Stop Abusing Call Centre Workers

alandublin15

This thread makes me look back on the days that i worked for ...orange (i think) ...in clontarf. I remember my work as a call centre minion.
Plenty of abuse was sent my way but back then i had some kind of superiority complex and so made it my mission to dish out as much as i got, even more maybe, i remember people used to think they had terminated the call after giving abuse but somehow had'nt, id sit there listening to their pathetic lives while their credit slowly withered. fond memories.
along with other tactics such as pretending the line was bad as soon as they got smart and hanging up or giving cnuts the wrong info i must have dished out as much as i got.
id like to take this time to thank my younger self, he recognised that the value of his wage was not worth consistently taking sht from the public.
Dignity > min wage
Well done me, have that lunch. thank you i will. hey anytime.

gbee

I'm appalled at the carry on of the 'call center employee confessions'

I'm beginning to think the bad ones really were in the majority. No wonder most were moved to India.

Dravokivich

EurasianBadger wrote: »

I work in a call centre taking calls all day from ye guys. Please stop abusing me.

This will put people like me out of a job... just think about what you are doing here.

krudler

gbee wrote: »

I'm appalled at the carry on of the 'call center employee confessions'

I'm beginning to think the bad ones really were in the majority. No wonder most were moved to India.

Try working in one sometime and then make that statement. working in retail is bad, over the phone people are way more cnutish.

OutlawPete

I generally have no issues with call centre staff, I even like Sky's customer service - which most people hate.

However, there is one company whose staff make me want to track each of them down and preform unnecessary operations on 'em with a blunt spoon.

Won't name the company, but they they are masters at selling concert tickets and providing fuck all customer support afterwards.

krudler

OutlawPete wrote: »

Won't name the company, but they they are masters at selling concert tickets and providing fuck all customer support afterwards.

Touts are indeed cnuts :pac:

pipelaser

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

Was anyone waiting in the queue while you wrote this?:rolleyes:

alexa5x5

Used to work in a call centre, never again! I only worked there for 2/3 months but it was honestly one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had.

I totally agree with the OP, just because you can’t see the person doesn’t give you a right to treat them like $hit. There wasn’t a week that went past that I didn’t go home crying because of the abuse I had to take during 70% of my working day. It’s like the customers don’t see you as a person.

My breaking point came when on one particular day about 1000customers landlines where cut off. As much as I hated Eircom and there over priced products I have to say in nearly every cut off case the customers hadn’t paid a bill in months. I cut corners and reconnected people that I probably shouldn’t had just to shut them up. But in a few cases I just had to say no, not without at least a payment. During my final call I was called a "fooking cnut...b*tch...etc" because I wouldn’t turn on an account that hadn’t been paid in a year, and as the guy said, he had no intention to pay because it was a public service to have a landline.... :rolleyes:
Yeah I walked out that day!

!

CrazyRabbit

Einstein wrote: »

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.

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

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Snap.. me too..

Snap...me three. Good old Aptiva PC's with their horrrendous MWave modem/soundcard combo's!

Some of the common 'types' of call are:

1. Users calling up saying they got an error in some application but didn't bother to take note of what is was, can't reproduce it and yet expect us to fix it.

2. Users demanding we support things that we didn't sell them. Like the guy who bought a monitor from a rival company and demanded we replace the monitor when it broke...just because the PC was ours.

3. Users getting angry at us because their PC broke. You don't ring up a cars manufacturer to complain when you get a flat tyre, so why is it ok when a PC breaks down?

4. Users out of warranty looking for free support for a PC model so old we don't even have support docs for it anymore.

5. Users calling up looking for us to train them in how to use some application they just installed, even though it's not our application....and we are not a training centre.

6. Users calling up to have a chat. We had one guy make 864 calls, and we never determined if he actually owned one of our PC's. We'd just put him on mute, go for lunch/coffee etc and come back to find him still talking.

7. Users who don't know the absolute basics...like using a mouse, or the names of the various parts (tower, mouse, monitor etc). They'd get angry when we used 'technical terms' like 'Start menu' and 'icon' etc.

I got a lot of abuse from customers when I worked on that support desk. Generally speaking, American's get very very angry if they don't get the service they think they should be getting.

After that, I moved to a new support desk providing internal support for company employees and it was 10000% better. I much preferred dealing with professionals.

Now, I code those applications that customers call in to complain about

the_syco

Ix Deadmau5 wrote: »

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

Your laptop is broken because your dog pissed on it...

ChopShop

gbee wrote: »

I'm appalled at the carry on of the 'call center employee confessions'

Best ring a call center to lodge a complaint then.

CrazyRabbit

BTW...to those who have ever considered working in a call centre. Don't let this thread put you off.

The first few weeks are extremely tough. Probably the hardest job you'll ever do. But it does get easier with experience, to the point where it might even become too easy.

Customers can be nasty, but the vast majority are usually really nice. I've had some amazing customers over the years who I'd love to speak to again.

You also learn superb problem solving skills, and get much better at understanding consumer pyschology. And depending on the job, you may also become an expert for many applications/operating systems etc.

ChopShop

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

But it does get easier with experience, to the point where it might even become too easy.

That was week three of four. I can't remember.

Spacedog

Syco = the Randell Graves of tech support!

I called him once bacause my laptop kept crashing, he directed me to a live hermafradic midgit porn video chatroom for technical support...

in fairness those hermafredites had MCSEs and clearly explained the Windows reinstallation procedure.

Thanks Syco!

scientific1982

Worked in a call centre for about 9 months. Absolute **** of a job for ****e money. Its worse on the other end of the phone believe me. If anyone is pissed off with sales calls dont take it out on the operatives, instead ask to speak to the centre manager and give them the bollocking.

scientific1982

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

BTW...to those who have ever considered working in a call centre. Don't let this thread put you off.

The first few weeks are extremely tough. Probably the hardest job you'll ever do. But it does get easier with experience, to the point where it might even become too easy.

Customers can be nasty, but the vast majority are usually really nice. I've had some amazing customers over the years who I'd love to speak to again.

You also learn superb problem solving skills, and get much better at understanding consumer pyschology. And depending on the job, you may also become an expert for many applications/operating systems etc.

Bull****. Its a horrible job and washing dishes for a living would be easier.

onlyrocknroll

I think that this is a pretty funny response to call centre workers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hllDWSbuDsQ&feature=related

Seriously though completely agree with OP. It's better for people to work anyway they can than to be on the dole, even if that means a minor irritation to the general public every now and again. What do those idiots who abuse them want, more unemployment and higher taxes to pay for it? If you don't want to talk to someone just say 'Sorry not interested, thanks' and hang up.

When waiters or shop staff annoy them do they say "f**k off and die"? Probably not, easier to be brave on the end of a phone than face to face.

A girl I know works in a call centre and says that everyday people tell her to 'go and get' sexual diseases.
Like "why don't you go and get AIDS?"
or "I hope you get herpes"

Strangest form of abuse that I've ever heard of. Probably tells you about the average amount of wit and sophistication that these people have.

I worked for the Emergency Services, taking 999 calls, Bloody hell, the abuse from some people was shocking. Weird, considering they were calling for help, some thought it better to curse you out before giving their address. Bizarre. We'd also get the 'Frequent Fyers' talking ****e or heaving breathing down the phone..

Majority of callers are good though in fairness.


Help them as best you can, treat them as you'd like to be treated.

gbee

wernstrom! wrote: »

Best ring a call center to lodge a complaint then.

Nope, I'm also saddened that it's meant job losses due solely to BA from call centre personnel.

popzmaster

I just recently got a casual job I can't say with what company just in case but on the first day i had someone givin me an absolute bollocking.


But since I'm not a little girl it doesn't really bother me, I'd gladly stand around and have someone scream in my face as long as I'm still getting paid for it, and here we have people upset because people are giving out to them inpersonally over the phone, people who would give out to whoever was on the phone, not even having to deal with them face to face. Stop crying about it. You have a job and your getting paid for it.

gbee

scientific1982 wrote: »

, instead ask to speak to the centre manager and give them the bollocking.

last week on a local radio talk in show this exact subject was done for nearly the whole week ..... caller after caller after after caller complaining the they could NOT be put through to a superior.

hightower1

A friend of mine worked for a call center for a major ISP for a while and I s**t you not she took a call one day from a nice woman. She gave her the benfit of the doubt when the woman said initially that she was comfortable with computers so no need to dum anything down, her child had just been given "one of those small laptops" (i.e a netbook)....

20 mins pass and the very basics had alluded this woman, couldnt find a wireless manager program, couldnt locate the start menu, couldnt locate anything in the system tray? Beumused and confused my friend attempted to direct connect using ethernet cable but again this woman couldnt find the lan socket.

Clucthing at staws my friend asks whats the make of the computer and she will try see if there is anything online to try help?

...... Vtech, the woman replied.

20 mins this one had spent trying to get a childs toy online. In fairness how could you blame call center workers having to go through the motions with every caller when this is the type of inteligence they are presented with.

sensibleken

I worked in a call centre for a while. Thankfully i was in the buisness section rather than residential but once i had to give a dig out to the complaints department.

Two examples remind me of how to get your complaint dealt with and how not to.

One letter began, no dear... not to whom it may concern, it began 'Ye are a sack of cúnts!'

another had the line. 'what began as a spring of promise has ended in the autumnal dusk of disapointment'

I dealt with the second guy first, and gave him a credit note

IvyTheTerrible

I just don't see why people can't be polite (on both sides of the phonecall). If someone shouts abuse at me, you can be garunteed I'll go 20 times slower than if someone is nice. Just basic manners.

Greyfox

gbee wrote: »

last week on a local radio talk in show this exact subject was done for nearly the whole week ..... caller after caller after after caller complaining the they could NOT be put through to a superior.

That's because supervisors don't want to take the call so agents have to pretend their in a meeting etc or pretend they will get a call back. It's grand if callers have a genuine complaint but been on hold for 20 minutes or the fact that you havn't got your modem yet or your bill is incorrect is not something that can be passed to a supervisor as these things happen so regularly agents are not suppossed to esculate it

The thing I always hated about the public is they seem to think you have a magic wand at times when instead you've been given the bare minimun of training and often know less about the products then the customer. A lot of times sales have misled them about a deal and then they call customer care and customer care have never heard of such a deal

Also callers are always shocked when they don't get a call back, it's not personal, agents almost never have the time to call people back, were far too busy.

For anybody who calls a call centre you must ALWAYS get the name of who you were speaking to otherwise the conversation pretty much didn't take place.

Taking abuse is part of the job, you have to see the funny side of it otherwise you won't last a week. The thing is once you give abuse to an agent they will go out of their way to be as unhelpful as possible

Greyfox

popzmaster wrote: »

I'd gladly stand around and have someone scream in my face as long as I'm still getting paid for it, and here we have people upset because people are giving out to them inpersonally over the phone, people who would give out to whoever was on the phone, not even having to deal with them face to face. Stop crying about it. You have a job and your getting paid for it.

True sure over the phone you have the hold button (an agents best friend) or have the power to terminate the call...or just take your headset off until the noise coming from the headset stops and then talk, you have all the power, it's a million times easier then dealing with someone in person

Mint Sauce

I have done the call centre work, the abuse was in the minority, probably less than one in every ten calls, most people were fine and greatful for your time and help.

But when it got nasty, it got nasty, I have been called every name under the sun, english/irish <insert swear word>, <insert swearword> paki, been threatened with legal action, have had the 'HA HA i have your name and writting to your complants dept about you' and when you offered to give the complants address they usally backed down for some reason, been told to F off after they rang me, etc etc etc.

Just had to act calm, 99.9% of its not personal and their just letting of steam.

Snakeblood

Gooch2k4 wrote: »

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

Unless you can put me on the line to whoever in UPC keeps making appointments to come out and then cancels without telling me so I lose a days pay, you can take the abuse and like it. I lost more money than you lost will to live, I'd hope.

I am generally very reasonable with phone callcentres, but if a situation is ongoing for 2 months, and I've been consistently misinformed by the company, then I'm going to get angry. Particularly if I start each conversation with a summation of that which has gone before, and am then asked if I want to schedule another appointment, and am told that a supervisor is not available, consistently.

If callcentre staff don't want to be on the frontline of abuse, they can work for organisations that don't appear to be run by imbeciles, incompetents, and morons.

krudler

gbee wrote: »

last week on a local radio talk in show this exact subject was done for nearly the whole week ..... caller after caller after after caller complaining the they could NOT be put through to a superior.

Thats because caller after caller after caller after caller demand to be when theres absolutely no need to, they'll be told the exact same thing as the agent did but people wont accept this. Out of all the the escalations I've done I'd say about 10% of them were actually necessary, the rest if just being given the exact same info an agent just told them. And agents are under a ton of pressure to not let calls be escalated to that point, theres nothing more frustrating that having someone screaming to be put through to a supervisor, then you ask the supervisor to take the call and they just tell you what you already know and expect you to go back to the customer with this, it just aggrivates things even further.

People who have a problem with call centre workers should try working in one, you wont last a week.

bonerm

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.

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:

I like the way you abbreviated 'me' to 'm'

Snakeblood

Greyfox wrote: »

The thing I always hated about the public is they seem to think you have a magic wand at times when instead you've been given the bare minimun of training and often know less about the products then the customer. A lot of times sales have misled them about a deal and then they call customer care and customer care have never heard of such a deal

Why hate the public because you haven't been trained? Or because the public have been lied to?

alexa5x5

Jake1 wrote: »

I worked for the Emergency Services, taking 999 calls, Bloody hell, the abuse from some people was shocking. Weird, considering they were calling for help, some thought it better to curse you out before giving their address. Bizarre. We'd also get the 'Frequent Fyers' talking ****e or heaving breathing down the phone..

Majority of callers are good though in fairness.


Help them as best you can, treat them as you'd like to be treated.

Yeah I used to get heavy breathers too, what a weird fooking thing to do! And this other guy who would ring, do some heavy breathing, and then say "knickers" "bras" a few times :eek: WTF that was about I dunno. Must of been how the poor bastard got his kicks

krudler

alexa5x5 wrote: »

Yeah I used to get heavy breathers too, what a weird fooking thing to do! And this other guy who would ring, do some heavy breathing, and then say "knickers" "bras" a few times :eek: WTF that was about I dunno. Must of been how the poor bastard got his kicks

We had a guy who was obsessed with feet, he used to ring in asking girls what kind of socks or tights they had on and if their feet smelled nice, he was an oddball to say the least. Then there was the guy who said if I didnt give him a euro free credit he'd kill himself, sometimes the crazies help you get through the day. Also as a general rule the later in the day it gets, the more mental people become, someone at 9am is usually calling about a bill or some general issue, someone ringing at 9pm is pissed, looking for someone to chat to or a sexual deviant.

onedmc

irish-stew wrote: »

...... the complants address they usally backed down for some reason

Funny when I call to try and get through to the person in the complaints department I get a hugh run-around. Why do want compain etc .....

I wonder is it to do with the fact that I'm trying to sell compaints management software.

scientific1982

gbee wrote: »

last week on a local radio talk in show this exact subject was done for nearly the whole week ..... caller after caller after after caller complaining the they could NOT be put through to a superior.

Yeah thats true too. The managers in the place I worked were a shower of bitches. They would let us get an earfull of customers demanding to talk to a manager. It was a really frustrating job.

scientific1982

And if the customer was getting really annoyed we would just get another operator to pretend that they were the manager. Man im so happy I dont work there anymore.

Cuddlesworth

I generally never saw the point in asking to speak to their supervisor. Its not like they actually know what to do most of the time.

Calm logical arguments and clear concise details help greatly. And a simple reminding at the start of the message that you are recording this call but "not to worry, as you do this with all calls as a matter of procedure" makes the world of difference.

hatrickpatrick

Problem is, on the flip side, that as a customer who needs tech support it is insanely frustrating when the people you're talking to are very clearly reading lines from a preprepared list and have no knowledge themselves of how the product actually works. If I bought a laptop and it's ****ed up, when I call tech support I'm hoping to talk to someone who actually understands what's wrong with it.

Don't even get me started on the number fo times you'll ring up and be answered by someone whose English is so poor that even if they DO actually understand the problem, there's no way in hell you can understand the answer!!!

efb

Customer Service, would you like to address either of those words?

Diapason

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Problem is, on the flip side, that as a customer who needs tech support it is insanely frustrating when the people you're talking to are very clearly reading lines from a preprepared list and have no knowledge themselves of how the product actually works.

Exactly. The GUI interface has ruined customer service, and it p*sses me off every time I come up against the problem. Not all call centres are created equal, of course, and some of them seem to make of employing people with a modicum of intelligence, and then properly training them.

I try not to be rude to call centre workers, but when faced with somebody terminally stupid who simply refuses to listen, it's difficult not to get annoyed. Also, if the call centre is the ONLY way I can contact the company in question, then the call centre worker should expect the worst.

For cold callers I feel free to be as rude as I desire. I'm generally not at all, but it's entirely at my discretion.

Maddison

maglite wrote: »

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.

I have to disagree with you there,my insurance company's call centre is based in Bangladesh and I have nothing with hassle with them, they say they will do something and Its never done. I was onto them 4 times with the same issue and It was only sorted once I spoke to someone in the Dublin office. I now have a contact within that office so I dont have to go through making all the calls and getting nowhere.

krd

It's often the case call centre/contact centres are very badly run. Often the managers are lazy, thick, slime bags who don't have a clue what the centre is meant to be supporting.

I once had a job working in complaints for a big company. All the complaint letters and emails came through me. I was the only person who knew where the letters etc were. Management showed zero interest in them. Yet, the big thick bint on a big salary, whenever she got a brainwave (another stupid idea), she'd claim to have gained insights from reading customers letters and emails. She never did. If the useless woman ever bothered to read the complaints - or even bother to ask what people were complaining about there wouldn't have been so many unhappy customers.

Call centres will go out of their way to hire the clueless. Technical support centres will throw out CVs where they see people have experience - and hire the clueless. I have worked in places where they've hired people to give technical support, where the people HAVE NEVER USED A COMPUTER IN THEIR LIVES.

One place I worked - where the customers were very angry because they kept getting fobbed off. The management believed it was because the agents were upsetting the customers - lacking the right "soft skills" - nothing to do with incompetent ****ty management. So they dragged us in and had us listen to recordings of what they thought was the ideal agent. A smarmy bitch who was telling every customer that called her that their problem was going to be fixed in half an hour. Of course she was doing nothing - she wasn't fixing anything. Then after half an hour, the customer would realise they've been duped and they would call back very angry.

If you're the kind of person who believes bawling out someone in a call centre is going to help your case - you a thick bag of slime. Worthless slime - though invariably you'll have a good job somewhere, the thick always do.

I know every trick that can be pulled in a call centre. I know precisely how they're run. In any given call centre at least half the staff are complete arseholes - who deliberately fob customers off. The managers never fire these people - because they see something of themselves in them. Pig people. But most of the public deserve these people. As they are also pig people. Oink, Oink.

Greyfox

krd wrote: »

who deliberately fob customers off

The problem is to survive in a call centre you have to take about 60 calls a day and the only way you can deal with 60 queries a day is if your fobbing some people off, if you take 40 calls and deal with these 40 customers brilliantly your underperforming as your only dealing with a dissapointing 40 queries.

krd

Diapason wrote: »

I try not to be rude to call centre workers, but when faced with somebody terminally stupid who simply refuses to listen, it's difficult not to get annoyed.

Also, if the call centre is the ONLY way I can contact the company in question, then the call centre worker should expect the worst.

You are an arsehole - have you ever thought of trying to control your temper?

You are also terminally stupid if you think shouting at a call centre agent, thick or otherwise is going to help your case.

Anyway I tell you a little something that goes on in call centres - re complaints.

The customer service manager always likes to look good. Most of these people are very stupid and lazy. But they have an animal cunning. I've known of situations in call centres where agents were threatened with the sack if they logged customer complaints. All your huffing and puffing goes nowhere, only into the ears of the poor agent, who's likely been listening all day to whinging arseholes.

Look at the world around you. Do you see honesty and integrity. Or do you see a world of pillocky booky men and woman - bull****ters, lazy people, stupid people, mean people. People who go out of their way to do everything they do in life badly. What kind of person are you?

krd

Greyfox wrote: »

The problem is to survive in a call centre you have to take about 60 calls a day and the only way you can deal with 60 queries a day is if your fobbing some people off, if you take 40 calls and deal with these 40 customers brilliantly your underperforming as your only dealing with a dissapointing 40 queries.

Well, it's a false economy. Different call centres are different from each other. The thing about fobbing people off is it drives up the call volume - they call back and they're usually very upset. The standard procedure for management in a call centre is to monitor calls and sack people who fob customers off. In the more dysfunctional call centres this doesn't happen - because the managers won't fire the worst culprits as they're pets - and their **** acting helps the managers stats.


I've worked in a few places - I've worked in places where most of the agents were thick as vegetables. And there was only a handful of agents who knew anything or could fix anything. On average it would take 6 or 7 calls before you could get through to someone who had a clue.

I have a friend working in tech support at the minute. He doesn't have a clue about computers. He doesn't own one or have any interest in them. He thinks it's hilarious. He just makes up stuff and chats up the customers - says try that and if it doesn't work call back. It's a joke and the management know he doesn't have a clue. They don't care. It's the way the world works.

CrazyRabbit

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Problem is, on the flip side, that as a customer who needs tech support it is insanely frustrating when the people you're talking to are very clearly reading lines from a preprepared list and have no knowledge themselves of how the product actually works. If I bought a laptop and it's ****ed up, when I call tech support I'm hoping to talk to someone who actually understands what's wrong with it.

Don't even get me started on the number fo times you'll ring up and be answered by someone whose English is so poor that even if they DO actually understand the problem, there's no way in hell you can understand the answer!!!

Problem is....the Customer Reps are expected to be an expert in every area...the various laptop/pc hardware configuration, multiple operating systems, networks, security & potentially quite a lot of applications. And yes, they do read from scripts and for good reason. Following the steps in those scripts/Problem Determination sheets actually solves are large percentage of the reported issues. If the rep can't fix the issue, they then escalate to someone who is an expert in the particular area related to this issue. The person you 1st speak to is there to solve basic/common issues and then escalate the more complex issues to the relevant experts.

When I was a CSR, my team supported 1643 applications, many of which were in VM (Virtual Machines). Imagine trying to support 100's of applications that run in what looks like a DOS window, and not ever getting any training in them. Nightmare.

As for the language thing.....yes, that's a big problem. The irony is that many commercial/customer facing helpdesks have to contact their companies internal helpdesk when they themselves need hardware/software support and these 'internal helpdesks' are increasingly located in India/China/Poland/Hungary. So Customer Reps end based in who are in Ireland/UK actually end up suffering the same way!

I think the biggest problem here is not the CSR's or the customers. It's the companies who don't give enough training to those CSR's, expect miracles from them and then only pay them €18,000-22,000 per year.

yours

I remember a couple of years ago i placed an add in the autotrader to sell my car, i deliberately didnt put in a location as my parents lived two hours away and i worked somewhere else.

Anyway I got a call from one of the car magazines who got my number on the autotrader telling me they knew of 20 people in my area very interested in my car, god i had such fun when i asked him what area, even after 10 mins he couldnt work his way out of that one.

A couple of years before that i got a call from the same company, was selling my previous car, after a long hard sell, he pushed me into buying it, i explained i hadnt got a credit card, he didnt believe me, after forceful selling he got my debit card saying that it would do, when he put in the number and it didnt work he started demanding a credit card number when i again said i didnt have one, he hung up on me.

Defo I think a lot of these are liars and will say or do anything to push a sale.

On the other hand, I aint biased, I worked in a call centre for about 8 months, yes it was tough, but at the same time people were very frustrated as something wasnt working, i just had to put up with it and forget about it, at the end of the day, i was being paid for it!:rolleyes:

AlmightyCushion

krd wrote: »

You are an arsehole - have you ever thought of trying to control your temper?

You are also terminally stupid if you think shouting at a call centre agent, thick or otherwise is going to help your case.

Anyway I tell you a little something that goes on in call centres - re complaints.

The customer service manager always likes to look good. Most of these people are very stupid and lazy. But they have an animal cunning. I've known of situations in call centres where agents were threatened with the sack if they logged customer complaints. All your huffing and puffing goes nowhere, only into the ears of the poor agent, who's likely been listening all day to whinging arseholes.

Look at the world around you. Do you see honesty and integrity. Or do you see a world of pillocky booky men and woman - bull****ters, lazy people, stupid people, mean people. People who go out of their way to do everything they do in life badly. What kind of person are you?

Banned for abuse.

Diapason

krd wrote: »

You are an arsehole - have you ever thought of trying to control your temper?

You could certainly do with controlling your posting style. I don't think namecalling is big or clever.

I can control my temper as well as the next man, but if faced with continued incompetence I'm going to get annoyed. If the person on the other end of the line is understanding and genuinely trying to help, but their hands are tied for whatever reason, then that's one thing. If the person in question makes it perfectly clear that they don't give a sh*t about my problem and have no intention of helping, why should I continue with sweetness and light? Just so we're clear on this, I've never insulted anyone, but I've certainly let them know I'm dissatisfied with their service and angry at the way I'm being treated. It's not the same thing.

krd wrote: »

You are also terminally stupid if you think shouting at a call centre agent, thick or otherwise is going to help your case.

I never said anything about shouting, but being forceful often pays dividends. It certainly does more than meekly hanging up and walking away. Sometimes you have to *demand* better service before you get it. It's a shame, but that's the way it is.

Ultimately, people who don't like dealing with customers shouldn't get jobs dealing with customers. Of course, when it comes to call centres we're expected to believe that customers are ALWAYS the ignorant ones, and that the call centres are staffed by fully trained professionals waiting eagerly to solve our problems and help us on our way with a cheery word. I have started many a call to a call centre in a very positive way, only to be treated like dirt. I don't really care what the person has had to deal with before me.

krd wrote: »

What kind of person are you?

The kind who understands the nature of my job.

hondasam

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

Im not silly and Im keepin you in a job. I will phone again tomorrow to ask how to type in joined up writing.:D

ps! us women are not that stupid, she was probably asking for a man.