Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
KeanuReevesGhost
Apr 24, 2008

So a guy calls to go over some activity on his account and all that jazz, and I am looking at the last reps note on his account. And then I got to say something to a customer I never thought I would get to say.

“Sir, in reviewing the notes, I would just say you might want to contact your mother. She contacted us earlier with concerns about you being abducted in Tijuana.”

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

alreadybeen
Nov 24, 2009

JackRabbitStorm posted:

So a guy calls to go over some activity on his account and all that jazz, and I am looking at the last reps note on his account. And then I got to say something to a customer I never thought I would get to say.

“Sir, in reviewing the notes, I would just say you might want to contact your mother. She contacted us earlier with concerns about you being abducted in Tijuana.”

Sounds like Grandparent Scam.

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
After a month without payment, a policy canceled for non-payment yesterday. The owner of the policy called today to say they had an accident today and wondered what was going to happen.

"There's not going to be any coverage, the policy canceled for nonpayment, for a payment that was due on May 27th..."

"I thought that was paid! My bank said blah blah and I assumed blah blah"

(thinking: what happens when you assume? :v: )

"I'm sorry about the situation, but we notified you several times of the returned payment, on 06/04, we sent a cancel notice on 06/11, and a final cancel notice to your email on 06/27..."

"I didn't get any of those blah blah, how can I get this policy going again?"

"You can't... to reinstate this policy, I have to take what is called a statement of no loss, indicating you've had no accidents, and you can't complete that"

"So if I called and wanted to resume this policy with no accidents you would let me?"

"Yes..."

"But if I have an accident and want to go back, you won't let me?"

"... Yes"


"That's hosed up! That's so unfair! You just don't want to pay for this!"


"...... Just as we wouldn't sell you a policy today and cover an accident that happened earlier, we wouldn't reinstate this policy and buy a claim when it was cancelled for nonpayment"

"Oh so you only give the policy back when there aren't any accidents, that's hosed up!"

"No.. there are several reasons to reinstate, continuous coverage is required for state reporting, lienholders, SR-22's-"

"Let me talk to your manager!"

"Okay..."

*rings up manager while documenting gigantic *******DO NOT REINSTATE POLICY******* note*

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!
So, an interesting recap. I had a smug-as-hell Houston woman, who kept "dropping hints" that she worked across the street from the Bushes, and threatened to speak with them if I didn't refund in full for an order her mother placed 4 years ago. Sorry, ma'am, 90-days. The person who enters POAs into the system got a laugh when she saw my note of "threatened to speak to former President George Bush (43)". Her smugness and threats didn't bother me, but she had the attitude that because her mother was diagnosed with dimentia three months ago, that means everything mother ever did is up for question, and the sooner she can throw mom under the bus [hell, she'd be the one driving the bus], the better. She literally spoke of her mother as one would speak of that month old meat loaf you keep meaning to toss out.

I also got two calls from legal reps for a customer's estate. Both times the CSR who transfered the call opened with "I've got a lawyer on the line...". "Are they really a lawyer?" "Well, they said they're with a law firm." Lawyers they weren't (the customers named a paralegal as their EoE), but even so, they're suppose to go to the supervisors first.

Also, I love blind transfers. Especially when the rep transfers to the wrong department and I'm in the middle of other work.

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES
A great tip to improve our customer satisfaction scores! If a customer mentions a foreign country, or a well-known place, remember to close the call with "I'll be thinking of you next time I'm there, sir!"

Wootcannon fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Jun 29, 2011

Peach
Mar 13, 2005

not only am I right, I'm a better penpal than you are.
That's not serious is it? That's really creepy :ohdear:

On my calls it's not uncommon for older people to say they don't trust the Internet for banking, but the other day one older gentleman told me he simply didn't believe in the Internet. I didn't quite know how to respond to that.

Lord Windy
Mar 26, 2010
I need a little advice guys, and this does relate entirely to call centres.

I've been hosed over a little by my own naivety when it comes to financial matters. I was offered a mock up of a credit application at a store I was looking at furniture in. I was 'approved' (as I thought) for 6 thousand dollars of credit with GE.

Anyway, that little escapade has caused me some issues which I'll briefly outline.

1. I wasn't told this was real and did count towards my credit history which..

2. Caused every other financial institution to decline my application. Being new on the work scene with out any credit history has made this little issue to spiral into something bigger.

3. The store who did this application doesn't want to release me, hoping to get me to spend money there. First tried to get me to spend 6 grand in store before threatening to bring the police in to remove when I was reluctant to do so.

GE has been hopeless. They are a phone service, every time I have talked to them they tell me my only option is to go back to the store, even after telling them the owner has made it clear they want to throw me out and call the police every time I go in. They've been reluctant to explain the process to me and won't email out the things I need to sign. They site Federal Laws in Australia prohibit it amongst other things.

But once I get to the store, they assure me everything is fine and I can make purchases immediately or they'll send the card out now.

So they've sent the card out to the wrong address so far, lied about when I can make purchases and that I've never told them I've had difficulties with the store before. I've gone back to that bloody store 4 times and every time I've been promised that I didn't need to go back.

So here is the part I really need help with.

I'm calling them up tomorrow to make sure it was done correctly, even if it has I still want to complain about the service and see what I can get out of the credit company place in terms of compensation or at least an apology and a promise I don't have to deal with that store again.

I feel kinda like an rear end and juvenile wanting those things. But after spending weeks on this issue (which I do admit, was partially my fault for not bringing anyone who knew what they were doing with me on this issue until today), I kinda feel justified in a childish way.

So can anyone offer any advice on how to go about this in a call centre way of doing things so I actually achieve something? Or should I leave it? My parents have told me that if it isn't sorted by tomorrow that I need to tell them so they can organize some legal advice for me through my mother's union, so I don't plan on bitching if that's the case.

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!

Lord Windy posted:

I need a little advice guys, and this does relate entirely to call centres.

I've been hosed over a little by my own naivety when it comes to financial matters. I was offered a mock up of a credit application at a store I was looking at furniture in. I was 'approved' (as I thought) for 6 thousand dollars of credit with GE.

Anyway, that little escapade has caused me some issues which I'll briefly outline.

1. I wasn't told this was real and did count towards my credit history which..

2. Caused every other financial institution to decline my application. Being new on the work scene with out any credit history has made this little issue to spiral into something bigger.

3. The store who did this application doesn't want to release me, hoping to get me to spend money there. First tried to get me to spend 6 grand in store before threatening to bring the police in to remove when I was reluctant to do so.

GE has been hopeless. They are a phone service, every time I have talked to them they tell me my only option is to go back to the store, even after telling them the owner has made it clear they want to throw me out and call the police every time I go in. They've been reluctant to explain the process to me and won't email out the things I need to sign. They site Federal Laws in Australia prohibit it amongst other things.

But once I get to the store, they assure me everything is fine and I can make purchases immediately or they'll send the card out now.

So they've sent the card out to the wrong address so far, lied about when I can make purchases and that I've never told them I've had difficulties with the store before. I've gone back to that bloody store 4 times and every time I've been promised that I didn't need to go back.

So here is the part I really need help with.

I'm calling them up tomorrow to make sure it was done correctly, even if it has I still want to complain about the service and see what I can get out of the credit company place in terms of compensation or at least an apology and a promise I don't have to deal with that store again.

I feel kinda like an rear end and juvenile wanting those things. But after spending weeks on this issue (which I do admit, was partially my fault for not bringing anyone who knew what they were doing with me on this issue until today), I kinda feel justified in a childish way.

So can anyone offer any advice on how to go about this in a call centre way of doing things so I actually achieve something? Or should I leave it? My parents have told me that if it isn't sorted by tomorrow that I need to tell them so they can organize some legal advice for me through my mother's union, so I don't plan on bitching if that's the case.

If you call the center, explain the situation and see if the agent you get sounds competent enough to get the job done. If they sound like they have the IQ of a peanut, or not sure they really are helping/or lying, mention that if it doesn't get sorted you'll be seeking legal action. Be sure you mention this is an ongoing problem and be calm, people will be more sympathetic, I think. At that point they'll either get serious or transfer you to a supervisor. If you've been calm and they start acting all huffy and puffy, ask for a Sup. Sups should work it out.

Of course, that's saying everything goes right. I'm not sure how GE handles that (they've got a call center here in Canton, OH, but I was turned down for being too honest, I think); and too be honest, that's pretty lovely practice by the store.

Not sure how the credit scoring system works in the Aus, but I know here in the States there are ways of getting things fixed when stuff like this happens.

Fnord
Apr 20, 2001
WHAT

YF19pilot posted:

If you call the center, explain the situation and see if the agent you get sounds competent enough to get the job done. If they sound like they have the IQ of a peanut, or not sure they really are helping/or lying, mention that if it doesn't get sorted you'll be seeking legal action. Be sure you mention this is an ongoing problem and be calm, people will be more sympathetic, I think. At that point they'll either get serious or transfer you to a supervisor. If you've been calm and they start acting all huffy and puffy, ask for a Sup. Sups should work it out.

Of course, that's saying everything goes right. I'm not sure how GE handles that (they've got a call center here in Canton, OH, but I was turned down for being too honest, I think); and too be honest, that's pretty lovely practice by the store.

Not sure how the credit scoring system works in the Aus, but I know here in the States there are ways of getting things fixed when stuff like this happens.

I agree with everything except telling them you will be seeking legal action. At our call center that is the reps golden ticket to dump you onto the legal department if they are sick of dealing with you.

Lord Windy
Mar 26, 2010
I'm only seeking legal advice if it isn't sorted after today, and if that is the case I'm just hanging up rather than arguing with legal.

But that said, there are two numbers I can ring. One is a direct line to people who deal with cards which I got after the second time I was told to go back to the store. The other number is for a complaints. Which one should I ring?

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!

Fnord posted:

I agree with everything except telling them you will be seeking legal action. At our call center that is the reps golden ticket to dump you onto the legal department if they are sick of dealing with you.

Depends on the call center, I suppose. Legal threats go to supervisors right away at my work. Then again our legal department consists of a single paralegal. I wouldn't mention seeking legal action right away, either, only if it really does seem like you're not getting anywhere.


Edit: VVVV Basically how it is here, also with AG threats, Press/Media, etc. Supervisors, then there's a team of 3 or 5 seniors above them. If they can't sort it out (which is rare), then it goes to legal.

CovfefeCatCafe fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Jul 1, 2011

KeanuReevesGhost
Apr 24, 2008

YF19pilot posted:

Depends on the call center, I suppose. Legal threats go to supervisors right away at my work. Then again our legal department consists of a single paralegal. I wouldn't mention seeking legal action right away, either, only if it really does seem like you're not getting anywhere.

Legal threats go to supervisors, along with BBB and OCC threats,and from there goes to a specialty group of 6 or 7 people who have been with us for 20 years each that sole purpose is retention and diffusing situations that could leave us with egg on our face/bad PR. If there is still an issue, then it gets handed off to our law firm, and they go and play ball.

But I suppose we have to take stuff seriously to keep our reputation. Our companies footprint is only in 3 states, and we ranked in last year at 22.5 Billion in assets.

KeanuReevesGhost fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Jul 1, 2011

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer
Im posting from my call center right now because i have not talked to people at all yet today. I have no idea why telemarketing offices think calling people early on a saturday morning is a good idea.

froglet
Nov 12, 2009

You see, the best way to Stop the Boats is a massive swarm of autonomous armed dogs. Strafing a few boats will stop the rest and save many lives in the long term.

You can't make an Omelet without breaking a few eggs. Vote Greens.

wilderthanmild posted:

Im posting from my call center right now because i have not talked to people at all yet today. I have no idea why telemarketing offices think calling people early on a saturday morning is a good idea.

Ugh, this. At my workplace we're not open 24/7 so if a customer calls at 2am or whatever, it gets sent to a messaging service who take down their name and number and ask the customer what the problem is.

Since we got feedback that customers don't like being called back at 7am on a Sunday morning unless they specify otherwise, we tend to do callbacks around mid morning. One day I call back a customer and the guy just shouts at me about how I was supposed to call back at 7am (I'd started my shift at 8:30) and then refused to go through troubleshooting with me when I explained most customers don't appreciate a callback at 7am on a weekend. :confused:

The thing is... if he wanted a callback at 7am and was expecting it then, why didn't he just call or email us when he realised we hadn't called him? Why didn't he tell the person writing down the message he wants a callback at 7am when she asked if there was a specific time he required a callback? Why is it he got pissed off when I explained the majority of customers don't like to be called by customer service monkeys at 7am on a weekend?
Answers to these questions are something we may never know. :psyduck:

Null Set
Nov 5, 2007

the dog represents disdain

wilderthanmild posted:

Im posting from my call center right now because i have not talked to people at all yet today. I have no idea why telemarketing offices think calling people early on a saturday morning is a good idea.

Because most people running call centers don't have a clue how to do it well, but it's relatively easy to make money doing it.

One of my favorite customers actually figured out the best times of day to call for each day of the week, so they only run at those hours. Not sure why I don't see more centers doing that.

Then there are the people that call me flipping out because they aren't getting calls clearly something must be wrong with the number you provided WHY ISN'T THIS FIXED YET. (nobody wants to talk to them)

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Null Set posted:

Because most people running call centers don't have a clue how to do it well, but it's relatively easy to make money doing it.

One of my favorite customers actually figured out the best times of day to call for each day of the week, so they only run at those hours. Not sure why I don't see more centers doing that.

Then there are the people that call me flipping out because they aren't getting calls clearly something must be wrong with the number you provided WHY ISN'T THIS FIXED YET. (nobody wants to talk to them)

I know there's some "best time to call" software for Aspect diallers at least - no idea how well it works though.

Also, we get hold of a SHITLOAD of people in debt if we call on a saturday morning. Tails off after 1pm but it's an awesome opportunity to speak to someone who really really doesn't want to talk to you!

CovfefeCatCafe
Apr 11, 2006

A fresh attitude
brewed daily!

froglet posted:

Ugh, this. At my workplace we're not open 24/7 so if a customer calls at 2am or whatever, it gets sent to a messaging service who take down their name and number and ask the customer what the problem is.

Since we got feedback that customers don't like being called back at 7am on a Sunday morning unless they specify otherwise, we tend to do callbacks around mid morning. One day I call back a customer and the guy just shouts at me about how I was supposed to call back at 7am (I'd started my shift at 8:30) and then refused to go through troubleshooting with me when I explained most customers don't appreciate a callback at 7am on a weekend. :confused:

The thing is... if he wanted a callback at 7am and was expecting it then, why didn't he just call or email us when he realised we hadn't called him? Why didn't he tell the person writing down the message he wants a callback at 7am when she asked if there was a specific time he required a callback? Why is it he got pissed off when I explained the majority of customers don't like to be called by customer service monkeys at 7am on a weekend?
Answers to these questions are something we may never know. :psyduck:

I've worked on emails that were send at 11:45 PM on a Sunday night complaining the call center was closed, then stating we had until 8:00 AM Monday to fix his problem, even though he acknowledged the call center isn't open until 9:00 AM. Then calling in at 9:00 AM on the dot and wondering why nobody's responded to his email yet.

I've had people who sups tell them "I'll call you by 6 PM" and call in at 4:30 wondering why the supervisor hasn't called back.

The problem is, everyone wants you to work on their schedule, no matter how unreasonable it is, and even moreso when they acknowledge its unreasonable. Of course, I've also had people hang up on me even though they've requested a call back.

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer

Fil5000 posted:

I know there's some "best time to call" software for Aspect diallers at least - no idea how well it works though.

Also, we get hold of a SHITLOAD of people in debt if we call on a saturday morning. Tails off after 1pm but it's an awesome opportunity to speak to someone who really really doesn't want to talk to you!

The last call center I worked at had a best calling time field but it seemed like the dialer didn't actually use it since we just kept calling people by timezone and then alphabetically.

Saturdays and Sundays in general are awesome days to work in call centers if you want to get bitched at all day or not have anybody pick up. It's amazing to me how many people seem to think it's illegal to call on the weekends.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

wilderthanmild posted:

The last call center I worked at had a best calling time field but it seemed like the dialer didn't actually use it since we just kept calling people by timezone and then alphabetically.

Saturdays and Sundays in general are awesome days to work in call centers if you want to get bitched at all day or not have anybody pick up. It's amazing to me how many people seem to think it's illegal to call on the weekends.

In ours it seems half the STAFF think it's illegal to start dialling before 10am on a sunday. I have literally no idea where this came from, but it's become such a strong belief that no-one seems to want to challenge it. I wouldn't even mind if it was higher ups saying "Let's cool it a little on a sunday morning" but there's no policy statement or best practice or anything to reflect this.

Also, I think they all have a field for best time to call but it depends on whether or not your company has bought that functionality, as well as on your dialling strategy. Thankfully in the UK we don't have to worry much about timezones, for which I am eternally grateful.

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer

Fil5000 posted:

In ours it seems half the STAFF think it's illegal to start dialling before 10am on a sunday. I have literally no idea where this came from, but it's become such a strong belief that no-one seems to want to challenge it. I wouldn't even mind if it was higher ups saying "Let's cool it a little on a sunday morning" but there's no policy statement or best practice or anything to reflect this.

Also, I think they all have a field for best time to call but it depends on whether or not your company has bought that functionality, as well as on your dialling strategy. Thankfully in the UK we don't have to worry much about timezones, for which I am eternally grateful.

I feel like that's one of those things that just snowballs out of a random comment made by an angry customer being spread around by ignorant staff. On a side note, I've never worked in a call center that did calls before 10am on a Sunday so maybe that rumor is pretty widespread. :tinfoil:

The companies I've worked for so far have all been pretty large and had their in house departments developing the software we used, so I dunno how that center just decided to ignore the best time to call back feature unless it was just unimplemented and the buttons/forms were just overlooked left overs. That specific company's software was pretty terrible though so that would make sense.

On a lighter note, I got to leave early today because our contact percentage was well below 1% so they just gave up for the day.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

wilderthanmild posted:

I feel like that's one of those things that just snowballs out of a random comment made by an angry customer being spread around by ignorant staff. On a side note, I've never worked in a call center that did calls before 10am on a Sunday so maybe that rumor is pretty widespread. :tinfoil:

The companies I've worked for so far have all been pretty large and had their in house departments developing the software we used, so I dunno how that center just decided to ignore the best time to call back feature unless it was just unimplemented and the buttons/forms were just overlooked left overs. That specific company's software was pretty terrible though so that would make sense.

On a lighter note, I got to leave early today because our contact percentage was well below 1% so they just gave up for the day.

The thing is, I wouldn't mind if anyone could have told me what law we'd be breaking. I had this approach with customers insisting that we couldn't use their benefit money to offset an overdraft (e.g. You're 1000 overdrawn against a 500 limit, you have 100 of benefits come in so you're still 400 over your agreed limit) who could never tell me WHY we couldn't do that.

"It's illegal!"
"Well what law are we breaking exactly?"
"You can't take my benefits!"
"Well you've taken a thousand pounds from the bank, why don't you think you should have to pay it back?"

And so on. I had one customer who one managed to quote me a particular act of parliament that she claimed supported this - so I found it online, printed it off and called her back to find out which particular clause was relevant. Sadly it didn't cover anything to do with it at all and she sounded thoroughly confused at being called on it. Clearly she'd quoted it before and people had caved.

In case this sounds assholish, please note that 99% of these people got their money by actually making an agreement to pay back the rest of what they owed in installments - it's just the ones that wanted to take the money and ignore the debt that left the phone disappointed.

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES
^Yeah apparently some councils are telling their clients this, I get it quite a lot, but I'd never get away with calling someone out on it that blatantly.

In other news, gently caress this bullshit policy of we'll pay you from 9-5 (or w/e) but you need to be logged on and taking calls at 9 (on our archaic machines that take 6-15 minutes to boot) otherwise you're late. Apparently this is legal in Britain unlike America.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Wootcannon posted:

^Yeah apparently some councils are telling their clients this, I get it quite a lot, but I'd never get away with calling someone out on it that blatantly.

In other news, gently caress this bullshit policy of we'll pay you from 9-5 (or w/e) but you need to be logged on and taking calls at 9 (on our archaic machines that take 6-15 minutes to boot) otherwise you're late. Apparently this is legal in Britain unlike America.

I was always quite polite about it (at least in tone) and it really did confuse people. I'd still be happy to be proved wrong but as far as I can tell it's not illegal - only if we hold your money when you're within an agreed facility or in credit. And even then there's reasons we can still do it.

In terms of timing, I dunno, we've always expected people to be logged in and ready to go at their start time (because they'll sure as gently caress be out the door on the dot) rather than just sitting down at their desks. On more than a few occasions I was fielding my first call while my PC actually got logged in, but as long as I was answering calls it was all good.

Speaking from a forecasting/scheduling standpoint, the whole reason you get rostered to start at 9 is because there's a certain expected demand at that time - if everyone's just sitting down and getting booted up then then you're going to have abandons out the rear end.

Null Set
Nov 5, 2007

the dog represents disdain

Fil5000 posted:

In terms of timing, I dunno, we've always expected people to be logged in and ready to go at their start time (because they'll sure as gently caress be out the door on the dot) rather than just sitting down at their desks. On more than a few occasions I was fielding my first call while my PC actually got logged in, but as long as I was answering calls it was all good.

Some systems (including the one I work on) run both the phone and scripting through the PC, so if your PC isn't on, you're not getting calls.

Requiring the "you're on time if you're logged in at that time" does make sense if the center is running a large number of at-home agents- I know some states don't allow this (California), but I don't think it's a federal law (I could be wrong about this).

Supeerme
Sep 13, 2010

Wootcannon posted:

^Yeah apparently some councils are telling their clients this, I get it quite a lot, but I'd never get away with calling someone out on it that blatantly.

In other news, gently caress this bullshit policy of we'll pay you from 9-5 (or w/e) but you need to be logged on and taking calls at 9 (on our archaic machines that take 6-15 minutes to boot) otherwise you're late. Apparently this is legal in Britain unlike America.

Looks like your centre might need to upgrade the computers. Have you raised that issue to your boss?

ZeroDays
Feb 11, 2007

the fuck you know about what i need on my mind mother fucker
Every call-centre I've ever worked in has required you to log into multiple systems in the morning which consumes at the very least 10 mins, but you had to be logged in your phone exactly on your start time whether you could take calls or not. If this meant eating up your aux while booting up (which it often did - especially if you lost the hot-seat lottery and got a really slow machine) then tough poo poo. I can understand why call-centres are militaristic about start times, but it doesn't stop it sucking.

Wootcannon
Jan 23, 2010

HAIL SATAN, PRINCE OF LIES
^Wouldn't mind *as* much if it ate up my aux time, but can't do that at my place, it's tied to the PC. Being slightly less early than usual = disciplinary/dismissal is an utter pisstake.

Oh yeah, by all means, start at 9 on the dot, however I should be paid for that time, along with "Welp someone called you at 1659 and has some absurd bee in their bonnet? If they don't swear at you you're stuck there till 1740, lol extra pay what is that?" gently caress being "salaried".

Wootcannon fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Jul 4, 2011

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
Man that blows. Progressive uses an "8 minute rule" basically rounding to the quarter hour. I usually fire my systems up and login like 5-6 minutes past my start time. I arrive pretty early, but, hey, until someone says it's a problem, I'll keep using it.

Also for ranting customer douchebag calls, at 8 minutes past your end time, you get .25 OT, at 23 minutes past, .50, etc and so on.

It's a really friendly system.

Kitsch!
Jul 27, 2006

God made Adam and Eve, not Fluffy and Eve.

wilderthanmild posted:

On a lighter note, I got to leave early today because our contact percentage was well below 1% so they just gave up for the day.

Same here. It's kind of sad that my commute was longer than my actual work time.

Benzoyl Peroxide
Jun 6, 2007

[C6H5C(O)]2O2
We use CATI, which is sooooo lovely and unflexible but it starts up straight off the bat which means you can come in at 08:57 and be logged in still before 09:00.

modeski
Apr 21, 2005

Deceive, inveigle, obfuscate.
Teletech used to mandate we be at our desks and logging in for a 9am start. We weren't paid for it, though, so towards the end of my time there I would show up at 8:55, turn my machine on at 9 on the dot, let the calls come in and bullshit with people until I was logged in and good to go. I told my boss "I'm paid from 9, I work from 9. If you want me to start at 8:45 you need to pay me from 8:45". By that time I was so loving jaded I honestly didn't give a gently caress if they fired me.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

modeski posted:

Teletech used to mandate we be at our desks and logging in for a 9am start. We weren't paid for it, though, so towards the end of my time there I would show up at 8:55, turn my machine on at 9 on the dot, let the calls come in and bullshit with people until I was logged in and good to go. I told my boss "I'm paid from 9, I work from 9. If you want me to start at 8:45 you need to pay me from 8:45". By that time I was so loving jaded I honestly didn't give a gently caress if they fired me.

I kinda get this with companies that stiff you any way they can, but I work for one that pays a decent entry level salary (about £18k for a phone jockey), adds another 15% on top of that to go into a pension or to piss up the wall every friday if you want, has a decent amount of holiday days, you spend about 15% of your time off the phone for various things, your breaks aren't scheduled so you can basically take up to 20 minutes a day when you feel like it, work weeks are 35 hours, etc etc. Seems churlish of people to get pissy about being logged in on time. I think it used to bother me a lot more because I live 25 miles from the place and was always on time, and it was always people round the corner that were late daily.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010

Wootcannon posted:

^Yeah apparently some councils are telling their clients this, I get it quite a lot, but I'd never get away with calling someone out on it that blatantly.

In other news, gently caress this bullshit policy of we'll pay you from 9-5 (or w/e) but you need to be logged on and taking calls at 9 (on our archaic machines that take 6-15 minutes to boot) otherwise you're late. Apparently this is legal in Britain unlike America.

It doesn't really matter whether it's legal; everyone does it.

dustbin
Jun 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer
My center allows for 10 minutes of pre-phone time to get started. I believe that is because people were coming in early then demanding to be paid for that start-up time, and won. So, 10 free minutes of every shift to boot up my brand new computer. Not all call centers are created equal.

bulbous nub
Jul 29, 2007

It's ok; I'm taking it back.
Lipstick Apathy
Agents in my center come in, and log into the hardphone. As soon as they tag the phone, they start getting paid. You can log in up to 5 minutes early or 5 minutes late and log out is up to 5 minutes early.

We also have a program on the PCs that ensure that everyone is paid for every second they are there. If for some reason an agent were to log into a PC before the phone, our system will recognize that and the agent will accrue Auto-Exception time and they'll be paid for it. It also has it's downside in that if an agent decides to be lazy and want to take up to half an hour off in the middle of their shift, they can just log out of the phone, lock their station and wander off and still be paid for it.

I'm a trainer now (moved out of Supervisor, thank god...) so I have a time clock on our employee profile/management system that I have to use now so I no longer have to deal with the pain that is our phone system.

Also, while I'm here, does anyone else have a totally incompetent HR department? I was in a car accident on the 17th and ended up with a broken leg. It took me about 4 working days to even get in touch with my HR coordinator on the phone to find out how to get the ball rolling to start a medical leave of absence. Once I talked to her and found out the necessary information, it took another week for her to acknowledge that she received the information and has put me on an LoA. Two weeks to put me on an absence? Thankfully my boss knew what was going on because I happened to have his cell number and called him. If I wouldn't have had that number, I would have been fired because of my HR department's incompetence.

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer

dustbin posted:

My center allows for 10 minutes of pre-phone time to get started. I believe that is because people were coming in early then demanding to be paid for that start-up time, and won. So, 10 free minutes of every shift to boot up my brand new computer. Not all call centers are created equal.

Yea my center does 15 to 30 min of preparation and warm up before we make calls every shift. Previously mentioned weekend calling being boring and overly non-productive aside it's a pretty laid back and easy call center to work in. Especially compared to my last center which was pretty much running itself into the ground with overly aggressive calling tactics and stressing out the majority of reps to the point of quitting. I think the only people I saw fired there, rather than quitting, were fired for freaking out at work or coming in extremely drunk/drugged up. It kinda sucks because I don't feel like anybody in that specific center was causing it to be so bad, but rather company wide policies making things progressively rougher and rougher.

wilderthanmild fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Jul 5, 2011

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010
I haven't been doing this job very long but it's easy to feel like you've been doing it forever. I'm always polite with everyone but it's hard for me to get over the contempt I feel for so many of the people I talk to.

Devyl
Mar 27, 2005

It slices!

It dices!

It makes Julienne fries!
This isn't so much a rant as it is a nice comment for once.

I now work in a call center and I'm working for a company that drives VWs and dresses like nerds. Obviously I had to sign the whole internet nondisclosure BS as well, so I can't mention names, but I actually LOVE this job. I get to enjoy all the caffeine I can handle, I don't really have to worry about call times, and the best thing is if someone wants to speak to my manager, they'll actually get one. They say those magic words "let me talk to your supervisor" and the call automatically gets transferred to one. Plus the pay isn't too shabby either. However the best thing is my schedule. I get weekends off, no matter what.

KeanuReevesGhost
Apr 24, 2008

Fil5000 posted:


In terms of timing, I dunno, we've always expected people to be logged in and ready to go at their start time (because they'll sure as gently caress be out the door on the dot) rather than just sitting down at their desks. On more than a few occasions I was fielding my first call while my PC actually got logged in, but as long as I was answering calls it was all good.

Speaking from a forecasting/scheduling standpoint, the whole reason you get rostered to start at 9 is because there's a certain expected demand at that time - if everyone's just sitting down and getting booted up then then you're going to have abandons out the rear end.

I wouldn't mind if I got paid for the 10 minutes it takes for me to boot the machine and load all my programs to get ready for my shift.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

ZeroDays
Feb 11, 2007

the fuck you know about what i need on my mind mother fucker

Devyl posted:

This isn't so much a rant as it is a nice comment for once.

I now work in a call center and I'm working for a company that drives VWs and dresses like nerds. Obviously I had to sign the whole internet nondisclosure BS as well, so I can't mention names, but I actually LOVE this job. I get to enjoy all the caffeine I can handle, I don't really have to worry about call times, and the best thing is if someone wants to speak to my manager, they'll actually get one. They say those magic words "let me talk to your supervisor" and the call automatically gets transferred to one. Plus the pay isn't too shabby either. However the best thing is my schedule. I get weekends off, no matter what.

Wait, if I'm reading this correctly, there's voice recognition software that transfers people to a supervisor when triggered? If that's the case, I can think of no good reason and many bad reasons to automate such a simple task. Just ignore me if I'm incorrectly taking what you say literally.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply