Call Centre stories

Etnies · 09-03-2016 12:18am #1

I called a call centre today to speak to someone called Niki it went like this,

Hi can I speak to Niki please?

No problem sir, we have 2 Niki's do you know which one?

No sorry I don't, Are they male or female?

Em sir that is a very hard question to answer..

....emm.. ok.. sure put one of them on and we go from there.

haha I don't no where I was ringing, but deffo a strange one.

kneemos · 09-03-2016 12:20am

Were they American?

Stheno · 09-03-2016 12:21am

I could tell you stories about working in a call centre, but it may cause you to never ever again ring a call centre, for fear of what the person on the other end of the phone is doing

duffman13 · 09-03-2016 12:22am

Etnies wrote: »

I called a call centre today to speak to someone called Niki it went like this,

Hi can I speak to Niki please?

No problem sir, we have 2 Niki's do you know which one?

No sorry I don't, Are they male or female?

Em sir that is a very hard question to answer..

....emm.. ok.. sure put one of them on and we go from there.

haha I don't no where I was ringing, but deffo a strange one.

Not really strange, if there is two Nikis the person on the phone probably doesnt know them personally so wont know if they are male or female. Most places just have internal messengers to search names.

Some of the **** that goes on in call centres is crazy, terrible job so you need to entertain yourself.

Also how do you not know where you were ringing today?

me_irl · 09-03-2016 12:23am

This one time... in IT support... someone called in... and I asked them to turn it off and on again. And it worked.

Stheno · 09-03-2016 12:23am

me_irl wrote: »

This one time... in IT support... someone called in... and I asked them to turn it off and on again. And it worked.

Is your name dogbert?

Etnies · 09-03-2016 12:29am

duffman13 wrote: »

Not really strange, if there is two Nikis the person on the phone probably doesnt know them personally so wont know if they are male or female. Most places just have internal messengers to search names.

Some of the **** that goes on in call centres is crazy, terrible job so you need to entertain yourself.

Also how do you not know where you were ringing today?

The voice of the Niki that came to the phone I still couldnt tell if it was a man or woman, my impression was it was a transsexual and the guy originally answered didn't no what to say if the person was a man or a woman ha.

I was doing smart hands work for some investment company I rang an 01 number which diverted to another country, which wasn't Inida or the US, maybe the Philippines

tedimc · 09-03-2016 12:29am

We used to be based in the same building as a cross border call centre. The staff accents were often an issue so they used to spell critical information back to the client phonetically - but were never thought the correct phonetic alphabet so the staff often improvised. Some of the nuggets I heard:

Q for Cucumber
G for Jesus
M for Mickey
D for Dunkey

Stheno · 09-03-2016 12:31am

tedimc wrote: »

We used to be based in the same building as a cross border call centre. The staff accents were often an issue so they used to spell critical information back to the client phonetically - but were never thought the correct phonetic alphabet so the staff often improvised. Some of the nuggets I heard:

Q for Cucumber
G for Jesus
M for Mickey
D for Dunkey

I used do tech support for american pc users. There was an issue with a modem in one of the pc models, and part of the diagnostics was to rub the contact points with an eraser.

After about three weeks of this being advised to the Irish support staff, a snotty email came from HQ asking us to use the term eraser and not rubbers as would be the norm in Irish English.

Turned out they had recordings in the quality team of customers asking if they needed a particular flavour or size of "rubber" to do the pd.

We rofled

on_my_oe · 09-03-2016 12:45am

I worked in a call centre and was a team trainer and trainer in Birmingham for an electricity company. A new guy started and I really disliked training him. Through various comments he made it clear he was both sexist and racist, and his arrogance made me ill. I didn't have a degree and he thought I was beneath him.

Anyway I suspended the service of a customer as he had broken several repayment plans. The end of the day report showed the customer had been reconnected by my least favourite colleague. Another trainer then took me aside saying she had heard him talking to this customer. He had told the customer he was my supervisor and would reprimand me and give me a written warning. The customer had suggested complaining to immigration about me, he had given the customer my full name and nationality. etc etc I reported the incident to my own manager and HR but my colleague denied it. Silly boy, calls are recorded. He got a written warning and I got a written apology. I left the job six months later.

To prove that sometimes yes karma does happen to bad people, i later heard he was arrested at work for breaching his visa. It had expired two years earlier (naughty, HR!). He was deported back to Nigeria.

RWCNT · 09-03-2016 12:49am

tedimc wrote: »

We used to be based in the same building as a cross border call centre. The staff accents were often an issue so they used to spell critical information back to the client phonetically - but were never thought the correct phonetic alphabet so the staff often improvised. Some of the nuggets I heard:

Q for Cucumber
G for Jesus
M for Mickey
D for Dunkey

I've made the mistake of saying "Y for Wankee" in work years back. Apparently it's a relatively common error.

dashdoll · 09-03-2016 1:04am

I worked in a v busy call centre for a year when I graduated from my masters in the middle of the recession. Hell on earth is the only way I'd describe it.

Taking hundreds of calls a day and getting a constant stream of abuse from disgruntled customers who were right to be pissed off at the **** customer service.

Basically no training either for staff so no wonder they are so crap on the calls. It was the most soul destroying time knowing that every call was likely to be someone abusing you down the phone. Nothing like a grown man screaming at you down the phone telling you he's going to make it his personal business to ensure you lose your job cos of his phone bill. People are dicks!

To be fair I didn't actually go out of my way to help rude customers cos I didn't give a **** about the job and there was good craic between the young people working there.

What was most disturbing was the attitude of the zombies who had worked there for 15 odd years or so and we're basically totally indoctrinated into call centre shift work life.

I used to just put customers on hold for a few mind and check my Facebook when it all got too much!
Have had plenty of **** jobs but hands down it was the worst.

_Kaiser_ · 09-03-2016 1:44am

Stheno wrote: »

I used do tech support for american pc users. There was an issue with a modem in one of the pc models, and part of the diagnostics was to rub the contact points with an eraser.

After about three weeks of this being advised to the Irish support staff, a snotty email came from HQ asking us to use the term eraser and not rubbers as would be the norm in Irish English.

Turned out they had recordings in the quality team of customers asking if they needed a particular flavour or size of "rubber" to do the pd.

We rofled

This sounds very familiar.. think I know where you worked

Stheno · 09-03-2016 1:45am

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

This sounds very familiar.. think I know where you worked

Lol many started, few survived the US permanent nightshift

_Kaiser_ · 09-03-2016 1:47am

Stheno wrote: »

Lol many started, few survived the US permanent nightshift

Yep.. if you lasted 6 months you'd be there a while tho

lasted 7 years myself. LPS was the best job though.

Stheno · 09-03-2016 1:49am

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Yep.. if you lasted 6 months you'd be there a while tho lasted 7 years myself. LPS was the best job though.

2.5 for me on the phones, then a period as one of the few female LPS in Dublin, then team lead.

LPS was deadly alright, especially when calltakers would ring you at five minutes to their shift end looking for an excuse to finish a call and end on time :pac:

Class number?

_Kaiser_ · 09-03-2016 1:51am

Stheno wrote: »

2.5 for me on the phones, then a period as one of the few female LPS in Dublin, then team lead.

LPS was deadly alright, especially when calltakers would ring you at five minutes to their shift end looking for an excuse to finish a call and end on time :pac:

Class number?

I'm sure I know you.. I was there from 97-2004 and if you were LPS there was only 3 if I remember right

Class 21 rings a bell but could be wrong - I remember my staff number though

Stheno · 09-03-2016 1:52am

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I'm sure I know you.. I was there from 97-2004 and if you were LPS there was only 3 if I remember right Class 21 rings a bell but could be wrong - I remember my staff number though

You probably do, I was there from 1997- 2001 and was class 15.

Think I was the first of the female LPS's

La.de.da · 09-03-2016 1:59am

I worked in a telecoms call centre also for my sins.
Brutal work so it was. The endless string of abusive phone calls day after day.

Oh the memories.

turnikett1 · 09-03-2016 2:07am

I used to work for Abtran, a call centre in Cork. It was a nightmare. Emotionally taxing and degrading to say the least. After they let me go (among the heaps of other people on temp contracts), I actually made a big post here on boards about what a sh1hole it was and how all the team leaders are a bunch of phoney wannabe loathsome cvnts. Apparently the post went viral among the workplace, was being emailed to everyone etc and it had to be stamped out*

Good times.

*They all knew it was me, too. I kind of don't like visiting Cork these days because I always fear bumping into my old team leaders/bosses... !

DeanAustin · 09-03-2016 2:12am

Worked in possibly one of the worst call centre jobs in the country about 15 years ago. Endless abusive calls and the place was horribly understaffed because the company was in financial trouble,

All that said, I do have fond memories of it. It was really tough but I worked with a good bunch of people and most customers were actually okay once they calmed down. I also have to say that the job helped me learn a lot of skills that have been priceless in future jobs.

Stheno · 09-03-2016 2:14am

DeanAustin wrote: »

Worked in possibly one of the worst call centre jobs in the country about 15 years ago. Endless abusive calls and the place was horribly understaffed because the company was in financial trouble,

All that said, I do have fond memories of it. It was really tough but I worked with a good bunch of people and most customers were actually okay once they calmed down. I also have to say that the job helped me learn a lot of skills that have been priceless in future jobs.

I got tons of training before I went on the phones, and have no complaints about that.

It was a stressful job, but like you I learned a pile of skills in that job that have stood to me.

Capt'n Midnight · 09-03-2016 2:17am

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/aug/08/prisoners-call-centre-fired-staff

A business is bussing in inmates from an open prison 21 miles away and paying them only £3 a day to work in its call centre.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed that dozens of prisoners from Prescoed prison in Monmouthshire, south Wales, had done "work experience" for at least two months at a rate of 40p an hour in the private company's telephone sales division in Cardiff.

nkav86 · 09-03-2016 2:41am

Recently finished work with a well known telecoms company in their call centre. Absolute hell hole! Terrible staff training, no accountability from staff/management, general pass the buck mentality. If you think it's a nightmare calling into one of them, try working in them! They basically teach you how not to care about the customer and just get the money, needless to say I didn't fare to well

PTH2009 · 09-03-2016 3:16am

Anyone ever watch the call centre documentary series. Yer man running it seemed like a bit of a nutt.

topmanamillion · 09-03-2016 3:48am

PTH2009 wrote: »

Anyone ever watch the call centre documentary series. Yer man running it seemed like a bit of a nutt.

Nev? He seemed like an awful fake bollocks. I always imagined when the cameras were turned off there'd be a very different side to him.
Read a while back that his company got a massive fine (£500k iirc) for breaking cold calling legislation namely people requested not be contacted in future and they ignored them.

philstar · 09-03-2016 11:22am

Stheno wrote: »

LPS was deadly alright, especially when calltakers would ring you at five minutes to their shift end looking for an excuse to finish a call and end on time :pac:

LPS

Keane2baMused · 09-03-2016 11:34am

I worked in a busy call centre years ago. Hated it but we had great craic with the staff. The 'mute' button was a handy one but often got people into trouble.

The office radio was playing that old Liberty X song 'sexy..'. My mate decides to give her best rendition of it while her customer was (supposedly) on mute. Turns out she had told him 'everything about him was so sexy' and to 'work it a little'.

nibtrix · 09-03-2016 9:50pm

I briefly worked in a call centre in New Zealand and heard a lot of racist abuse, was told to "fu(k off and stop taking NZ jobs" etc. Best one was a caller who told me he only wanted to talk to a European. I was pretty confused but told him he was in luck, as I was probably the only person working there that was actually from Europe. His response was to scream "don't be fu(king stupid, you know what I mean! I don't want to talk to any fu(king brown people!!"

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