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Are call centre workers 'thick'
mills705
Posts: 556 Forum Member
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I go on another forum related to my work and help people as best I can.
There are a few people who also post on there that say some one that does my job is thick and is greasy kid!
I work in customer services in insurance and deal with a host of calls everyday.
I had to go through nearly 2 months training and sit exams every year to ensure competency.
So yeah really thick!
I can understand some sales or service people being like that for companies but not within financial services which requires specialist knowledge.
Why do call centres get a bad rep? I'm talking about inbound here
There are a few people who also post on there that say some one that does my job is thick and is greasy kid!
I work in customer services in insurance and deal with a host of calls everyday.
I had to go through nearly 2 months training and sit exams every year to ensure competency.
So yeah really thick!
I can understand some sales or service people being like that for companies but not within financial services which requires specialist knowledge.
Why do call centres get a bad rep? I'm talking about inbound here
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Most people in most call-centres probably are a bit thick.
Obviously there are exceptions to this. Being in the financial sector you have to be quite clever (or at least have your staff well trained) so you can continue to shaft/scam people.
Regardless though, most call centres clearly aren't going to be supporting the financial services sector. There's a world of industry out there!
In terms of call centres maybe some just aren't trained in all aspects of the business they are required to respond about, it's could be the employers fault to a large degree.
Exactly this,
I have spoken to some very polite staff at BT Tech support in the past, that have no idea about equipment, but instead read from a generic script on a screen which is normally a load of rubbish. To make matters worse you often have to repeat yourself countless times, if you are put through to an Indian call center. So yes in a lot of cases it is down to the employers fault, for grabbing as much profit without giving the needed training.
I agree I guess my line of work is different to some. I feel I don't scam people either thanks for the dig. I try to help people as much as I can and make sure that what they have is right for them. Otherwise they could find themselves without what tey need.
I agree a business needs to relax the reigns however companies within my sector are terrified about the FCA as they do not wish to be fined at all.
For example we have one department which deals with complaints all day. Within this department people respond to complaints and if we have cased a complaint it is noted on a programme we have on our computers.
Recently I had a complaint against me. A woman had called in to set up a new policy. My scripting for payments was clear and as per our terms. Her first direct debit bounced and she got charged etc for it. She complained and got the charges back as goodwill. This to me admits guilt within the company. My manager disregarded it!
They also usually have near-impossible targets to attain, with regular 'micro-managing' in place to put them under relentless pressure. The BBC series 'The Call Centre' was hugely misleading, you don't get big, cuddly characters like Nev running 99% of these places, you get horrible jobsworths who check on toilet breaks and listen to calls expressly looking for ways to catch their colleagues out...
Oh come now, we all know how crooked the financial services sector is ;-)
Yep, this.
No, I don't think so.
Having worked in an outbound call-centre (the only saving grace was that it wasn't sales) I had to keep to a rough script and I did well, but I was working with people who made blocks of chalk look intelligent.
They're the sort of places that naturally attracts a high-turnover of very young, inexperienced, unqualified dim-wits.
I would have been about 22 at the time and I was one of the oldest there (apart from a few supervisors)
People have successfully sued my company for not being made aware of what cover they have by agents or a company.
Best example of this would be: a courtesy car for your car insurance. Do you get one when your vehicle has been written off?
We do have calls listened to quite regularly!
You aren't helping your own case saying things like this
I repeat, the sector is crooked.
I can see why they sued
I notice you haven't answered my question..... The answer is normally no as you get the courtesy car when the vehicle is in for an insured repair. So if someone has a write off and essentially has to have a car for work then they aren't going to be happy if they don't have a car!
My only point was that the sector is crooked.
You replied by stating that your own company had been sued!
That comes across as pretty damning ya'know when you're trying to say you aren't crooked ;-). Never become a lawyer.. or work in public relations..
And I didn't answer the question because to be quite frank.. I couldn't care less?
It's not all call centres and it's not all call centre workers - there are some very good ones, and some very competent staff out there. They have a bad rep because of the bad ones, for banks who don't care, for grasping transport and utility companies who farm the service out to the lowest bidder in the Phils or India, and from outbound high pressure sales calls - people don't disassociate the two when talking about them. And yes, I've spoken to financial services staff who have either been remarkably thick, or who have had training and learnt nothing - I had one investment where the call centre worker was insistent I send him my passport - nothing else would do - until he would release the funds into my account. Two minutes with his boss - bang - the money was there. That's either bad training or crap systems. Both of which are fairly common.
You call. Tell them something. They say all the right things. Nothing happens. Yo all again. Explain the problems again. There should be notes on the account. Their isn't. You have to go over everything again. Then again the next time. And so on until you get through to someone competent.
I've had the same with call centres for BT. O2. Tesco. Argos. Virgin media. Sky. To name a few.
Do I think they're thick? No. Not at all. Do I think the majority of them can't be bothered and just say what the person calling wants to hear to get them off the line ? From my experience yes.
Whilst there, I was supervised by people who probably thought algebra was the next big thing at Ann Summers.
Mostly Team Leaders
I agree. I've phoned a few call centres, BT, Tesco and my insurance company LV and they have been top class.
I suppose it's down to attitude of the people who phone. I suppose many are angry. I just ask the questions, some advisors don't know the answers, understandable really as they don't all know everything.