To the call centre workers who think the public have an attitude problem: has it occurred to you that half the time we've gotten so wound up by the sheer frustration of being droned at by one robot after another for several minutes while negotiating the automated service that we're pretty much guaranteed to lose it with the first human voice we hear?
ok so if someone went to where your partner/children work and start shouting abuse at them how would you like it?
"I work in a large bank on the phones..and i swear the amount of stupidity i hear on a daily basis is unreal. "
LOL...says someone so highly educated, that they have a job in a call centre.
Excuse me, but I meet some very highly educated people who worked in the call centre I was at. Some were doing it just part time while doing their PhD's or Masters at Uni (I myself was studying for my degree at the time). Others were just unable to find a job that matched their skill set so were working in a call centre to earn some cash while they continued to look.
What a ridiculously comment to make!! :mad::rolleyes:
I have no problem with call centre staff, for whatever service, when I've had to go through an automated service and wait in a queue. It's not their fault if there's been a delay and, sometimes, their hands are tied by the constraints of the job. I recognise that they are under pressure from the 'other end' of the service, too.
However, what I really object to is cold calling, especially as I'm on the TPS (I understand that the TPS rules are not supposed to apply to countries outside of the UK, but I have had calls from within the UK trying to sell me stuff). I start off by being polite and stating that I never 'buy' any item or service as a result of a telephone call, but if they don't get the message and persist I get very annoyed and tend to slam the phone down.
I also have a chuckle when some guy tells me that his name is 'Peter' or 'Richard' when it's patently obvious that the call isn't from within the UK and that 'Peter''s accent is a bit of a giveaway that his parents didn't choose that particular name for him.
I remember working on a customer service desk years ago. A man called up and he was on hands-free (which I really hate and find quite rude). I asked him if he could pick up the phone as there was an echo on the line, I could hear my own voice and it was really off-putting. He said it wasn't possible and apologised.
A few minutes later, I explained that I found it difficult to talk or concentrate and asked him once more if he would be kind enough to pick up the phone. He told me once again he couldn't do this, as he didn't have any arms :eek:
Don't know if he was for real or just thought of that to say as something funny but I was really embarrassed.
Excuse me, but I meet some very highly educated people who worked in the call centre I was at. Some were doing it just part time while doing their PhD's or Masters at Uni (I myself was studying for my degree at the time). Others were just unable to find a job that matched their skill set so were working in a call centre to earn some cash while they continued to look.
What a ridiculously comment to make!! :mad::rolleyes:
When I worked in a call centre, most of us were taking home over £30k a year. That was around 7 years ago, and that was probably more than a lot of most of our customers earned.
To the call centre workers who think the public have an attitude problem: has it occurred to you that half the time we've gotten so wound up by the sheer frustration of being droned at by one robot after another for several minutes while negotiating the automated service that we're pretty much guaranteed to lose it with the first human voice we hear?
I used to work in a call centre that had no automated call system whatsoever. Also, the whole time I worked there, we only had a queue once, of one person. I still used to get at least one call a day where the person complained about waiting for ages in our queue, listening to a robot. I don't know what "queue" they were waiting in, but it certainly wasn't one to speak to me! I don't get why someone would tell such a stupid lie
Another stupid customer was one arrogant guy who was complaining about having to call back with further info, saying he couldn't call during our office hours. I informed him we were open 24 hours, to have him say in reply,
"Well, I work beyond that."
I repeated about us being open 24 hours, thinking he'd misheard, and he still said he "worked beyond that."
I said it a couple more times, receiving the same reply, when I finally cracked and said I was sure his employers were breaking some kind of law by having him work more hours then there are in a day. He hung up.
After working in numerous call centres over the years the stories mount up and become brillliant stories for parties.
We once had a guy call up who threatened to come down to the store we worked in and chase the manager round till he caught him and thump the living daylights out of him
Turned out he was in a wheelchair
"If you look on the remote you want the button that looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of it (the EXT button)"
"Is that the instruction booklet you are unrwapping in the background sir?"
"This tv you sold me has no bloody remote"
"Its in the plastic bag in the packaging in the box"
"Ill call you back im just going out to the bin"
My alltime favourite although related was behind the counter of the HiFi store i worked in where the customer and his friend came in and slammed the Marantz cd player down on the counter and shouted at very close quarters to my colleague
"this f*****g cd player is scratched, ive driven 30 bloody miles paid £200 and its f*****g damaged as soon as i open the box"
At which point my colleague leant over and peeled off the protective covering from the display......
"You C**t2 says his mate to him "you made me drive 30 miles for that" and walked out
He picked up the cd player and just walked out..
And numerous players returned because the button that says remote on/off on the back was in the wrong position
Shops are wonderful places to work until the doors open.
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "Hello sir I am ringing about an outstanding invoice of £500"
<Me> "It was paid two years ago, this is the 9th call asking me for the money"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "Yes I can see that it was paid here on my screen"
<Me> "Why do you keep ringing then?"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "I don't know"
<Me> "Well stop it, it's irritating"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "I'm sorry. Goodbye"
The best one I've had was someone wanting a manager because he refused to answer the data protection questions.
Like we ask them for shits and giggles or something...
That used to do my head in at my last job.
I used to deal with escalations from customers who weren't happy and were looking to escalate things and that one was surprisingly common.
Advisor comes over says customer won't confirm their details and they want to speak to a supervisor/manager. I take over the call and ask what the problem is, customer explains they don't want to have to confirm their details when they call so I'd explain that we have processes in place so we can be sure we are speaking to the correct person and they are authorised to deal with the account etc etc. Customer then tries to start talking about their account without confirming their details so you remind them you can't discuss their account until they've confirmed the details and they go off again, normally mentioning the length of time they've been on the phone whilst missing out the point that if they'd just have confirmed their details at the start their call would normally be finished by then! I would end up telling them that if they wouldn't confirm their details I'd end the call. That normally got them to confirm them.
My alltime favourite although related was behind the counter of the HiFi store i worked in where the customer and his friend came in and slammed the Marantz cd player down on the counter and shouted at very close quarters to my colleague
"this f*****g cd player is scratched, ive driven 30 bloody miles paid £200 and its f*****g damaged as soon as i open the box"
At which point my colleague leant over and peeled off the protective covering from the display......
"You C**t2 says his mate to him "you made me drive 30 miles for that" and walked out
He picked up the cd player and just walked out..
I used to work in a call centre that had no automated call system whatsoever. Also, the whole time I worked there, we only had a queue once, of one person. I still used to get at least one call a day where the person complained about waiting for ages in our queue, listening to a robot. I don't know what "queue" they were waiting in, but it certainly wasn't one to speak to me! I don't get why someone would tell such a stupid lie
Another stupid customer was one arrogant guy who was complaining about having to call back with further info, saying he couldn't call during our office hours. I informed him we were open 24 hours, to have him say in reply,
"Well, I work beyond that."
I repeated about us being open 24 hours, thinking he'd misheard, and he still said he "worked beyond that."
I said it a couple more times, receiving the same reply, when I finally cracked and said I was sure his employers were breaking some kind of law by having him work more hours then there are in a day. He hung up.
this is exactly the type of stuff i have to put up with.
i had a horrible customer a few months ago and she asked what her branches opening hours were so i said 'everyday monday to friday'...meaning that it was opened monday to friday obviously. she then said so your open on sundays? and i said no...were open everyday, between monday and friday. and she just started screaming that i was implying that the branchs were open everyday of the week?! crazy b****...
we also get a lot of customers who fail security...and when they do, they get nasty. also they try this tactic "whats your date of birth? you tell me a recent transaction on your account." hmm no mr customer i think your missing the point.
I worked for BT directory enquiries in the early 90's and one man got particularly irate when I informed him no number was listed for some obscure business. He started shouted and then said 'you didn't find it on purpose because I am black'!! Yes, of course that's it....I can see you're black through these telephone lines...:rolleyes:
we also get a lot of customers who fail security...and when they do, they get nasty. also they try this tactic "whats your date of birth? you tell me a recent transaction on your account." hmm no mr customer i think your missing the point.
The security questions are ridiculous. Last week:
What was your last deposit?
My wages.
How much?
I can't remember... it was on the 28th from "Company." Roughly £x
Oh, we need a more precise figure.
WHY? I've told you my company name where the transfer came from, the date that it came in and a sum of money within 10% accuracy.
Called my insurance
Me: "Do I have a policy with you?"
Them: "Can I take your policy number please?"
That's actually not such a stupid thing to be asked. Where I work, the policies all have a different prefix, for example ABC - 123456789. An ABC policy would be one of ours.
If you stated you had an XYZ policy, not one of ours, sorry.
this is exactly the type of stuff i have to put up with.
i had a horrible customer a few months ago and she asked what her branches opening hours were so i said 'everyday monday to friday'...meaning that it was opened monday to friday obviously. she then said so your open on sundays? and i said no...were open everyday, between monday and friday. and she just started screaming that i was implying that the branchs were open everyday of the week?! crazy b****...
To be perfectly honest the way you have phrased it to your customer has caused a fair amount of the confusion.
If you'd just said "We are open Monday to Friday" then the customer would have no room to assume that you'd be open at the weekend.
Your use of 'everyday' has caused the problem here.
Might have been calling to see if a policy was still active as they never had the paper work to hand.
lol, yeah... needed to change my insurance to my new car, but had no idea who I was insured by and documents were 45 mile away. Made a guess of my year before's insurance company.
I remember working on a customer service desk years ago. A man called up and he was on hands-free (which I really hate and find quite rude). I asked him if he could pick up the phone as there was an echo on the line, I could hear my own voice and it was really off-putting. He said it wasn't possible and apologised.
A few minutes later, I explained that I found it difficult to talk or concentrate and asked him once more if he would be kind enough to pick up the phone. He told me once again he couldn't do this, as he didn't have any arms :eek:
Don't know if he was for real or just thought of that to say as something funny but I was really embarrassed.
You would have thought that is something he would have told you at the beginning...it's not fair that YOU should feel embarassed, how on earth are you supposed to know?
I had a similar case years ago when working for a well-known theatre ticket booking agency, a guy called and asked if he could send us cash as he did not have a credit card, which I explained was not possible, but then I informed him that if he did not have a credit card he could go to one of our retail outlets in town and buy tickets over the counter, to which he shouted back
A very frail sounding elderly gentleman was booking tickets, and was in the middle of giving me his credit card number...
Man '56321452...oooohhhhhh...*thud*'
Me 'Hello? Hello? are you ok?'
I hear a few scuffling sounds, and eventually he comes back on the phone...
Me 'Hello? Are you still there?'
Man 'Yes...I'm still here'
Me 'Are you ok Sir?'
Man 'Oh, yes, it's ok...I had a fall. I'm on the floor, but I'm fine. This often happens, don't worry'
Me 'Are you sure, is there anyone there with you?'
Man 'My wife is in the garden...she will come back in and pick me up eventually...it's no problem...quite confortable down here actually...anyway, where were we...5421452233...'
A very frail sounding elderly gentleman was booking tickets, and was in the middle of giving me his credit card number...
Man '56321452...oooohhhhhh...*thud*'
Me 'Hello? Hello? are you ok?'
I hear a few scuffling sounds, and eventually he comes back on the phone...
Me 'Hello? Are you still there?'
Man 'Yes...I'm still here'
Me 'Are you ok Sir?'
Man 'Oh, yes, it's ok...I had a fall. I'm on the floor, but I'm fine. This often happens, don't worry'
Me 'Are you sure, is there anyone there with you?'
Man 'My wife is in the garden...she will come back in and pick me up eventually...it's no problem...quite confortable down here actually...anyway, where were we...5421452233...'
Comments
ok so if someone went to where your partner/children work and start shouting abuse at them how would you like it?
Excuse me, but I meet some very highly educated people who worked in the call centre I was at. Some were doing it just part time while doing their PhD's or Masters at Uni (I myself was studying for my degree at the time). Others were just unable to find a job that matched their skill set so were working in a call centre to earn some cash while they continued to look.
What a ridiculously comment to make!! :mad::rolleyes:
However, what I really object to is cold calling, especially as I'm on the TPS (I understand that the TPS rules are not supposed to apply to countries outside of the UK, but I have had calls from within the UK trying to sell me stuff). I start off by being polite and stating that I never 'buy' any item or service as a result of a telephone call, but if they don't get the message and persist I get very annoyed and tend to slam the phone down.
I also have a chuckle when some guy tells me that his name is 'Peter' or 'Richard' when it's patently obvious that the call isn't from within the UK and that 'Peter''s accent is a bit of a giveaway that his parents didn't choose that particular name for him.
A few minutes later, I explained that I found it difficult to talk or concentrate and asked him once more if he would be kind enough to pick up the phone. He told me once again he couldn't do this, as he didn't have any arms :eek:
Don't know if he was for real or just thought of that to say as something funny but I was really embarrassed.
When I worked in a call centre, most of us were taking home over £30k a year. That was around 7 years ago, and that was probably more than a lot of most of our customers earned.
what a sweeping generalisation. how the hell would you know how educated I am?
I probably earn more than you.
I used to work in a call centre that had no automated call system whatsoever. Also, the whole time I worked there, we only had a queue once, of one person. I still used to get at least one call a day where the person complained about waiting for ages in our queue, listening to a robot. I don't know what "queue" they were waiting in, but it certainly wasn't one to speak to me! I don't get why someone would tell such a stupid lie
Another stupid customer was one arrogant guy who was complaining about having to call back with further info, saying he couldn't call during our office hours. I informed him we were open 24 hours, to have him say in reply,
"Well, I work beyond that."
I repeated about us being open 24 hours, thinking he'd misheard, and he still said he "worked beyond that."
I said it a couple more times, receiving the same reply, when I finally cracked and said I was sure his employers were breaking some kind of law by having him work more hours then there are in a day. He hung up.
We once had a guy call up who threatened to come down to the store we worked in and chase the manager round till he caught him and thump the living daylights out of him
Turned out he was in a wheelchair
"If you look on the remote you want the button that looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of it (the EXT button)"
"Is that the instruction booklet you are unrwapping in the background sir?"
"This tv you sold me has no bloody remote"
"Its in the plastic bag in the packaging in the box"
"Ill call you back im just going out to the bin"
My alltime favourite although related was behind the counter of the HiFi store i worked in where the customer and his friend came in and slammed the Marantz cd player down on the counter and shouted at very close quarters to my colleague
"this f*****g cd player is scratched, ive driven 30 bloody miles paid £200 and its f*****g damaged as soon as i open the box"
At which point my colleague leant over and peeled off the protective covering from the display......
"You C**t2 says his mate to him "you made me drive 30 miles for that" and walked out
He picked up the cd player and just walked out..
And numerous players returned because the button that says remote on/off on the back was in the wrong position
Shops are wonderful places to work until the doors open.
<Me> "It was paid two years ago, this is the 9th call asking me for the money"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "Yes I can see that it was paid here on my screen"
<Me> "Why do you keep ringing then?"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "I don't know"
<Me> "Well stop it, it's irritating"
<Fleet hire call centre worker> "I'm sorry. Goodbye"
One night whilst rather drunk I put my casino membership card in the ATM instead of my bank card.
That used to do my head in at my last job.
I used to deal with escalations from customers who weren't happy and were looking to escalate things and that one was surprisingly common.
Advisor comes over says customer won't confirm their details and they want to speak to a supervisor/manager. I take over the call and ask what the problem is, customer explains they don't want to have to confirm their details when they call so I'd explain that we have processes in place so we can be sure we are speaking to the correct person and they are authorised to deal with the account etc etc. Customer then tries to start talking about their account without confirming their details so you remind them you can't discuss their account until they've confirmed the details and they go off again, normally mentioning the length of time they've been on the phone whilst missing out the point that if they'd just have confirmed their details at the start their call would normally be finished by then! I would end up telling them that if they wouldn't confirm their details I'd end the call. That normally got them to confirm them.
That is a cracker of a story.
this is exactly the type of stuff i have to put up with.
i had a horrible customer a few months ago and she asked what her branches opening hours were so i said 'everyday monday to friday'...meaning that it was opened monday to friday obviously. she then said so your open on sundays? and i said no...were open everyday, between monday and friday. and she just started screaming that i was implying that the branchs were open everyday of the week?! crazy b****...
we also get a lot of customers who fail security...and when they do, they get nasty. also they try this tactic "whats your date of birth? you tell me a recent transaction on your account." hmm no mr customer i think your missing the point.
The security questions are ridiculous. Last week:
What was your last deposit?
My wages.
How much?
I can't remember... it was on the 28th from "Company." Roughly £x
Oh, we need a more precise figure.
WHY? I've told you my company name where the transfer came from, the date that it came in and a sum of money within 10% accuracy.
That's actually not such a stupid thing to be asked. Where I work, the policies all have a different prefix, for example ABC - 123456789. An ABC policy would be one of ours.
If you stated you had an XYZ policy, not one of ours, sorry.
To be perfectly honest the way you have phrased it to your customer has caused a fair amount of the confusion.
If you'd just said "We are open Monday to Friday" then the customer would have no room to assume that you'd be open at the weekend.
Your use of 'everyday' has caused the problem here.
You called a company to see if you had a policy with them...?:o
Might have been calling to see if a policy was still active as they never had the paper work to hand.
I can appreciate how awful this must be at times but seriously, if a job makes you feel like this, you have to ask yourself if it's really worth it.
lol, yeah... needed to change my insurance to my new car, but had no idea who I was insured by and documents were 45 mile away. Made a guess of my year before's insurance company.
You would have thought that is something he would have told you at the beginning...it's not fair that YOU should feel embarassed, how on earth are you supposed to know?
I had a similar case years ago when working for a well-known theatre ticket booking agency, a guy called and asked if he could send us cash as he did not have a credit card, which I explained was not possible, but then I informed him that if he did not have a credit card he could go to one of our retail outlets in town and buy tickets over the counter, to which he shouted back
'Oh don't be so stupid, I'm in a wheelchair!'
:eek:
Guy calls up one day and books tickets for a show, he starts giving me his credit card number...
Man 'Yes, it's 543289SQUUUUUAAAWWWKK!'
Me 'Sorry, I didn't catch that'
Man 'Sorry...5432896652SQUUUAAAAWWWWKKKK!;
Me 'Sorry, but there seems to be some sort of noise...'
Man ;Oh, sorry that's my parrot. He's usually pretty well-behaved. Anyway, let's try again. 54324785142SQUUUUAAAAAAWWWWKKKK!'
Me 'Sorry, I still didn't get it...is there anything you can do about the noise?'
Man 'OK...hang on a minute (puts phone to the side)...SQQQUUUUAAAWWWWK! SQUUUUUAAAWWWWKKKK!SQUUUAAA.......!!!'
Complete silence.
Man 'That's better...now, where were we?'
Me 'Errrr...what did you do?'
Man 'Oh, it's ok...I...took care of it...anyway, 543241524...'
:eek::eek::eek:
A very frail sounding elderly gentleman was booking tickets, and was in the middle of giving me his credit card number...
Man '56321452...oooohhhhhh...*thud*'
Me 'Hello? Hello? are you ok?'
I hear a few scuffling sounds, and eventually he comes back on the phone...
Me 'Hello? Are you still there?'
Man 'Yes...I'm still here'
Me 'Are you ok Sir?'
Man 'Oh, yes, it's ok...I had a fall. I'm on the floor, but I'm fine. This often happens, don't worry'
Me 'Are you sure, is there anyone there with you?'
Man 'My wife is in the garden...she will come back in and pick me up eventually...it's no problem...quite confortable down here actually...anyway, where were we...5421452233...'
It is no more...it has ceased to be...it is an ex-parr....ok, ok...I'll get me coat.