|
At the end of the day it's about people skills, or in his case lack of them. Although I don't work in this sector (I'm in software development) I've recently been training new starters at my office. When I find mistakes if possible I'll send them an email explaining what they are, why they're a problem (i.e. what the repercussions are and/or what might break as a result of them) and what to watch for in future to avoid making them. So far it seems to be working reasonably well.
|
#
¿
Dec 8, 2010 17:11
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 04:58 |
|
|
man thats gross posted:Abso-loving-lutely. If you're a tech-inclined new immigrant who speaks okay English and, as is often the case, has a degree that no one will acknowledge, a call centre is a decent place to work. I don't know what certs he was claiming to have, but in Asian countries (e.g. India) it's really not hard to get hold of Microsoft certs (MCTS, MCPD, etc) without even turning up. Certainly in India if you can't find a test centre corrupt enough to just sell you one then you can pay people to go take the tests for you.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2011 07:35
|
|
|
Fil5000 posted:This is entirely true, but I think the "what the Christ" was more aimed at the fact that this person took out a credit card and was then saying she shouldn't pay interest, rather than that her religion forbade it. Yeah that's either a whole new level of stupid or she needs to come up with a better scam.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2011 13:02
|
|
|
Fil5000 posted:Basically 30 second long calls have been extended into a series of phone calls over the course of a couple of hours. Yaaaaay. My employer (not even a call centre) instigated a similar policy a while back with the justification that it would allow them to get a clearer picture of common faults so they could take appropriate action with the vendor. Nice idea in principal but when a 5 minute period of being unable to work turns into a 2 hour period of being unable to work, which costs the company more? Left hand, meet right hand.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2011 17:35
|
|
|
Call centres could go a long way towards reducing racism towards their staff by making ability with the English language (both speaking and comprehension) the single most important requirement when interviewing candidates. I am 100% backing Brendas Baby Daddy's point: it doesn't matter how much of a knowledgeable, helpful, wonderful person you are if you can't communicate with the people who are dialling in. Even though it's clearly it's unacceptable to resort to racism when faced with the frustration of being unable to understand the accent on the other end of the line people still do it. Given that call centres can't turn away the shitheels who behave that way (because the execs don't deem racism a good enough reason for ending the call  ) upping the English language requirements would reduce the frustration and thus save the staff from this sort of abuse. And hell, it might even improve the general perception of outsourced call centres.I also want to make one more final and very important point. Making an observation of a trend which happens to include a racial element is not racist. Using that observation to prejudice your views of an entire race is when it becomes racist. Observe: - Not racist: "I hate Indian call centres because I often have trouble understanding/being understood." - Racist: "I'm not shopping there! It's run by Indians, you know what those call centres are like." rolleyes fucked around with this message at 13:17 on May 7, 2011 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2011 13:15
|
|
|
Brendas Baby Daddy posted:racist  greazeball posted:A person's accent says nothing about their mastery of the language, it's just another thing for people to make snap judgments on. If your accent makes you difficult to comprehend to the people using the call centre then there's not much point in you being there. I'm not trying to make excuses for the racists, I'm pointing out that there's a flaw in the way outsourced call centres recruit. Of course, that in turn is all driven by company execs, so it's unlikely to change when the execs are sat in the US/UK and don't have to use their own call centres. Let me be clear, this problem is not due to lack of suitable candidates. I spent 3 months training new staff in India for my company (not a call centre) and, for once, because this is a western company upper management recognised that the single most important criteria was that they could communicate with the rest of the company - not just that they could comprehend, but that they could be comprehended by other staff also speaking English in our various locations all over the world. Yes we had to turn away some candidates who were well qualified on paper, but we had no trouble finding other candidates just as qualified who also ticked the "can comprehend/be comprehended" box. I've also had my fair share of terrible experiences with outsourced call centres, the most recent being with Acer last week. It was, in fact, an Indian call centre (I asked the rep, because there were a lot of centres in the city I was in so I was interested to see where he was) and unfortunately he didn't understand my (British) accent very well. This resulted in my laptop being sent away for a repair and being sent straight back again unfixed because the fault description recorded by the rep wasn't correct. Sure, I've had bad experiences with call centres in my country too, but that has all come down to idiotic company policies or other issues which means they can't do what I'm asking them to do, not that the rep can't understand what I'm saying. The bottom line here is, literally, the bottom line. Employing foreign staff with good English skills costs more than employing those who don't have said skills. Management thinks that so long as they can read the script it's all good, when in reality it just ends up causing frustration. And, among less desirable types, frustration leads to racism. But it seems that's not enough of a reason to spend more money. rolleyes fucked around with this message at 14:01 on May 7, 2011 |
|
#
¿
May 7, 2011 13:50
|
|
|
hello clarice posted:Exactly! It's like $10k, obviously totally unrelated. Yet this woman flips a bitch at me for like 15 minutes. At a guess: she knows she's been rumbled so is hoping she can yell her way out of it, because it's worked in the past.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2011 10:30
|
|
|
Weatherman posted:Are you providing unsolicited free services? Because if I don't know you from Adam and you call me with some offer, I'm hanging up on you too. Invis, unless you work for the government or a charity then I'm with this guy. Any other business is not going to be offering something genuinely free, it's going to be a loss leader for something. The only 'free' financial services I've ever been called up for were loss-leaders such as "Hay free credit check if you sign up with us and £24.99 a month if you forget to cancel". As I'm already on the TPS list (UK equivalent of Do Not Call) these calls are illegal and I feel fully justified in hanging the gently caress up.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2011 09:46
|
|
|
I think what he's saying is that, much as I suspected, it's not a genuinely free service - it's a loss leader to get people on board with your investment company, and no doubt if anyone turns up they'll get the hard sell. So long as your company sticks to whatever your local version of TPS/DNC is then I'm fine with that, as I am with all companies which stick to the law. The reason people hate telemarketing firms is that a significant portion of them don't stick to the law regard opt-outs.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2011 13:52
|
|
|
I gotta admit that if there is a Do Not Call mechanism in your country and you don't use it and you're hanging up on telemarketers them yeah, you're kind of being a dick. And you've got no-one to blame for your frustration but yourself for not taking the small amount of time to put your number on it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 1, 2011 16:54
|
|
|
JackRabbitStorm posted:Well, I was just incredibly rude to a customer, and I know it was wrong but it felt so loving good I can see how the kind of person who's already pitching a fit might consider that rude but so far as I'm concerned that's pretty funny. 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 24, 2011 11:13
|
|
|
That's a problem with your employer's business model, don't blame your customers. If it's not profitable to allow it then management shouldn't allow it. If it's a legal right then that's the market your employer chose to operate in so they should have factored in having to swallow those costs. End of the day, your customers have every right to ask for that if their contract allows it and "in this economy" I can fully understand people who need to save wherever they can.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2011 15:47
|
|
|
Wait, isn't requiring you to be at work but not paying you for... you know... being at work hilariously illegal?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 29, 2011 11:24
|
|
|
I'd read this if I were you. Unfortunately, so long as your contract says you can be called on to work overtime, then you're contractually obliged to do it. edit: Assuming you're 21 or above then one thing to consider is that the minimum wage is £5.93, i.e. with your £50 a day figure then working more than 8 hours 25 minutes a day would be in violation of minimum wage laws unless they're paying you for the overtime. rolleyes fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Aug 4, 2011 |
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2011 22:57
|
|
|
Fil5000 posted:Are you absolutely sure? I know our place doles out contracts that have your contracted hours up at the top where you'll see it but further down is a section that says that you will work "whatever reasonable overtime is required" (which of course opens up the whole thing of what constitutes "reasonable"). I would be amazed if something to that effect wasn't in there given that they're paying for the overtime.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2011 21:29
|
|
|
Fizzle posted:I have a group for my co-workers on Facebook that can't see anything other than what I post on my wall and albums I allow them to (no seeing other's posts, no seeing tagged photos, etc) It's served me well If you don't feel able to say "no" to facebook requests then this is the best way to deal with it. I have a group just like this for managers known for snooping which is locked down so that literally all they can see is the things that facebook won't allow you to restrict which is basically my name. No photos, no updates, nothing.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 8, 2011 08:28
|
|
|
peniscurve posted:I had a co-worker get his tires slashed, and the bank did nothing about it. They just said that their cameras got nothing on tape, and that the note written on the car was could have be fabricated so there was nothing to prove it was a customer. The note said, "HAVE A SAFE DRIVE HOME BITCH! - Mark." Mark was a customer who came in earlier that day and was freaking out because he got an overdraft from being at the casino all night. Alright, what? Regardless of the employer being a shitheel about this, why on earth would he not go to the police over that?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2011 14:29
|
|
|
So here's a question, call centre goons. I have on occasion had to phone up and be angry with the company (most notably Vodafone UK who outright tried to defraud me) but when I do that I always try to make that distinction - i.e. "the company" this or "vodafone" that, rather than "you". Does that make your experience any less unpleasant or am I just making things worse as sentences then tend to sound rather awkward?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2011 13:45
|
|
|
KOMI posted:You're right as well. Obviously if every customer was as clear headed and un-confrontational as your example then it would be a pleasant exchange, if not at the very least an amicable one. What I mean is how most customers really just use it as an initial pleasantry only to completely 180 on you and personally attack you anyway. Yeah if I'm gonna do that I do carry it through, there's not much point going to the effort otherwise. I'm also not doing it to make myself look good, I just thought it might make people's jobs a bit less miserable. And there are occasions where it's justifiably all but impossible to keep calm. In my Vodafone example from earlier, I was outright lied to by a rep having phoned up to clarify something, and then overbilled for products I did not ask for to the tune of £450 in 3 months. I called up each and every month to try to get them to stop, and each and every time they told me I couldn't because the system said I'd authorised it. Well what can we do? Well you can break your contract early and pay an early termination fee? No, gently caress you. On the final "Now I'm not angry at you, but here's why your company is loving me over" call I spent over 90 minutes arguing with a supervisor because he was blindly trusting the system until I threatened to submit a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act to get a copy of the recording of the original call proving their own rep had defrauded me. That finally got them to review the tape and oh guess what, I was right. ...so anyway, on that occasion it would have taken a taken a greater man than me to remain calm, but I tried my best to direct my anger at the company and their stupid policies rather than the individuals involved. Apart from the rep who hosed me over in the first place, that guy deserves whatever he's got coming.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2011 19:50
|
|
|
Cold callers do ask for it sometimes. A few months ago I needed to renew my car insurance so was going through all the comparison websites. I swear to god I unticked every "Hurr yes please share my info with cold callers" box - maybe I missed one, maybe some sites just aren't very scrupulous, but whatever I ended up being cold called. Hello! I'm calling from Scumbag Warranties - I notice that your car's warranty has expired and you need to renew it. Can I ask where you got this number please? From an insurance comparison website. Oh, right. Well I'm sure you have my details in front of you then, does it say when the car was first registered? Er, yes. 1998. Correct. No thanks, I do not want a warranty for my 13 year old vehicle. Please can you place my number on your do not call list. Thanks, goodbye. A couple of things here: - "need to renew it" - that's a lovely scare tactic - They had the age of the car, who the hell buys a warranty on a 13 year old car? These people could save themselves a lot of hassle from people less polite than me if they'd just apply some common sense to the numbers they're dialling out to.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2011 11:00
|
|
|
I have to agree with you on that. I switch insurance (car and house), electricity, and savings providers roughly yearly for exactly this reason. I know why they do what they do though - lowest common denominator again. Most people are too apathetic to switch around, so they want to lure in those people with a 6 month offer and then milk them for years.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2011 15:13
|
|
|
It's in situations like that where, despite teenage me probably doing what my username suggests at time, I'm glad my parents drilled a bit of financial common sense in to me. Come on people, it's not hard. Write down your big outgoings. Write down your incoming salary. Take the difference, and put aside at least some of that into savings in case something like that happens before going out and spending the rest. And pay your drat bills on time.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2011 17:28
|
|
|
The worst one I encountered recently was for MBNA, which wants you to speak to it. "Please give a short description of why you are calling." "Blocked card." "Did you say: lost card?" "NO!" Later on... "Please speak your credit card number including security code into the phone now." Hahaha no. Just no. Did you consider I might not be calling from somewhere where I had privacy? In the end I literally just coughed at it until it gave me an operator. Oh and the card turned out to be blocked because I used it to donate to charity. Apparently this is automatic, in which case: a) wtf b) Why is this not stated anywhere?!
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2012 15:39
|
|
|
Tiggum posted:I really don't understand those ones where a recorded voice asks you to describe the issue you want help with. I don't know how I could ever hope to do that in a way that a computer will actually understand. Or am I completely misunderstanding how that's supposed to work? That's pretty much what the MBNA one does (by asking why you're calling) and, based on my experience above, you're right. Ok so admittedly "blocked" is kinda similar to "lost" but if you know that's going to be a problem then why are you implementing a system which can't cope with two common words? The MBNA one is especially infuriating because it won't allow you to use the keypad at all until it's failed to do the voice recognition thing a few times. I'm still always polite to the agents when I (eventually) get through but jesus, at least try not to piss callers off before they've even got started. I can certainly see why some people would be irate when they got through.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2012 14:12
|
|
|
Bovril Delight posted:When your card number gets stolen, an easy way to check if it's active is to try a charity donation. Yeah I get this, but in the past (for non-charity stuff but transactions their system flagged) they've sent me an SMS and all I have to do to 'unflag' the transaction is respond "Yes" to the SMS. On this occasion they did jack poo poo, which then obviously led to that awkward situation at the checkout when the cashier goes "I'm sorry, it's asking me to phone this number..." next time I tried to use the card. Phone me, robocall me, text me, whatever - don't just block the drat thing and then leave me looking like an idiot. Anyway I'll try to stop derailing now. 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2012 10:57
|
|
|
Do the email surveys which get sent out after some calls reflect back on the particular agent involved with the call? I just received one which asked detailed information about what I thought about the way the agent did their job having called my insurer to discuss my renewal price, which I filled out very positively because frankly the guy did a good job, knew his poo poo and got me a lower price without me even having to ask for it. Kinda hoping I've made someone's day a bit better.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2012 14:49
|
|
|
miryei posted:Then they will rant about how everyone these days uses cards, but THEY always pay with checks because you can't trust computers and when society collapses and cards stop working, the kids growing up these days won't even know how to use a check! One of my relatives is like this and I don't get how that train of thought works. The days of banks having a huge vault containing bags with "$" on the side and a stack of gold bars in the corner are long gone. The only reason they keep 'real' money on site is to dispense notes and make change; all fund transfers (cheque or otherwise) are electronic. 'When' society collapses you're SOL whether you use cheques or not; after all, if you give someone a cheque what exactly are they going to draw it on? The only people who might have an advantage are those who have a huge stack of notes under their bed, and that'll last a few weeks at best until people realise fiat currency has no intrinsic value, revert to trade and barter and burn the paper money for warmth because there's no power. I tried explaining this to said relative and it just made her angry. As you may have guessed from my spelling of the word 'cheque' I'm in the UK, so if it's any consolation the stupid exists on both sides of the Atlantic.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2012 11:14
|
|
|
spog posted:Going by recent events (petrol 'crisis')have shown anything, it is that British society is only a few weeks from 'tickety-boo' to 'eating people'. Well to be fair the government basically engineered that one by saying "Go fill your tanks now! Oh and keep (more petrol than you're meant to store on residential property) in a can in your garage!  ".It's a hard one to get right though. It makes sense to advise people to slowly build up what effectively amounts to a small 'stockpile' in their fuel tank, but the minute you suggest that might be necessary there's always a minority who panic buy regardless.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2012 12:19
|
|
|
Robzor McFabulous posted:They don't even mention the name of the company in the automated message, and I've long since chucked out their postcard. Any suggestions? I'm in the UK, by the way. Are you signed up to the TPS? If you are then what they're doing is illegal and you should talk to your phone provider. If you're not then I'd suggest getting signed up!
|
|
#
¿
Apr 12, 2012 20:41
|
|
|
In order to redress the balance of call centre shittyness a little, today I agreed to take an end of call survey even though the number I'd called was costing me about 20p a minute due to having called it on my mobile and it being outside my contract. Hope those tens get you a bonus, car-insurance-policy-amendments call centre rep.
|
|
#
¿
May 21, 2012 22:59
|
|
|
savesthedayrocks posted:You are being sold stuff all the time whether you realize it or not. It depends on how bad/good the person selling it to you is. I always wonder just how much of the population is susceptible to marketing, but apparently it's enough of it to sustain the whole idea of marketing so presumably that's a large percentage. Personally, I'm one of those people marketing types hate; if I've decided I need a particular item I will spend a few days studiously researching all of the possible alternatives to find the <whatever> which best fits my needs. This often involves comparing various facts/attributes about the <whatever> in a spreadsheet. I recognize that this makes me an unusual case compared to most of the population. Most recent example: when changing electricity suppliers, I took the time to figure out my actual usage and create a (frankly, horrible) spreadsheet which allowed me to plug in the various unit prices from different companies to arrive at a cost per year, then went with the cheapest.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2012 14:25
|
|
|
BigDave posted:Yup. Twice a year like clockwork. Obligatory Dilbert: 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2012 21:11
|
|
|
Loving Life Partner posted:
So I'm assuming the answer here is "Ahahahahahahaha. No."
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 15:28
|
|
"I need to cancel my policy, I was completely dissatisfied with your claims service"
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 04:58 |
|
|
Surely if someone is spending half their day doing stuff which isn't work related then their productivity would reflect that? Of all places I'd expect that to be true in a call centre, where work and downtime is tracked to the nearest second. What I'm getting at is that it's a management problem not a technology problem so banning email is (as you said) ridiculous. But, again, I guess call centres aren't known for employing the brightest stars in management.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 2, 2014 15:08
|
|