by your employer so your condescending "chill out dude" was misplaced

You were working in customer service were you not?

That does not mean that the person should allow themselves to be abused, yes people have a right to be angry if a service does not meet the expected standard; however, they are dealing with another person and should express their complaint in a respectful manner.

If they can't do that, then yes they should be told to come back when they can articulate their complaint respectfully. No job description comes with accepting verbal abuse as a core duty.

bohsman

Only ever dealt with customers over email. Always got a good laugh at abuse and did anything I could to make customer miserable if they were being abusive. We also had management on our side in those cases. Can imagine abuse over the phone would be worse especially if management were on a customer is always right policy.

0ph0rce0

Used to work in dell and had a guy one day who was very polite, asked me how my day was and all that, he then asked me where I was based, I said cherrywood.

He then said

"Grand I'll be up to shove this computer up your hole you ****ing prick **** bastard you", that abuse went on for ages, I told him I'd be outside waiting but he never showed.

Pissed me off a bit, but the next guy who called cheered the whole department up, he told me his name and I couldn't stop laughing, passed him around to everyone so they could ask his name, he was called Richard Raper, but he called himself Dick, why I do not know.

Whats the Name Sir?

DICK RAPER

Classic day in the office :pac:

Degag

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

the kind of jobs you just do until something better comes along, very degrading when your being abused left right and center.

There's a few tricks of the trade you can learn to deal with these kind of customers like when no one's watching just drop the call.

problem solved

It isn't really because that customer is only going to call back and either make a complaint against you or one of your colleagues is going to get an earful instead of you. Oh, and there are ways of monitoring if the customer hung up or if you did.

bohsman

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Used to work in dell and had a guy one day who was very polite, asked me how my day was and all that, he then asked me where I was based, I said cherrywood.

He then said

"Grand I'll be up to shove this computer up your hole you ****ing prick **** bastard you", that abuse went on for ages, I told him I'd be outside waiting but he never showed.

Was directly across from you in Cherrywood, plenty of similar threats but nobody ever showed up.