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Fil5000 posted:Well that's pretty lovely. Honestly, before they implemented this, I was constantly hearing "I'm gonna try to get Saturday off to go douche-bagging" and three days later "I couldn't get Saturday off, I'm just gonna call in sick." Meanwhile I, like a sucker, used sick days when I was sick. Eventually management got sick of it and decided to swat the fly with a sledgehammer, as it were. I mean, poo poo, nobody wants to work weekends, but you tough that poo poo out because it's your god drat job. I agree, it's lovely, but I'm honestly not surprised it came to this.
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Feb 24, 2011 05:27
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When I worked for a large retail chain as a Saturday checkout operator long, long ago, they had a policy stating that if you were off sick for over a certain percentage of your working hours in one month, you went on "probation". This meant you weren't allowed any overtime and were monitored for performance and standards. This would last for six weeks if memory serves. The limit before probation was 20%. So, I'm badly ill one weekend, pretty sure the only day I ever took off sick the whole couple of years I ended up working there in fact. So I'm off work for one day, but oops, I only did four days a month. Boom, 25%, probation. Six weeks with a supervisor jumping on my back every time I didn't smile widely enough at a customer. Not fun. Fake edit: Sorry, not call centre related but the sick days policy talk reminded me of this. If it helps avoid a beating, ever since I started reading this thread I've made sure to be extra nice to call centre folks. I asked the last one how his day was going, and he said he'd been on shift for five hours and I was the first person to ask him that. Robzor McFabulous fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Feb 24, 2011 |
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Feb 24, 2011 18:04
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Robzor McFabulous posted:I asked the last one how his day was going, and he said he'd been on shift for five hours and I was the first person to ask him that. You probably increased his average call handling time and caused him to get his rear end kicked by his supervisor. Regarding call centre sick policy, I guess it pretty much has to be as tight as it is given the high turnover, high sick day environment that can't really afford masses of people being off without taking huge stat hits on unanswered calls. It has nothing to do with being fair and everything to do with keeping the numbers right, which sucks for the employee (and the managers too no doubt). Everything's just a number or percentage.
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Feb 24, 2011 18:39
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ZeroDays posted:You probably increased his average call handling time and caused him to get his rear end kicked by his supervisor. I'm glad I never had management bust my rear end on handle time. I was taught I should learn to fix the issue properly, and with experience I'd learn what works and what doesn't and lower by handle time that way. Works too, you just have to be willing to have agents with less-than-stellar numbers for a few months. I never really minded a bit of small talk with customers. It made me feel like a human being.
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Feb 24, 2011 20:08
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I'm just glad handle time isn't a metric at my job. 55 minute website registration marathons are my little breaks of heaven.
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Feb 25, 2011 00:08
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Got done with day four of training. It's a little unnerving when you find out how new EVERYBODY is to the company. Hell, the Director of Human Resources has only been with us since January. I met one person who's a 13 year vet, everyone else is under 2 years. We use Latitude, which is a pretty user-friendly system. The first batch of "training" was leftover sales demo software from the vendor, with a narrator more passive-aggressive then the GPS bitch. Also took the certification test today and filed for a license with the State. Hopefully I should be on the floor by Monday! ...I need a drink just thinking about it
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Feb 25, 2011 01:40
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I once called Chase about a lost debit card, and I got this woman with an extremely thick Asian accent. I could not understand a goddamned word she was saying. I decided to do the end-of-call survey, but it was just 1-5 button ratings and none of the questions really had anything to do with capabilities of the operator to communicate. Was my call directed to China or do any of you have middle-aged foreign co-workers whose grasp on English sucks? EDIT: Next day my friend found my wallet under the back porch of our house
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Feb 28, 2011 20:02
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Jedi Knight Luigi posted:do any of you have middle-aged foreign co-workers whose grasp on English sucks? Abso-loving-lutely. If you're a tech-inclined new immigrant who speaks okay English and, as is often the case, has a degree that no one will acknowledge, a call centre is a decent place to work. I'm pretty sure some of these guys are completely full of poo poo though. There was this one dude in my original training class who claimed to have certs and degrees out the rear end, but he barely passed the training tests (and only because I helped him), and couldn't troubleshoot worth a loving at a rolling donut. He would basically get customers to power cycle their phones and yell at them until they gave up and called back. Somehow he got away with this for nearly three years. Eventually he was fired for the completely unrelated fact that he was blatantly watching porn at work, as witnessed by half a dozen agents and one manager.
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Mar 1, 2011 04:49
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Cracked 100 calls today. gently caress my life folks.
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Mar 1, 2011 04:54
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man thats gross posted:Abso-loving-lutely. If you're a tech-inclined new immigrant who speaks okay English and, as is often the case, has a degree that no one will acknowledge, a call centre is a decent place to work. I don't know what certs he was claiming to have, but in Asian countries (e.g. India) it's really not hard to get hold of Microsoft certs (MCTS, MCPD, etc) without even turning up. Certainly in India if you can't find a test centre corrupt enough to just sell you one then you can pay people to go take the tests for you.
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Mar 1, 2011 07:35
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rolleyes posted:I don't know what certs he was claiming to have, but in Asian countries (e.g. India) it's really not hard to get hold of Microsoft certs (MCTS, MCPD, etc) without even turning up. Certainly in India if you can't find a test centre corrupt enough to just sell you one then you can pay people to go take the tests for you. He was from Uganda if I'm not mistaken.
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Mar 1, 2011 13:16
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man thats gross posted:He was from Uganda if I'm not mistaken. I doubt anything posted is irrelevant in Uganda.
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Mar 1, 2011 17:06
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:I doubt anything posted is irrelevant in Uganda. I'm not sure what this means but, just so we're clear, he was an immigrant from Uganda. I live in Canada.
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Mar 1, 2011 17:49
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man thats gross posted:I'm not sure what this means but, just so we're clear, he was an immigrant from Uganda. I live in Canada. I wouldn't find it hard to believe that you can buy tech certs from crooked folks just as easily in Uganda as in India.
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Mar 1, 2011 23:45
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I work at citigroup, and I love it, I have a sales quota for the day, but it's not outbound calls, it's inbound, and it's just up-sells. But people and credit cards are the worst sometimes. I have had a person scream at me to take the interest on her bill off because her religion didn't allow interest charges.  And the best one was a really old guy who didn't want the free rewards program for his mastercard because "Jesus didn't have any points, so I don't need any either." And now Tax season is here! People love to call in, pay EVERYTHING off in one huge chunk, and then build their debt right back up again! I love math also, and I understand that interest is accrued daily after the first grace month. What I don't like, is people screaming at me because they had a recurring balance for the last 6 months of 10k, pay their entire bill off on day 25, and wonder why they are getting charged 300+$ in interest. NO AMOUNT of arguing, or math will let these people show that they are wrong. Their brains shutoff, and they all repeat over and over "but I PAID the bill in full! I don't deserve no interest!" gently caress YOU.
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Mar 2, 2011 02:55
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ratbert90 posted:I have had a person scream at me to take the interest on her bill off because her religion didn't allow interest charges.
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Mar 2, 2011 10:29
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Semprini posted:This is perfectly common, strict islamic banking does not allow receiving or paying of interest. This is entirely true, but I think the "what the Christ" was more aimed at the fact that this person took out a credit card and was then saying she shouldn't pay interest, rather than that her religion forbade it.
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Mar 2, 2011 12:22
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Fil5000 posted:This is entirely true, but I think the "what the Christ" was more aimed at the fact that this person took out a credit card and was then saying she shouldn't pay interest, rather than that her religion forbade it. Yeah that's either a whole new level of stupid or she needs to come up with a better scam.
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Mar 2, 2011 13:02
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My favourite "scammer" was the guy who kept calling us to do some work on like 16 different phones on a handful of different accounts. He had a thick Indian accent but half of his accounts were under names like "Henry White" which is where the eyebrows started a-raising. Eventually me and the team had a list of all the serial numbers of all his devices and all the accounts he was up on and start cross-referencing pretty much every call with our list. After about a week of inactivity, he came back (we found out thanks to our list of serial numbers) under a woman's account using a voice modulator to raise the pitch of his voice. It was the funniest god drat thing I'd ever heard.
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Mar 2, 2011 17:07
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Fil5000 posted:This is entirely true, but I think the "what the Christ" was more aimed at the fact that this person took out a credit card and was then saying she shouldn't pay interest, rather than that her religion forbade it. Then she probably should have signed up with an Islamic Credit Card instead of a "western" one.
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Mar 2, 2011 19:01
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oribiasi posted:Then she probably should have signed up with an Islamic Credit Card instead of a "western" one. Oh yes, I agree. Sounds like a fairly standard case of "I don't like it so it shouldn't apply to me"-itis. My favourite calls used to be the ones where someone knew drat well they'd deliberately done something to overdraw their account (this was back in about 2005) - and please bear in mind that I have skipped to the end of a round and round discussion: "These charges are excessive! Don't you think they're excessive?" "I think they're very high, certainly - I do my best to avoid them myself." "Thirty five pounds is excessive!" "Well the £35 was caused by you issuing a cheque to... let's see here, "The Money Shop". Now you've already told me that you knew the money wasn't there, so are you now saying you'd prefer to be prosecuted for theft than be charged £35?" "WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU!" "Well, under the 1968 theft act, "A person shall be guilty of theft if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it". It says that on the letter we sent you when we demanded the return of your cheque guarantee card. I would say that spending money that isn't yours fits that definition." "I... <very long pause>" "I don't really wan't to take the conversation this way, Mr Customer - what I *want* to do is talk about getting your account back in order in a way you can afford..." And then the conversation goes back to a normal "let's fix this poo poo" call. We stopped putting the theft act stuff on the card misuse letters after a while (and I think the act was superseded anyway), so I stopped using it, but it was a good ride while it lasted.
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Mar 2, 2011 19:34
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I'm really getting into rate change battles with customers, especially piddling amounts of rate change. I was arguing with a customer for about 25 minutes about why his rate went up $18 for 6 months. No, not $18 PER month, over 6 MONTHS. You can explain the concept of insurance, risk, how it's not a zero sum game, a personal thing, etc. but if someone doesn't want to understand they never will. They assume that if they personally have no accidents or violations then their rate can't POSSIBLY go up, nevermind every other factor in the world, which is what we use to stay in business. Oh well, they're fun calls.
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Mar 2, 2011 20:02
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Loving Life Partner posted:I'm really getting into rate change battles with customers, especially piddling amounts of rate change. I was arguing with a customer for about 25 minutes about why his rate went up $18 for 6 months. No, not $18 PER month, over 6 MONTHS. Oh man, the recent EU ruling that insurance companies can't use gender as a basis for insurance premiums is really going to gently caress a lot of people up. Good luck anyone in an insurance call centre when that comes in...
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Mar 2, 2011 20:27
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Good time to be a man though. As long as you are not married\share expenses with a woman. Or are planning to retire within the next 20 years.
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Mar 2, 2011 21:20
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I was surprised when I learned we do use gender as a rating factor. I guess there's enough statistical data to override the seemingly obvious bias factors. I wonder if there's a "wish list" of rating factors that insurance companies are salivating at getting passed into use. But yeah, it sucks trying to explain to an elderly couple on a fixed income that their rates went up $48 for 6 months cause they got a year older. Credit score, or "financial responsibility" is a lovely one to explain too. "Hey, we ordered a credit report and it dropped like a rock from A1 to J1, enjoy paying $500 more a year!"
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Mar 2, 2011 21:23
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Loving Life Partner posted:Credit score, or "financial responsibility" is a lovely one to explain too. "Hey, we ordered a credit report and it dropped like a rock from A1 to J1, enjoy paying $500 more a year!" This one in particular is rather lovely. I don't suddenly become a more dangerous driver or my house is more likely to be set on fire simply because my credit score changes.
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Mar 2, 2011 22:37
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Solkanar512 posted:This one in particular is rather lovely. I don't suddenly become a more dangerous driver or my house is more likely to be set on fire simply because my credit score changes. Yeah, that one was always fun to argue with people in a collections centre as well. "My credit score is really bad and I can't get credit because of YOU!" "You're four payments down on your loan and you're £500 over your overdraft. You're SUPPOSED to have a bad credit score if that's how you act!" "RAAAAAAA MANAGER!"
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Mar 2, 2011 23:44
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CALL CENTRE LIFE IS OVER! FREEDOM 28! WOOOOOOOO!!! I am officially the gently caress out of here. Goodbye cruel customers; I'm going corporate!
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Mar 5, 2011 23:24
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man thats gross posted:CALL CENTRE LIFE IS OVER! FREEDOM 28! WOOOOOOOO!!! Hooray! You can check into this thread as soon as possible. 
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Mar 5, 2011 23:46
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less than three posted:Hooray! You can check into this thread as soon as possible. Hey, it's right there in the first paragraph. Great! edit: I just read the thread title. 
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Mar 6, 2011 02:02
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Loving Life Partner posted:I was surprised when I learned we do use gender as a rating factor. I guess there's enough statistical data to override the seemingly obvious bias factors. Also, Good Student Discounts solely exist because they make parents happy. 16 year old "A" student drivers and "F" student drivers are statistically equally crappy. But if you don't offer it, parents get pissy and threaten to move to companies that are willing to still offer it, so, nobody gets rid of it. Explaining the credit scoring thing SUCKS. The only people at my company who call in to complain about it are people who have great credit, who get this thing saying their credit sucks for reasons that make no sense what so ever. Typical Conversation: INSD: WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY CREDIT IS BAD, AND I'M NOT GETTING THE BEST RATE! Me: Your credit is excellent, but it's a few points away from perfect. As pretty much everyone's is. We have Lexis Nexis run the report, they pull up the number, see that it's almost perfect but not quite, then pick whatever reason they think is closest as to why it's not perfect. We're just legally required to let you know what reasons they give us. INSD: THEY SAY MY ACCOUNTS AREN'T OPEN LONG ENOUGH (insert story of how they have two credit cards, both for 30 years). Me: Pretty much all they're saying is that it's slightly lower than it would have been because someone has had two credit cards for 40 years. INSD: THAT'S STUPID. Me: Yeah, but that's how it works. You're still in one of our best markets overall, and there is a number on your document if you want to order a copy of what they pulled. We then discuss how the letter is insulting (which it sort of is, but it used to be a lot worse), then they try to figure out what the BEST RATE is (I don't know, hell, you're probably getting it), then they either storm off to find another carrier or I have them calmed down enough to shut them up (it's 50/50). Good times.
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Mar 6, 2011 04:25
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I like how people magically think that rating factors are going to vary wildly between companies. I can guarantee most companies have similar rates, it's just what incentives they offer to first term customers, and probably how they internally rate against you for accidents. But every insurance company is regulated the same by their state's dept. of insurance, so wild variance is impossible. I love when people tell me they're going to walk across the street to get a better deal because we raised their rates on their next term because of their 2 speeding tickets through school zones. Hey I hope you quoted your new insurance with your violations and that accident we waived for you as well, enjoy the rate hike once they run your motor vehicle report! Eughc.
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Mar 7, 2011 02:39
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blackmet posted:Also, Good Student Discounts solely exist because they make parents happy. 16 year old "A" student drivers and "F" student drivers are statistically equally crappy. But if you don't offer it, parents get pissy and threaten to move to companies that are willing to still offer it, so, nobody gets rid of it. Really? It seemed so commonsensical I never doubted its actuarial basis. Is there somewhere laymen can learn about this stuff?
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Mar 7, 2011 06:59
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:Really? It seemed so commonsensical I never doubted its actuarial basis. Is there somewhere laymen can learn about this stuff? It makes sense to me, after all a teenager still has a short amount of experience driver, regardless of how well they're doing in AP Calculus. If fact, I would argue that the folks receiving lower grades are more likely splitting up their free time working, and driving there and back gives them more experience.
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Mar 7, 2011 20:13
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Solkanar512 posted:It makes sense to me, after all a teenager still has a short amount of experience driver, regardless of how well they're doing in AP Calculus. If fact, I would argue that the folks receiving lower grades are more likely splitting up their free time working, and driving there and back gives them more experience. Yes, but I imagine the thread here is that kids with better grades are more responsible, therefore less likely to take risks, therefore less likely to get into an accident. And I don't know why an insurance company would consider it a plus that you drive all the time rather than infrequently.
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Mar 7, 2011 23:26
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It's never a plus that you drive all the time. Some states have surcharges and discounts based on the amount of driving you do. In california your (estimated, no proof required) annual mileage directly affects your rate. "Responsibility" is a huge factor in rating in general, that's why we use credit score, education, and in some instances, your industry/job as a rating factor. The actuarial gods have decided that responsibility in life = responsibility in the car, which = less risk in accidents, which means less premium owed for insurance.
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Mar 8, 2011 16:50
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As far as I've seen you're approaching the issue a little backwards. It generally works along lines like. People with X trait over the last X amount of time have crashed\claimed 30% less than people with Y trait. So they lower that premium to pinch those kinds of people from other insurers. Other insurers catch wind of it and do the same. Someone not actuarial notices and comes up with reasons, ie. it must be because X means people are more Z and thus better drivers. The actual pricing makes no comment on why X or Y means someone is less likely to crash\claim, just that it does (assuming they didn't gently caress up and they are using a decent sample).
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Mar 8, 2011 19:38
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Cast_No_Shadow posted:As far as I've seen you're approaching the issue a little backwards. No, I understand that, I'm just saying the reasoning seems so obvious in the case of grade discounts that I would be surprised if the numbers didn't line up.
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Mar 9, 2011 01:21
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Oh so excited, I went into an interview today with Manpower who (apparently) deal with all the hiring of IBM call centre staff. I did exceptionally well by their standard and was called up 20 minutes after I finished up and left. I've got another interview tomorrow with IBM proper as soon as they could find time to interview me. Pays really well, $22 an hour + 9% super. $27.50 on Saturdays which I intend to use to the fullest. Really looking forward to this.
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Mar 9, 2011 11:53
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I have a client that sends sales calls to a call center via TV, radio, print ads and web. The call center seems to do a much better job closing the deal (getting paid orders for products) from calls from the web - 70% conversion rate. TV generated calls are about 40%. Is that common? If so, why do you all think web generated calls convert better?
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Mar 9, 2011 21:35
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