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At our job, "supervisors" are just escalation assist team. They're trained to calm people down, strictly say no when necessary, and make accommodations we can't, but other than that, they're not much higher than your trench worker rep, maybe like 3-4 years experience minimum on them and they only talk to other reps with questions/problems. I think the next level after that is getting a phone number and address for the corporate HQ to file some kind of complaint after being told no. I love when people are like, I WANT TO SPEAK TO A VICE PRESIDENT! as if the VP of a mega corp for auto insurance knows anything about the nuts and bolts situations that occur on a daily basis.
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Aug 1, 2013 03:27
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| # ? May 8, 2024 21:26 |
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So in relation to my complaining about my call center job, I decided to ask a few coworkers about quitting, thinking that I should be courteous and submit a two weeks notice. Apparently, my department doesn't even accept notices and if you try to submit one they just tell you to leave on the spot. Is that normal for call centers or is my department just weird? If that's the case then I'm just gonna grab my crap and leave in the morning I guess....
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Aug 1, 2013 05:59
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It's not strictly call center but some places figure you might try to sabotage the place or whatever and they don't want you around.
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Aug 1, 2013 06:27
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Bloodnose posted:I always suspected this was the case. I remember some ten years or so ago I was having a horrible customer service experience with Dell and kept having to call their service line, which was staffed by people with what sounded like Pinoy accents. I would ask for a supervisor and get someone else with a Pinoy accent. Then on one particularly bad call, I asked for the supposed supervisor's manager, at which point I got an extremely accommodating gentleman with an American accent. Rookie mistake. Never hang up and call back.
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Aug 1, 2013 11:37
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horchata posted:So in relation to my complaining about my call center job, I decided to ask a few coworkers about quitting, thinking that I should be courteous and submit a two weeks notice. Apparently, my department doesn't even accept notices and if you try to submit one they just tell you to leave on the spot. Is that normal for call centers or is my department just weird? If that's the case then I'm just gonna grab my crap and leave in the morning I guess.... Once they know your primary motivation to be nice is gone they fear what you'll say so they get rid of you ASAP
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Aug 1, 2013 11:41
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horchata posted:So in relation to my complaining about my call center job, I decided to ask a few coworkers about quitting, thinking that I should be courteous and submit a two weeks notice. Apparently, my department doesn't even accept notices and if you try to submit one they just tell you to leave on the spot. Is that normal for call centers or is my department just weird? If that's the case then I'm just gonna grab my crap and leave in the morning I guess.... It's pretty normal for us to take notice effective immediately. Depends on how you're leaving though. A person with great scores and good tenure will probably be allowed to work their 2 weeks out, an average to low scoring agent with issues will probably just be thanked for the notice and asked not to come back. Someone with nothing to lose can seriously hurt the business so we try to minimize the risk. If our client monitors a call from an agent leaving the company who doesn't follow guidelines it could cause a ton of issues. Much easier to just have the agent leave than risk it.
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Aug 1, 2013 18:18
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This was probably primarily the reason I didn't get given any notice when I was let go from my call centre job, even though it pissed the union right off and I was always overly polite to customers never mind the abuse hurled at me. Onto a different note, I kinda screwed up a call with a very aggressive customer yesterday and it probably lead to a possibly incorrect decision even though they were being entirely uncooperative and wouldn't listen to a drat word I was saying or give me the information I was actually looking for. I feel really bad about getting intimidated and have no idea how to justify "lying" to the customer during the call (I had the wrong questionnaire up at the time because I'd been looking at the info for a different customer beforehand and didn't notice until after the call). It's a pretty huge mistake and I need to figure out what to say if QA have a look at it because it'll be a major fail. I probably have nothing to really worry about, my quality scores are normally top notch and I did ask for extra training on dealing with aggressive customers before due to being easily intimidated and didn't get it because I was a temp agent (I get the feeling I'll be getting it now). Still, it would be nice to know how to handle to blowback when it comes along.
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Aug 3, 2013 06:26
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I know what you mean, I had a customer yesterday that was so bad it got my MANAGER in trouble. I told him all the relevant information, got the ticket escalated to the correct team, made it urgent and put out a page request but he still wasn't happy (that's literally all I could do given the situation) so I got my manager to help. She came in at around 25 minutes into the call. When she finally had the customer sorted out and ended the call(she had to ping someone I don't have the experience to ping to get advice) it had been 59 minutes 57 seconds. At around the 54 minute mark one of her bosses came in the room to say that her boss had been asking where my manager had gone because she wasn't on the TFL desk where she was assigned, and she had to explain the situation with her. Wow that call was bad. Funny in the revlieved aftermath though :P That marked the end of 3 weeks live 
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Aug 3, 2013 09:05
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For goons who do outbound calls, I have a question. Is it ruder or more annoying for you if I just hang up instead of stay on the line and say no until you give up? I'm specifically talking about sales calls. Time Warner calls me every month or so to offer TV, which I don't want. So I tell them "Love your Internet service, but don't want TV!" but then they have to go through their 3/4 pitches even after I've rejected them. Is it easier if I just hang up as soon as I realize I don't want anything? I figure it's not fun for the phone rep to constantly offer their scripted rebuttals, but I wonder if just hanging up hurts their stats or their feelings.
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Aug 7, 2013 21:17
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But our TV is amazing (even the same price without CBS channels!) and you can get the amazing deal of whatever! I just hang up on outbound sales. They probably get it enough that it doesn't bother them.
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Aug 8, 2013 02:27
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WampaLord posted:For goons who do outbound calls, I have a question. I think its a 50/50 split. I used to do outbound calls at my old job, in a retention/upsell type of position, and I don't consider it rude. I can usually judge by a persons voice when they are not interested in saving or retaining the product that they have with us, let alone increasing the products/services that they had. So, at that end, I'm used to being hung up on. People sometimes just don't have time for that salesman poo poo. Thgat, and it was pointless to try and save a dial-up internet customer when they upgraded to Competitor X DSL, but, we had to try anyway. On the receiving end of that, for example, I have a cell phone and no home phone line. Like most, a home phone line is just money down the drain, when I only talk on the phone maybe 50-100 minutes at most a month. Therefore, its pointless for Comcast to try and upsell me on a home phone line, when I am not interested. I know that the home phone line might save me hundreds of thousands of dollars and all the kings riches, and in the event that my cellular provider has an outage. But, regardless, I'm not interested in getting a home phone line. When I am, I'll contact my provider and add it to my bill. So, instead of hanging up, I politely say "I'm sorry, but I am not interested in upgrading at this time. Thank you." and then hang up the phone. Loving Life Partner posted:I love when people are like, I WANT TO SPEAK TO A VICE PRESIDENT! as if the VP of a mega corp for auto insurance knows anything about the nuts and bolts situations that occur on a daily basis. Or, better yet, that we can just say "Sure thing!" and dial up the VP on the batphone and transfer them over, like it's SOP. I worked as a contractor for a somewhat-defunct Microsoft brand, and I can't count the number of times upset customers called in and demanded to speak with Bill Gates RIGHT NOW. trunkwontopen fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Aug 8, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 08:39
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trunkwontopen posted:
At least one person has gotten this treatment: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2009/11/23/9927055.aspx
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Aug 8, 2013 12:47
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Well, I just had my first call where I hung up on a customer in frustration. Probably going to lose my job over this. MVP one quarter, normally near the top in stats, one call. loving bitch would NOT LISTEN TO ME. What tipped me off is when I was explaining, very calmly (Maybe a bit snarkily, which wasn't helping, whatever) why her internet was going off when she moved it. After I got done, she goes "Oh were you talking?". I literally almost punched my monitor. Oh my god gently caress some of our customers. I had to get up and walk around our mile course thing we have outside. I'm still pissed off, I'm afraid to take another call. e: Between this, the loving retarded delays on work at home (Why the gently caress cant' they get us started while they do a bid shift for the guy who was fired, nooo, let's delay it ANOTHER loving month) and other stupid outside poo poo, I just want to throw things. e: Oh yeah. Quit making us loving tier 1.5. WE'ere Advanced Technical support. Stop routing workorder schedule changes and work order verification to us. We're supposed to be helping customer with actual technical problems. I don't mind "helping out" I mind having permanent additions to our work load that actually devalue our services to the company. Gothmog1065 fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Aug 8, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 16:27
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Holy poo poo, I hate the new operations manager at my work and I need to rant. During my lunch he's walking around trying to remember people's names and says mine, I joked that he read it on my name tag on my desk. His response? "Nope. I know it because you were showing up on a report I didn't like for awhile back for being late a lot." If you have an issue with it either call me into your office, send me an email or talk to me In private don't just say that stuff randomly on the call floor. He gives a giant grin and walks away. I thought I was over reacting but then my desk neighbor leans over and asks, "Did that really just happen? That's inappropriate." So I guess I'm not the only one who was kinda taken aback by that. Just a rant and it probably shouldnt have gotten my back up like it did but holy poo poo.
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Aug 8, 2013 18:22
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Gothmog1065 posted:Well, I just had my first call where I hung up on a customer in frustration. Probably going to lose my job over this. MVP one quarter, normally near the top in stats, one call. As much as losing your job sucks, I think it might not really be the worst thing that could happen to you, given they'd let you resign... some serious anger there man. Although after reading that again, I think I'd be super loving angry at that.
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Aug 8, 2013 18:28
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cuntvalet posted:Holy poo poo, I hate the new operations manager at my work and I need to rant. Hey cool, you have a witness! Take that poo poo to HR.
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Aug 8, 2013 18:51
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Chicken Doodle posted:Hey cool, you have a witness! Take that poo poo to HR. I'd love to but how should I word my complaint if I do?
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Aug 8, 2013 18:56
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cuntvalet posted:I'd love to but how should I word my complaint if I do? I'm not an expert, but words like "unprofessional" and "lack of confidentiality" might do. There'll be better suggestions from other goons.
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Aug 8, 2013 19:00
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cuntvalet posted:I'd love to but how should I word my complaint if I do? "Aspects of my performance which should remain between me and my manager were discussed in open office. Further, the tone of the comments was completely inappropriate and unprofessional."
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Aug 8, 2013 19:03
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Fil5000 posted:"Aspects of my performance which should remain between me and my manager were discussed in open office. Further, the tone of the comments was completely inappropriate and unprofessional." Tychtrip posted:As much as losing your job sucks, I think it might not really be the worst thing that could happen to you, given they'd let you resign... some serious anger there man. Gothmog1065 posted:Well, I just had my first call where I hung up on a customer in frustration. Probably going to lose my job over this. MVP one quarter, normally near the top in stats, one call.
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Aug 8, 2013 19:20
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SiGmA_X posted:Have you worked in a call center? About 4/3 of the people you talk to in semi technical support will make you want to burn things... I work in a call centre and it's never been that bad. Only been there a few months, I guess it just hasn't got to me yet. I shall bide my time.
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Aug 8, 2013 20:29
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Tychtrip posted:As much as losing your job sucks, I think it might not really be the worst thing that could happen to you, given they'd let you resign... some serious anger there man. Normally I'm not that angry. Customer irritate me, ignore me, answer some other question they want asked, cut me off, etc. I think what this customer did that threw me over the top was the "Oh you were talking" thing. The rest of it is just random ranty poo poo that also aggravates me but has been ongoing and isn't that important. quote:You hung up? Pro tip: just hit line 2, or disconnect your headset. I never did this because I could handle my idiots, but a lot of my coworkers did this allll the time!
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Aug 8, 2013 20:33
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Tychtrip posted:I work in a call centre and it's never been that bad. Only been there a few months, I guess it just hasn't got to me yet. I shall bide my time. Oh wait. Based on how you spell center maybe you're not American! We have far dumber people here, and they get really angry when you try to help them. It's a fun time. Gothmog1065 posted:I'm sure they can tell if they wanted to, but they normally rely on video which my feed doesn't work. We have softphones, and she was screaming and moving around so it could have been her naturally. I don't think I was reported by her, so if QA doesn't get it, it'll probably just slip through the cracks.
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Aug 8, 2013 21:20
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SiGmA_X posted:Video feed?! Wow. Softphones meaning an Avaya system or something? Do you have an amp? That's the best way to stealthy disconnect yourself. A couple minutes of silence and the customer disconnects. I didn't do this, but a few of my various friends teammates were fired for it over the course of 15 months. After the 2011 'price change' people just started not caring. And it really picked up after 130-150 people were laid off without notice one day. Gotta love right to work and temps... Yeah we have monitoring software that records our screens to see if we're doing things during calls (like watching videos). It's kind of annoying. Yeah, we have Avaya, but since the Win7 upgrade they've been using Jabra headsets that don't have the amps on them.
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Aug 8, 2013 22:39
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SiGmA_X posted:You hung up? Pro tip: just hit line 2, or disconnect your headset. I never did this because I could handle my idiots, but a lot of my coworkers did this allll the time! You can't make it very long without doing this, can you? Chicken Doodle posted:Hey cool, you have a witness! Take that poo poo to HR. Bad idea IMO.
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Aug 9, 2013 00:27
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RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:Bad idea IMO.  What's the point of having Human Resources if you aren't actually going to, you know, exercise your rights as an employee. Not every company is OK with people acting like jerks. Even if that person is your supervisor holy poo poo.
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Aug 9, 2013 00:42
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"Human Resources" exists so the company can cover its rear end. If they really wanted to help employees, there would be a different department called "Employee Relations".
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Aug 9, 2013 02:40
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:Yeah bro just keep your head down and let management get away with acting like unprofessional shitheels. Stop coming in late.
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Aug 9, 2013 03:11
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Bovril Delight posted:Stop coming in late. While that may be true, his manager doesn't need to be a massive shitheel about it. His coming in late is NOT an excuse for his manager to be a complete dick, and your attitude is what perpetuates that kind of lovely behavior.
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Aug 9, 2013 03:15
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Gothmog1065 posted:Yeah we have monitoring software that records our screens to see if we're doing things during calls (like watching videos). It's kind of annoying. Yeah, we have Avaya, but since the Win7 upgrade they've been using Jabra headsets that don't have the amps on them. RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:You can't make it very long without doing this, can you? 100 HOGS AGREE posted:Yeah bro just keep your head down and let management get away with acting like unprofessional shitheels. ratbert90 posted:While that may be true, his manager doesn't need to be a massive shitheel about it. His coming in late is NOT an excuse for his manager to be a complete dick, and your attitude is what perpetuates that kind of lovely behavior. 
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Aug 9, 2013 06:00
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SiGmA_X posted:Humm. Are you in tech support? I found it horrid at both customer service and tech support. And it wasn't just me - I'd shadow coworkers for a few hours a week and it was pretty par for course. Nah, just customer service. And hey now, don't be silly. We have our fair share of morons (we never use this word). Let me clarify, I don't love it, it's pretty mindnumbing. But I pretty much never get worked up over it.
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Aug 9, 2013 06:08
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ratbert90 posted:While that may be true, his manager doesn't need to be a massive shitheel about it. His coming in late is NOT an excuse for his manager to be a complete dick, and your attitude is what perpetuates that kind of lovely behavior. Further, it wasn't even cuntvalet's manager, it was the operations manager. Whatever performance issues there are it's a) not appropriate to bring it up in the middle of the office and b) not appropriate for this guy to do it in a mocking manner. Cuntvalet, I'd raise it with your line manager first, and if you get further issues with the ops manager then go to hr with it.
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Aug 9, 2013 06:17
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Fil5000 posted:Further, it wasn't even cuntvalet's manager, it was the operations manager. Whatever performance issues there are it's a) not appropriate to bring it up in the middle of the office and b) not appropriate for this guy to do it in a mocking manner.  I had my stand desk within a month, it took most people 6mo+. One poor girl wasn't issued one until enough people were fired. Not me. And on days where there were staffing issues, I got paid time off phones if a standing desk wasn't available vs sitting at a desk.In all honesty, I can't believe all call center desks aren't around the 42-44" mark. Humans aren't made to sit!! Pacing around a cube is so much better for you. Tychtrip posted:Nah, just customer service. And hey now, don't be silly. We have our fair share of morons (we never use this word). You give an American a cheap product, with product support, and they expect you to support their personal devices, internet connections, etc...!!! Hell is other people for sure, especially depending on who that other person is! Some contracts have better customers I think, which makes a massive difference. And your IVR type. Ours was based on the callers number vs prior numbers that had called in and been flagged on an account, or numbers customers punched into accounts (optional, most didn't have em), and then due to the type of problem that account may be having. You could have days that were absolutely smooth and fantastic, or days where EVERY caller was on crack about $7.99 and needing an extension for payment! Gah!!
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Aug 9, 2013 07:24
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Don't know what the line manager will do - if they've got any balls and give a poo poo about their team then they'll go to the ops manager and tell them not to bring up performance/attendance issues with one of their staff. If they haven't then nothing, but cuntvalet will be able to say she's tried the proper channels before going to HR. Can't speak for where cuntvalet is but I know where I am the official guidelines are to first go to the person causing the problem and try to resolve it. If that doesn't work or you don't feel you can then you go to your manager. If you don't think you can do that or it doesn't work then you keep going up the chain. Going direct to HR isn't WRONG, it's just probably better to try to have your manager onside.
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Aug 9, 2013 07:44
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Fil5000 posted:Don't know what the line manager will do - if they've got any balls and give a poo poo about their team then they'll go to the ops manager and tell them not to bring up performance/attendance issues with one of their staff. If they haven't then nothing, but cuntvalet will be able to say she's tried the proper channels before going to HR.
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Aug 9, 2013 10:10
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I'm not sure who the line manager would be to be honest. The other manager who hired our operations manager is an intimidating and no nonsense guy I thought he was an operations manager for the other department that we have (there's tech support for cell phones, that's me, then customer service for a tv service) but he seems to act as a manager for both so I assume he would be what would be considered a line manager? Also, to whoever said "stop coming in late" it can't always be helped and usually if I'm late it's by a minute or two. Along those same lines I have improved in that and the last two to three weeks I haven't been late at all which means that not only was his comment inappropriate but also kinda unwarranted in terms of context.
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Aug 9, 2013 12:49
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cuntvalet posted:I'm not sure who the line manager would be to be honest. The other manager who hired our operations manager is an intimidating and no nonsense guy I thought he was an operations manager for the other department that we have (there's tech support for cell phones, that's me, then customer service for a tv service) but he seems to act as a manager for both so I assume he would be what would be considered a line manager? Your line manager is your immediate supervisor, so probably not that person. I'd look up whatever your company's policy is on complaints/grievances and follow it along. Because I bet the guy making inappropriate comments about your attendance isn't familiar with it, and if you follow it religiously and he doesn't then HR will kick his backside.
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Aug 9, 2013 13:35
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Fil5000 posted:Your line manager is your immediate supervisor, so probably not that person. I'd look up whatever your company's policy is on complaints/grievances and follow it along. Because I bet the guy making inappropriate comments about your attendance isn't familiar with it, and if you follow it religiously and he doesn't then HR will kick his backside. I agree with you. I'm kinda worried about the backlash to be honest...
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Aug 9, 2013 13:53
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cuntvalet posted:I agree with you. I'm kinda worried about the backlash to be honest... How big is the company you work for? The bigger it is, the less chance there is that there'll be backlash, basically.
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Aug 9, 2013 14:06
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| # ? May 8, 2024 21:26 |
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Fil5000 posted:How big is the company you work for? The bigger it is, the less chance there is that there'll be backlash, basically. There's a about 150 to 200 agents at this location. The client is really picky and bullyish though. I've been applying to jobs like crazy. After I get out of here I'm never doing call center work again.
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Aug 9, 2013 14:23
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