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Devyl
Mar 27, 2005

It slices!

It dices!

It makes Julienne fries!
After re-reading that, I could see what you meant. No, I mean I no longer have to deal with pissy customers and trying to "de-escalate" supervisor calls. Not that they bother me, but in the end it's a little less bitching I have to deal with :)

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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS
Dec 21, 2010

JackRabbitStorm posted:

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.

My call center lost a lawsuit over this poo poo, so they changed their written policy but did nothing to change their actual policy.

KeanuReevesGhost
Apr 24, 2008

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:

My call center lost a lawsuit over this poo poo, so they changed their written policy but did nothing to change their actual policy.

My plan is to sue if I ever get shitcanned, but for the time being I do not want to stir the pot. Regardless of the 10 minutes a day of pay I lose, its still one of the top paying jobs in our area, and our job market is poo poo.

dustbin
Jun 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer
I quit my job this week. It was unexpected, so knowing that my final call was actually my final call was stolen from me. One of many regrets.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

dustbin posted:

I quit my job this week. It was unexpected, so knowing that my final call was actually my final call was stolen from me. One of many regrets.

I think we'd all like to hear more about how this happened so suddenly...

legsarerequired
Dec 31, 2007
College Slice
I don't know how much longer I can do this...

I feel sick to my stomach when I think about going to work. My current company pays really well for an entry level call center job--I get paid over $35,000 per year with benefits and I have more than two weeks of PTO.

I've been trying to get out, but I had over 20 interviews earlier this year and I never got a call back or anything. Then I was dumb and cut my hair really short (I'm a woman), and I think it looks kind of goofy and awful, so my interviews are probably going to be even worse now. I'm taking the GRE this Thursday, but I know I'm not ready, and unfortunately it's my last chance to take it before they release a new version with more difficult math questions next month.

I just feel like I'm stuck here forever. I don't feel like I need anything particularly high paying, or anything in a specific field. I just want a job around people that aren't nuts. I'd like co-workers that:

- don't think they're psychonauts for watching Inception drunk and alone
- who aren't obviously one hair away from quitting, all the time, and who can find things to talk about besides how much they hate this place
- who don't assume I'm a shut-in just because my sparse facebook profile* isn't full of drunk pictures of me. Holy poo poo, none of these people loving understand professionalism.
- would not make comments on my loving weight gain. Maybe I'm taking this too personally, but it just pisses me off because I've gained about 15 pounds while working here, despite starting a work-out regimen of five days a week and cutting back on fast food and cutting down my portions and cutting sodas from my diet. All of my co-workers eat two meals of fried food a day every work day, and the only snacks or treats we ever get at work are fatty stuff like chips or ice cream--DESPITE VIRTUALLY EVERYONE BITCHING ABOUT THE GENERAL CALL CENTER WEIGHT GAIN--so it kind of pisses me off when my manager will pass out awful food, then invite herself into a conversation about my diet.
- more on managers: I've gotten like three toys or trinkets with the company name on them since I began work here. gently caress that. I want a bonus, or maybe an hour of PTO so I can leave early some day.

It blows my mind that despite how depressed I am, I've already received a raise and they're having me participate in off-phone projects. My boss did talk about promoting me (I haven't brought it up, because I didn't think it was an option), but she hasn't brought it to the table since, and apparently every drat customer service rep in the company thinks they're on track to some adjuster position or something, so I just think it's pointless to get hopeful about it. I don't know, we're having coaching time this week, so maybe I'll bring it up then.

I just feel really incredibly hopeless. I'm sick of being told I'm not passionate about customer service when a secretary for someone who makes four times as much as me calls in just wanting to see if a check has been mailed, and I don't spend like two minutes asking for her name and making smalltalk about her day. I'm sick of my boss telling me I need to take more initiative when I spend about three minutes of personal time for a bathroom break--especially since I had to complete a stupid twenty minute ergonomics training that said I needed two minutes away from the computer every hour anyway, but apparently that will kill my rta scores. I'm sick of having to cater to douchebags that don't think I'm a person. I'm just sick of pretending to care, and it's made worse by the fact that I don't know when I'm going to get out, and if I do get out, my only other option might be another call center.

I'm really thinking of asking to work only 35 hours a week, but I know that's an awful idea. I just hear about other call centers where people will work four eight-hour days, and then a fifth four-hour day, and I think I'd be much less burned out if I could just do that.

* See, on my first week of training, one of my assistant trainers was this goddamn nut who treats the office like her social life, and she became obsessed with finding and adding everyone on Facebook. Lets call her Betty. There is something *wrong* with Betty.

I actually wouldn't mind working at an office where we had barbeques or whatever that people go to, and I've had drinks with co-workers and so on, but this lady actually gets angry if you don't want your whole life to revolve around her.

I got lunch during a workday with someone who Betty designated as her best friend or something, while Betty had taken a week of vacation to hang out with her Internet boyfriend who flew in from out of the country. This friend mentioned later to Betty that the two of us had had lunch together, and Betty threw a screaming, raging fit about dare we exclude her, and we didn't know that she was too busy, and it was so rude of us not to call and invite her, etc.

I knew she was loving nuts from the start, honestly. I lied and told her that I'd deleted my Facebook while job hunting, and she looked completely baffled. She just stared at me. Then later, while I was in the breakroom, I was talking to another co-worker about Facebook and Twitter, and she overheard us, and she literally got in my face and said "Are you sure you don't have Facebook?"

I ended up just making a fake one for work because why the gently caress not. Another person, the 35-year old who was bragging about watching Inception drunk, used it to tell me he's in school for chemical engineering "once (he) passes college algebra" and to ask me out, ughghghghghghgh.

legsarerequired fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Jul 10, 2011

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
The thing keeping my job awesome are my neighbors. One guy is becoming a really great friend in and out of work, and my other 2 neighbors are on the same wavelength in the way we view the job and the culture, so it's just a 10 hour bullshit session all day long, it makes the job a breeze.

Our supervisor works down the floor a ways, out of sight and earshot, she had a proposal readied to get her desk moved into our area in the middle of the team and we did our best to stomp all over it until she backed off. There's a time to be an "employee" and there's gotta be the time to cut loose after calls and talk about the last jacktard you just talked to.

I dunno how long I'd last if I lost my good spot on the floor or had to be closer to my supe, she's fine and all, but ugh.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Loving Life Partner posted:

The thing keeping my job awesome are my neighbors. One guy is becoming a really great friend in and out of work, and my other 2 neighbors are on the same wavelength in the way we view the job and the culture, so it's just a 10 hour bullshit session all day long, it makes the job a breeze.

Our supervisor works down the floor a ways, out of sight and earshot, she had a proposal readied to get her desk moved into our area in the middle of the team and we did our best to stomp all over it until she backed off. There's a time to be an "employee" and there's gotta be the time to cut loose after calls and talk about the last jacktard you just talked to.

I dunno how long I'd last if I lost my good spot on the floor or had to be closer to my supe, she's fine and all, but ugh.

I have made probably one of the best friends I've ever had when I was working phones, and that was probably the only thing that kept me from leaving untilI got a ton of off phone duties and eventual promotion.

Is it normal in most centres that supervisors/team leaders don't sit with their team then? I've always sat bang in the middle of mine. Also, I've never had an issue with people pissing and moaning about the last call AS LONG AS THEY'VE DEFINATELY DISCONNECTED FIRST. There was a call doing the rounds a while back where the agent said "go gently caress yourself" at the end of it, thinking the customer had gone. The customer didn't hear it but complained about some other part of the call and demanded a transcript. Well, under the data protection act he's entitled, and we had to transcribe literally the whole thing including that last bit. Ouch.

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.
My workplace is normally a really awesome place to be - chill coworkers, workload is pretty nice if you know what you're doing, opportunities to learn and grow within the company, all that good stuff you can get out of a good job with sane management. However...

They've completely changed the layout of the office, so half of the tier 1 staff sits on one end of the room, while the other half of the helpdesk sits on the other side of the room. In the middle is the people in tier 2.

It's a really awkward layout. The main reason the change was made was because apparently "some people were talking too loudly" and it annoyed the sales/marketing people (it's a helpdesk, what do they expect?). Now they've moved the main complainer even closer to the noisy helpdesk, so no idea what kind of difference they think is going to happen aside from dayshift sitting corner A and evening shift sitting in corner B and neither of them really talking to each other and not coordinating effectively.

On the bright side, the other day my coworker told me he hadn't forgotten about the slinky of mine he broke accidentally while at work a few months back, and he was going to find me a new one. :3:

legsarerequired
Dec 31, 2007
College Slice

Fil5000 posted:

I have made probably one of the best friends I've ever had when I was working phones, and that was probably the only thing that kept me from leaving untilI got a ton of off phone duties and eventual promotion.

Is it normal in most centres that supervisors/team leaders don't sit with their team then?

At my office, most of the people sit close to their supervisors. There are some weird people who have to sit far away due to the layout of the office--like, a new hire might be sitting at an empty cubicle of someone who recently quit.

I don't know, there are a couple of people at my call center who I talk to during time between calls, but as for the others, they just seem to have different priorities than me--maybe they have kids outside of work, or they think it's funny to joke about how they "gave up" a long time ago, or they're like that crazy lady who has absolutely no sense of personal boundaries--just poo poo like that that really turns me off. I have been told by veterans of other call centers that the work environment here is relatively negative though... Maybe I'll be happier if I just try to be a little friendlier to people.

Effexxor
May 26, 2008

I have to say, I really do love my new job. I make about $500 a paycheck more, I get to do inbound instead of outbound (!!!) and I like the company. I'm close to where I work, I have probably 6 friends that I knew from beforehand that work there and my prior job experience was respected by the people interviewing me. (It's a pretty local outbound political fundraising call center where the average time employed there is a month and I was there for 2 years and was a manager.) And even though I'm still woefully inept at knowledge of student loans, my call center experience is enough that someone can throw racial slurs at me, scream at me, bawl at me and be generally weird as hell, and I don't bat an eye because I've seen it all before.

Plus, the people I sit near are all chill, non bitchy people who do their jobs and seem like they should be goons (in a good way). God, it's nice to have a job that I like, and that could stay that way.

ZeroDays
Feb 11, 2007

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

legsarerequired posted:

:words:

Maybe you could just stop caring what other people think of you, since that's essentially what your posts are about. I read next to no moaning about the actual nature of call-centre work, but a scattershot of whines directed towards your colleagues. Unless you luck out, the grass isn't greener in any other call centre, because they largely foster the jaded, small-minded, bored-as-gently caress environment you've described. Wherever you jump to, your insecurities will be right behind you.

Effexxor
May 26, 2008

ZeroDays posted:

Maybe you could just stop caring what other people think of you, since that's essentially what your posts are about. I read next to no moaning about the actual nature of call-centre work, but a scattershot of whines directed towards your colleagues. Unless you luck out, the grass isn't greener in any other call centre, because they largely foster the jaded, small-minded, bored-as-gently caress environment you've described. Wherever you jump to, your insecurities will be right behind you.

This is somewhat true. Most call centers are pretty bitter about who call in/who they call, but what really matters is whether or not they buckle down and do the job with some complaints when they're really annoyed, or whether they complain about everything whenever possible.

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer

Effexxor posted:

This is somewhat true. Most call centers are pretty bitter about who call in/who they call, but what really matters is whether or not they buckle down and do the job with some complaints when they're really annoyed, or whether they complain about everything whenever possible.

I always figure everyone complains at call centers, mainly because they suck, but I really hate the people who have to complain about every little thing. The place I currently work is awesome compared to most call centers, laid back, easy calls to make, non-aggressive prospects, very easily attained goals, and generally fun work environment compared to the crushing nature of most call centers. We have people that complain about every little thing no matter what it is, and in incredibly annoying fashion too. I blame most of it on about half of our staff never having worked in a call center before.

...though maybe they are the sane ones while all us who don't complain there are just broken by previous call center work.

bartlebee
Nov 5, 2008
I ported my phone number over from Tmobile to Virgin Mobile last night, around 10:30. While drinking. She transferred over my information in sixteen minutes, and had the number ported over by 9:30 this morning. Thanks, call center people. I'm waiting for my customer service email so I can give a thumbs-up.

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009

wilderthanmild posted:

I always figure everyone complains at call centers, mainly because they suck, but I really hate the people who have to complain about every little thing. The place I currently work is awesome compared to most call centers, laid back, easy calls to make, non-aggressive prospects, very easily attained goals, and generally fun work environment compared to the crushing nature of most call centers. We have people that complain about every little thing no matter what it is, and in incredibly annoying fashion too. I blame most of it on about half of our staff never having worked in a call center before.

...though maybe they are the sane ones while all us who don't complain there are just broken by previous call center work.

I used to be that guy, the one who everybody told to shut the gently caress up because I whined about every little thing. The two biggest were being treated like a child and random managment changes.

When I moved to a Major credit card company that had sales thrown in it I realized I had a fresh start, and mentally forced myself to remember and change a few things:

1) Shut up and do your drat job, it's a job, it isn't going to kill you, it's for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, and after that you have a life to live.

2) Don't bring work home with you, at least, not the phone calls or those lovely customers unless it's in a good light. Are you going to be anywhere near them anytime soon? No? Then they can't hurt you.

3) Nobody gives a poo poo about the crappy customer you just had, unless it's funny, stop bitching.

4) Just tell the managers what they want to hear and show them what they want to see. At first my manager was a bit overbearing, but being upfront and fairly honest and professional with him cut that crap out really quick. I told him that I don't work well with someone hovering, and to just leave me a note and I will immediately get back to him. He was super nice and friendly and said thats fine. Problem solved! I know that a ton of bosses aren't like that, but at that point refer to rule #1.

5) Dress like a professional. I used to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work, when I started wearing ties, slacks, and a collared shirt to work, management was a lot more nice to me. Even talking about promotions thanks to my attitude.

6) Don't be super excited about your poo poo, whenever I was asked if I enjoyed the job, I told management that I enjoyed it, but it's just a job, and I am always looking for the next best thing in the company (management always loves people looking for upwards movement.) And I had that attitude, I was great on the phones, but whenever reviews or whatnot came up, I always tried to steer the second half of the conversation towards different tasks I could do off the phone, no matter how small or trivial.

7) As an extension to 6, performance reviews suck, and your direct boss probably hates them worse than you do, because they have to deal with upper management that really does change the QA's randomly, so just be positive, go ya-huh and look the eyes. Usually this gives off the impression that you aren't a complainer. Not that you give a poo poo, but not complaining goes a long way sometimes. It also cuts down on the hand holding child bullshit sometimes, which is nice.

8) When they change the QA requirements on you, just change your habits, who cares? It's what you get paid to do, again, it's not going to kill you, and doing things differently can at least spice some things up.

9) Do everything by the book and cover your rear end. Ask your manager for copies of performance reviews/tasks they have given you with their signature. Ask nicely and just tell them it's for your own records so that way they never get lost. If they complain be persistent, I even told my boss that it was because I have been burned at other companies and it was nothing personal. He was a lot more receptive at that point. If they still complain be polite and go to their boss, dress nice and be polite and as not...whiny as possible, if that doesn't work, well... do the task anyways? At least two people will remember you were asked, and if it falls back on you and you get fired, then the company wasn't worth working for anyways.

10) Stay away from the goddamned watercooler, who you are seen around or associate with are always seen by management. They will make your life harder if they see you around other complainers. It sucks, it's not fair, it's highschool bullshit, I get it. It happens at every company I ever work for. Stay away from gossip, stay away from complainers, and if you sit next to them, steer the conversation away from the complaints/gossip.

11) Last but not least, feel free to go to HR if something is pissing you off. Even in Idaho where I am, companies somehow are afraid of people who aren't afraid to use HR for things such as Hostile environments. Also if you see workplace violations/other poo poo, don't go to management, make a Anonymous complaint to OSHA/your union [if you have one] or the labor department.

After I started making those changes, I was a lot happier at work. My Boss actually turned out to be a really cool guy I could tolerate, mostly because I was dressed nice, didn't complain, and was professional with him. I told him on several occasions that I knew it sucked dealing with whiny people all day, and he agreed. A little brown nosing [emphasis on little] goes a long way. I didn't blow him or offer him hand jobs, I was just observant and realized, "holy poo poo, there are a TON of complainers on the floor."

After all of this, my stress levels went down a ton, and I not only lost weight, but became a much happier person because I stopped caring about the tiny highschool bullshit that goes on at my call center.


Holy poo poo thats a lot of words, I hope it helps! [It probably won't.]

Effexxor
May 26, 2008

ratbert90 posted:

I used to be that guy, the one who everybody told to shut the gently caress up because I whined about every little thing. The two biggest were being treated like a child and random managment changes.

When I moved to a Major credit card company that had sales thrown in it I realized I had a fresh start, and mentally forced myself to remember and change a few things:

1) Shut up and do your drat job, it's a job, it isn't going to kill you, it's for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, and after that you have a life to live.

2) Don't bring work home with you, at least, not the phone calls or those lovely customers unless it's in a good light. Are you going to be anywhere near them anytime soon? No? Then they can't hurt you.

3) Nobody gives a poo poo about the crappy customer you just had, unless it's funny, stop bitching.

4) Just tell the managers what they want to hear and show them what they want to see. At first my manager was a bit overbearing, but being upfront and fairly honest and professional with him cut that crap out really quick. I told him that I don't work well with someone hovering, and to just leave me a note and I will immediately get back to him. He was super nice and friendly and said thats fine. Problem solved! I know that a ton of bosses aren't like that, but at that point refer to rule #1.

5) Dress like a professional. I used to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work, when I started wearing ties, slacks, and a collared shirt to work, management was a lot more nice to me. Even talking about promotions thanks to my attitude.

6) Don't be super excited about your poo poo, whenever I was asked if I enjoyed the job, I told management that I enjoyed it, but it's just a job, and I am always looking for the next best thing in the company (management always loves people looking for upwards movement.) And I had that attitude, I was great on the phones, but whenever reviews or whatnot came up, I always tried to steer the second half of the conversation towards different tasks I could do off the phone, no matter how small or trivial.

7) As an extension to 6, performance reviews suck, and your direct boss probably hates them worse than you do, because they have to deal with upper management that really does change the QA's randomly, so just be positive, go ya-huh and look the eyes. Usually this gives off the impression that you aren't a complainer. Not that you give a poo poo, but not complaining goes a long way sometimes. It also cuts down on the hand holding child bullshit sometimes, which is nice.

8) When they change the QA requirements on you, just change your habits, who cares? It's what you get paid to do, again, it's not going to kill you, and doing things differently can at least spice some things up.

9) Do everything by the book and cover your rear end. Ask your manager for copies of performance reviews/tasks they have given you with their signature. Ask nicely and just tell them it's for your own records so that way they never get lost. If they complain be persistent, I even told my boss that it was because I have been burned at other companies and it was nothing personal. He was a lot more receptive at that point. If they still complain be polite and go to their boss, dress nice and be polite and as not...whiny as possible, if that doesn't work, well... do the task anyways? At least two people will remember you were asked, and if it falls back on you and you get fired, then the company wasn't worth working for anyways.

10) Stay away from the goddamned watercooler, who you are seen around or associate with are always seen by management. They will make your life harder if they see you around other complainers. It sucks, it's not fair, it's highschool bullshit, I get it. It happens at every company I ever work for. Stay away from gossip, stay away from complainers, and if you sit next to them, steer the conversation away from the complaints/gossip.

11) Last but not least, feel free to go to HR if something is pissing you off. Even in Idaho where I am, companies somehow are afraid of people who aren't afraid to use HR for things such as Hostile environments. Also if you see workplace violations/other poo poo, don't go to management, make a Anonymous complaint to OSHA/your union [if you have one] or the labor department.

After I started making those changes, I was a lot happier at work. My Boss actually turned out to be a really cool guy I could tolerate, mostly because I was dressed nice, didn't complain, and was professional with him. I told him on several occasions that I knew it sucked dealing with whiny people all day, and he agreed. A little brown nosing [emphasis on little] goes a long way. I didn't blow him or offer him hand jobs, I was just observant and realized, "holy poo poo, there are a TON of complainers on the floor."

After all of this, my stress levels went down a ton, and I not only lost weight, but became a much happier person because I stopped caring about the tiny highschool bullshit that goes on at my call center.


Holy poo poo thats a lot of words, I hope it helps! [It probably won't.]

I might just print this out and put it onto my cubicle, because every change you made was right on. I wanted to be a manager at my last job, so what did I do? I worked my rear end off to make myself someone that they couldn't do without. And when I was a manager, who was my favorite kind of subordinate that got treated the best? The person who asked intelligent questions, came to work to do a job and not 'do' office drama bs, and the person that I trusted enough to not have to constantly supervise. That's the person who does well at a job, not complainers, or braggers or slackers. If you just act professional and treat your workplace as a job and not a social club, you will do better. It's just that simple.

Aerofallosov
Oct 3, 2007

Friend to Fishes. Just keep swimming.
Mother of God. I swear the next person who asks if I can help them with something after I explain what we're going to do is going to get the "Oh god, no. No we can't do that. It's crossing the streams- AAGGGH NOOOOO!" response.

Chicken Doodle
May 16, 2007

Hello call centre peons! I am going to join your ranks as the newest member of a team working for a bank credit card line (inbound calls only). I look forward to sharing your pain and the 3x the annual pay I get now working retail. :D

(Thanks ratbert - I better get reading this thread.)

dustbin
Jun 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer

Fil5000 posted:

I think we'd all like to hear more about how this happened so suddenly...
I'd been thinking about quitting seriously the week beforehand, and when my boss commented on my attitude, I was half embarrassed and half relieved to have a chance to bring it up. He got me off the phones at the end of my second call of the day, let me go home, and asked me to call him the next morning to let him know if I was coming back or not. So, it was unexpected that it happened that day, but not that it happened at all.

The call center I worked at wasn't too bad, but some recent changes to coaching and QA scoring bummed me out, and dealing with angry customers was something I had a hard time with right off the bat. During the days following my decision, I was feeling guilty, as if I could have stuck it out longer, but I'm enjoying some peaceful time off and looking for something else to do. Maybe if luck isn't with me, I'll be back there next year. I tried not to burn any bridges.

less than three
Aug 9, 2007



Fallen Rib

Chicken Doodle posted:

Hello call centre peons! I am going to join your ranks as the newest member of a team working for a bank credit card line (inbound calls only). I look forward to sharing your pain and the 3x the annual pay I get now working retail. :D

(Thanks ratbert - I better get reading this thread.)

Do they have part-time available? :xd:

Effexxor
May 26, 2008

dustbin posted:

I'd been thinking about quitting seriously the week beforehand, and when my boss commented on my attitude, I was half embarrassed and half relieved to have a chance to bring it up. He got me off the phones at the end of my second call of the day, let me go home, and asked me to call him the next morning to let him know if I was coming back or not. So, it was unexpected that it happened that day, but not that it happened at all.

The call center I worked at wasn't too bad, but some recent changes to coaching and QA scoring bummed me out, and dealing with angry customers was something I had a hard time with right off the bat. During the days following my decision, I was feeling guilty, as if I could have stuck it out longer, but I'm enjoying some peaceful time off and looking for something else to do. Maybe if luck isn't with me, I'll be back there next year. I tried not to burn any bridges.

Better that you leave voluntarily with a good record then staying, getting bitter, doing something bad and/or blowing up at a customer.

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009

Effexxor posted:

Better that you leave voluntarily with a good record then staying, getting bitter, doing something bad and/or blowing up at a customer.

Only if you have a better job lined up before hand.

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
My supervisor has noticed my :effort: lately and basically told me I could be making a few hundred extra a month in bonuses if I shape the hell up. So what the hell, I'm going to be Johnny Good Employee for a whole month and show it in my stats as well, if I hit that sweet $200 bonus, maybe the taste of it will motivate me to do it more often.

I've done it for the past two days, and aside from taking about 20 additional calls, it wasn't too bad. Less chatter time, less unwind between calls time, but the day went faster.

Ugly In The Morning
Jul 1, 2010
Pillbug
My job's weird. I work with good people, so it can be good, especially like last week when the calls coming in were good and there weren't too many. I was actually happy to come in sometimes, even! But, thanks to a new director being right next to my sales team, there's a lot of pointless changes they make that just have me going "Wait. Wait. What the gently caress am I doing here? I have a degree. Why am I in a call center?". The company always tries to make the job sound more advanced then it is, but, fuuuuck, you can't tell me a job where I have to put an orange cone on my desk while I'm on lunch is dignified. You know what's a good sign I'm on lunch? The fact I'm eating my goddamn lunch. Ah well, back to school for that second bachelors in something more employable.
The latest is a minimum outbound per day thing (we're an inound center), calling dead leads from January that really, really do not want to be called. They know we won't sell anything, it's all appearances. I hate that kind of dumb charade where everyone knows it's pointless. I'm fine with being/looking busy, but that level of delusion just frustrates me.

Chicken Doodle
May 16, 2007

less than three posted:

Do they have part-time available? :xd:

Haha sorry darling, they just have full-time and they're done hiring for now. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I'm going to print off a couple of tips from this thread and take them with me every day.

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009

Ugly In The Morning posted:

My job's weird. I work with good people, so it can be good, especially like last week when the calls coming in were good and there weren't too many. I was actually happy to come in sometimes, even! But, thanks to a new director being right next to my sales team, there's a lot of pointless changes they make that just have me going "Wait. Wait. What the gently caress am I doing here? I have a degree. Why am I in a call center?". The company always tries to make the job sound more advanced then it is, but, fuuuuck, you can't tell me a job where I have to put an orange cone on my desk while I'm on lunch is dignified. You know what's a good sign I'm on lunch? The fact I'm eating my goddamn lunch. Ah well, back to school for that second bachelors in something more employable.
The latest is a minimum outbound per day thing (we're an inound center), calling dead leads from January that really, really do not want to be called. They know we won't sell anything, it's all appearances. I hate that kind of dumb charade where everyone knows it's pointless. I'm fine with being/looking busy, but that level of delusion just frustrates me.

That kid bullshit is really hard to deal with, and the only advice I have for you is to just go with it. Will it kill you if a orange cone is on your desk? Pick and choose your battles.

Effexxor
May 26, 2008

ratbert90 posted:

Only if you have a better job lined up before hand.

If you can that's always ideal, but there comes a point in every call center career where the choices are either leave on good terms with the possibility of coming back if need be, or blowing your lid, getting poo poo references and being blacklisted from other call centers in the area. I managed a call center, if someone hosed up royally on the job and got canned, you had better believe I'm gonna let the potential employer know about it. On the other hand, if the person was a great employee and just couldn't do it anymore but still did their job, I'd sing praises about all of their good qualities.

Then again, I'm also in a state with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and managed to find a better call center job in a week after realizing I couldn't do my old job anymore. I did however get glowing recommendations, which meant a lot coming from the place I worked and managed at, which no doubt helped my chances at getting out before I flipped on a customer.

ratbert90 posted:

That kid bullshit is really hard to deal with, and the only advice I have for you is to just go with it. Will it kill you if a orange cone is on your desk? Pick and choose your battles.

Also, this. It's annoying, but just keep that paycheck in mind. Is it worth your money to do a pointless, annoying thing?

Effexxor fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Jul 13, 2011

Literally Lewis Hamilton
Feb 22, 2005



Effexxor posted:

If you can that's always ideal, but there comes a point in every call center career where the choices are either leave on good terms with the possibility of coming back if need be, or blowing your lid, getting poo poo references and being blacklisted from other call centers in the area. I managed a call center, if someone hosed up royally on the job and got canned, you had better believe I'm gonna let the potential employer know about it. On the other hand, if the person was a great employee and just couldn't do it anymore but still did their job, I'd sing praises about all of their good qualities.

Then again, I'm also in a state with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and managed to find a better call center job in a week after realizing I couldn't do my old job anymore. I did however get glowing recommendations, which meant a lot coming from the place I worked and managed at, which no doubt helped my chances at getting out before I flipped on a customer.


Also, this. It's annoying, but just keep that paycheck in mind. Is it worth your money to do a pointless, annoying thing?

Be careful what you say when you give out references. There is a reason that most major companies only release hire and termination dates and salary. There isn't really a reason to go above and beyond that and risk getting burned.

Fil5000
Jun 23, 2003

HOLD ON GUYS I'M POSTING ABOUT INTERNET ROBOTS

Bovine Delight posted:

Be careful what you say when you give out references. There is a reason that most major companies only release hire and termination dates and salary. There isn't really a reason to go above and beyond that and risk getting burned.

Yeah, I think the worst my place ever goes is "Resigned pending disciplinary meeting".

Devyl
Mar 27, 2005

It slices!

It dices!

It makes Julienne fries!
Welp, found out yesterday that I now have to wear a uniform of sorts for work. They're ordering us polos and we have to wear khakis or black pants with them. In a call center. That sees no one but fellow employees. I just keep being reminded of this commercial.

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009

Devyl posted:

Welp, found out yesterday that I now have to wear a uniform of sorts for work. They're ordering us polos and we have to wear khakis or black pants with them. In a call center. That sees no one but fellow employees. I just keep being reminded of this commercial.

well, at least that way you don't have to think about what to wear, and everybody looks decent. :)

Fizzle
Dec 14, 2006
ZOMG, Where'd my old account go?!?
I'm a level 2 tech at a Cable Company that services CT, NY, NJ (the best, most POLITE customers :smithicide: ) and have worked here for 3 years.. I want to kill myself.

I'm a tier 2 support representative. Our primary business function was supporting Online and VOIP services up until about 12 months ago. Recently, the company decided that transferring customers to specialized support reps for the different products was a "bad thing" and instead decided to cross train everyone on EVERYTHING. Now instead of focusing on Phone and Internet, I now also support every single product we offer. Now, we still have a phone tree that customers have to navigate to get to the proper department, so it's not often that I have to support other products, but that actually makes it HARDER, since I don't have practice. I thoroughly enjoy looking like I don't know what I

Thankfully, we're compensated well for the service we provide. Level 2 techs start at $18.60 an hour and work their way up different "grade levels" via performance metrics through 2 additional grades. I am currently making $25 an hour to take phone calls from idiots but I still sit here and wonder if I could survive on unemployment in order to avoid the hell that is our customers.

The horror stories have been told here many times already, so I'm just going to share some of my my most memorable calls.

:c00l:: Thank you for calling ISP, my name is Fizzle, how may I help you?
:byodame:: Are you the internet?!
:c00l:: I am technical support for the Internet and Phone, what seems to be the issue?
:byodame:: Oh thank god, It's about time.. I need your help with Google.
:c00l:: Are you not able to access Google?
:byodame:: Oh no, I can access google, but there's a problem with the maps.

(Now, We don't support anything to do with Google. We ensure connectivity and refer to other companies for issues with those services, however, I was intrigued. Looking back, I wish I wasn't)

:c00l:: I'm truly sorry you're having problems accessing that site, I'm going to connect to your computer remotely and help you resolve this issue.

So we connect, and I have her take me to the maps site. She navigates successfully to the maps and everything seems ok.

:confused:: It appears that everything is functioning properly, What seems to be the issue?
:byodame:: Let me show you

She navigates to a specific business on Google Maps, a home based colonic business :barf: and proceeds to open up the reviews.

:byodame:: These reviews are wrong.
:confused:: What about these reviews leads you to believe they are incorrect?
:byodame:: This is my business, and these reviews are incorrect

I proceed to read the reviews.. All of them are stating that she's operating without a license or that her workspace is dirty.

:v:: Ma'am, I do not believe that I can help you with this. We have no control over the content of the internet. If you feel these reviews of your business are incorrect, there is a dispute link listed on Google's...
:byodame:: So you're not going to help me?!?
:(: I don't have the ability to...
:byodame:: Aren't you the internet?!?

:doh:

dustbin
Jun 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer

ratbert90 posted:

Only if you have a better job lined up before hand.
I kept the part-time job I had before joining the company, so I'll still having one or two hundred dollars a month to keep me afloat. Because I knew, a year ago, that it probably wasn't going to work out. I also have my family's support of my decision and savings to tide me over until the next big thing. I would not have quit if I had $0 in my bank account.

El Ste
Aug 22, 2010

I work at my university's call centre and may I just say it's awesome when I have to call someone and they have that "please enjoy the music while your party is reached" thing set up? Been having a poo poo day with calls today and just got to spend a minute listening to Jack Johnson. Now I feel significantly less suicidal. :)

legsarerequired
Dec 31, 2007
College Slice
So I'm curious--what are the salaries and benefits for the other people here, if you all are comfortable sharing?

I make approx $35,000 per year with benefits and about 20-25 days of PTO (I bought an extra five days, so I don't remember exactly how much time off I get). The other call center I know about pays $10 an hour and doesn't offer paid time off, so I get the feeling that I have a pretty good deal for the type of work I'm doing...

Devyl posted:

Welp, found out yesterday that I now have to wear a uniform of sorts for work. They're ordering us polos and we have to wear khakis or black pants with them. In a call center. That sees no one but fellow employees. I just keep being reminded of this commercial.

My job has a similar dress code. We used to wear jeans on Fridays, but someone complained that denim was too unprofessional and now we have to wear business clothes every day.

wilderthanmild
Jun 21, 2010

Posting shit




Grimey Drawer

El Ste posted:

I work at my university's call centre and may I just say it's awesome when I have to call someone and they have that "please enjoy the music while your party is reached" thing set up? Been having a poo poo day with calls today and just got to spend a minute listening to Jack Johnson. Now I feel significantly less suicidal. :)

Ironically I hate when I get the music thing set up and coincidentally I also work in a university call center which only has poo poo calls at the moment. Do you work handling donations as well? I can't think of much else they'd have a full on call center for a university besides maybe tuition.

Fizzle posted:

: Are you the internet?!
...
: Aren't you the internet?!?
I love that people can be so dumb.

Loving Life Partner
Apr 17, 2003
I spent 45 minutes yesterday on a call with a 75 year old widow who's husband died 7 years ago. She got a refund check for some unearned premium and set it aside, and found it, yesterday.

It can't be cashed at this point, but she doesn't want to miss out on this THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS.

So I was just flabbergasted to get this call, then I put on my detective hat and started digging in.

My assist line told me to get accounting to help out. Accounting was able to find the policy number with the draft number. I dug up the policy and found all the documentation in our archives along with a tax form showing all the draft info, cool beans.

I get off with accounting and check with my assist, they're like "Guh, call accounting"

GRR

So I call accounting. Accounting tells me that this draft is too old for them to deal with or find anything out about, call Draft Control.

I call Draft Control. They give me a bit more info about the draft, indicating it hasn't been cashed (no poo poo, she has it in her hand). But ultimately, I have to call Accounts Payable for help.

I call accounts payable, and they refer me back to...... POLICY SERVICES!

:confused: ... I AM policy services...
:geno: I have nobody else to refer you to
:doh:

Anyway, it ended up with me printing out forms for a "manual accounting request", filling them out and faxing them to a THIRD accounting department to get this lady her big 35 smackers back.

You know, if I was that old, I think I'd value my free time at about $50 a minute. If something wasn't making me that much money I wouldn't be interested.

KeanuReevesGhost
Apr 24, 2008

So....
Work is undergoing a new "Cost Advantage Strategy" to see where the most time is spent during the day. Customer Service is the pilot group, but all departments are going to undergo it, to see where the most work is to see what they can do to cut down on the time it takes.

To cut costs, they bought around 40 iPads, and select people get to use them. To track every loving movement of theirs of the day.

Take a loans call, track it. Take a call that deals with deposits, loans, and time deposits? Track all three. Get a hang up call, track it. Waiting for a customer to call? Track it. Take a piss. Track it. On top of all our normal tracking.

I don't understand how spending upwards of 20,000 on unnecessary gadgets and causing more work which takes more time is beneficial when all of this is already tracked by WorkForceManagement software.

That being said, I get a spiffy new iPad to play with for the next month. :D

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Mochiloc
Dec 30, 2001
So what do you put "playing Angry Birds HD" under on the tracking system?

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