working in a call centre

[tris-]

i got a job a month ago to work in a call centre for wanadoo tech support. i did 4 weeks training (3 weeks was bull shit, 1 week apparently was tech support). ive been live for 2 days now and i cannot grasp what the fuck is wrong with people. i will give a small example -

user "hello, when i run outlook express i get this error blah blah has caused an illegal operation".

me "ok sir im afraid thats a windows error which we dont support. you will need to either contact your vendor or microsoft"

user "you what, do you realise i been waiting an hour"

me "i understand sir but there is no way i can help you"

user "are you listening to me i want help! get me a manager now"

me "im afraid a manager or team leader will not take over this call"

user "ok im staying here untiull you get me one"

me "ok well sir its upto when you terminate the call but i must advise you again no manager or TL will take over this call"

ok so after 10 mins the users are still waiting, and im still telling them nothing can be done. ok so now they tell me thewy want my full name and complains address, i gladly give them that (but i just found out you dont have to give a surname). ive had 6 calls like this now. 5 people are writing in a letter of complaint at my appauling customer service skills and one of them is putting me on BBCs watchdog for wasting his business money (well fuck nut its in the contract we are not liable for business loss of earnings due to the connection).

so can i please ask, if any of you are like these people why?!!? and maybe does anyone know why people are like this? can they not understand "im sorry there is no way to help". what i say to them is perfectly acceptable, clear and concise. some people do grasp the fact you cant help them and say i understand you just support the connection.

these are the same people who go on and on and on and then tell you your not doing anything to help!! try stfu soo i can get a word in and carry on helping. i get people sayikng im not trying to help, of course i work in customer service with the intention to not help people.



then you get the fuckers who say i wanna cancel, even though they agreed to a legaly binding contract stating the contract is 12 months. the only reason is cos they are pissed off! well if they look thast is not a reason to be able to cancel, and talking to me for over an hour will not solve that!
best excuse yet was "i agreed to no contract" ok if you agreed to no contract then how are you a member of wanadoo and why did you give us permission to take monthly payments from your bank account?

 

[plomien]

yup some customers are idiots i have worked for NTL for the last 4 years. I mainly deal with the telephone network but this still means i have to speak with customers.

I do wonder how they cross the road by themselves. My favourite was a customer couldn't make out going calls. I asked have you tried a different phone they said "it was a brand new phone and could not be faulty" I asked them to plug the old one in and guess what it worked!!

BUT they wanted me to send a tech out to fix the phone they just bought which i advised them was not our responsibility and take back to the shop. (which they argued again about for 10 more minutes). :touch:

 

[Vindicator]

I can see why your annoyed and confused at the customers reactions.

If you actually took the time to explain in detail to the people who are going 'IR-rate' Then after you explained to them that it is a PC Software Fault which something either they have done, was done to there PC or somebody they know has changed something on the PC. Problems with stuff like outlook is common enough, I mean if it was me I would have just helped the silly bastard with his problem just to shut him up and if I couldnt fix the problem my self I would give him microsoft's number and let him piss about with them for a few hours.

Ye I know these people are morons and idiots. Rude as well but, they just dont know any better as there ignorant to the fact as to why they cant get online. As far as there concerned 'You' personally are stopping them getting online and if you think you told them already its not your fault and what the fault is, Then guess again because if ya had told them they would have hung up and called somebody else or just felt plain stupid for giving grief to somebody for no reason. A Dumb azzhole does the first part, a Dumb azz does the latter.

Either way. Relax about it a bit man and tell your manager supervisors about the complaints in and why there inc. Also explain to them that you asked them to help and they ignored / refused to help you so basically its there fault.

 

[the_hermit]

I used to work for Telewest customer support, and it was hell. Customers would call up screaming for whatever reason, and you have to be calm and polite.

For what it's worth, most people will yell and scream about "Writing to the manager" or "I'm contacting Watchdog/CAB/Trading Standards/OFTEL/OFSTED" but none of them do... And even if they do, they are still in the wrong!

Angry angry customers don't want to know really - they just want to scream. I had one guy once threatening to kill me and my wife (no, really!) because apparently our guys digging out the front of his house killed all ten of his koi karp in his back garden, and we were liable. I pressed record, pressed notify manager, and sat quietly while he ranted and raved at me,

Six months later, I had to go to court and testify at these things he said/threatened, the tape was played, he was fined £5000.

Anyways - tangent - don't worry about the threats, as long as you do your job right per the company, the customer has nothing to fall back or complain about.

 

[Cyradix]

My favourite is still :

Customer : Are you white or black
Me: white
Customer : ok, I'll allow you to help me then...

 

[yaruar]

My favourite is still :

Customer : Are you white or black
Me: white
Customer : ok, I'll allow you to help me then...

I would have refused to help them after that

 

[Bunnytwo]

yup some customers are idiots i have worked for NTL for the last 4 years. I mainly deal with the telephone network but this still means i have to speak with customers.

Ohhh gawd NTL :touch:

As an NTL customer I've gotta say that they are complete shite (k there is the odd amazing exception).

I'll give you the customer services are very polite, but whatever system you've got over there sucks.

Had problem with the line jammed open and wouldnt' drop the connection no matter what. Guy comes round says need team to come out and repair the line and books me in there and then.

Book time off work... Then I ring that night to ask them what sort of timeframe they will be attending on the day. Opps nope from that morning the booking has mysteriously changed to 8 days later. Nope they can't send me letter confirming this appointment (and nope they wouldn't have told me the date would have changed). Book new date off now, I steam at work that day then that night ask to speak to a manager about this (politely btw), wtf the dates changed yet again uke: . Week later go to parents for the weekend, come back Sunday and theres a card on my mat saying they they had taken it upon themselves to bring the date forward without telling me, had come round on the Saturday and I wasn't in so can I ring them to make another booking One of many incidents of complete @:*%ing incompetence.

Not saying it was the person handling the calls fault, but sure as hell was somebodies and customer services seemed to have no power whatsoever to sort problems created by the company out.

 

[Ezteq]

lol i worked on telephones for about 2 years and NEVER AGAIN it is quite possibly the most soul destroying job on the planet, if some one said to you "hi do you want a job where you speak to rude people for most of the day, are put under extream pressure and get to have abuse hurled at you" what would you say? but ofcourse they never advertise like that its always "challenging" or some shit man if i never spoke on the phone again i'd be happy! folks think its ok and acceptable to be rude to you cos they cant see your face they turn in to arse holes im afraid.

 

[Cyradix]

I would have refused to help them after that

Guess what I did

 

[Ardrias]

Grew a moustasche and invaded a small country?

 

[tris-]

If you actually took the time to explain in detail to the people who are going 'IR-rate'...

yeh that it was i do, i explain fully it is a windows fault, they need to conact vendor, microsoft or someone they know. i also explain we cannot help because wanadoo cannot be liable for fucking up your machine by trying to fix a microsoft problem. and when there is 90 calls waiting, the TLs arnt happy if you help with unsupported calls

 

[Cyradix]

Grew a moustasche and invaded a small country?

Goatee actually

 

[Escape]

When Blueyonder broadband came out here just over 2yrs ago... it could take up to 2 hours in the waiting que, before someone answered the call. The fastest I had was 45mins...

Call centers put you in a long waiting line and by the time the call is answered, most callers are already pissed off. And it's easy to take out that anger on whoever answers the call. You just have to accept, there're alot of foolish people out there and because of the way things run, it's mostly those same people who'll need phone support

 

[Job]

True Escape, thats the main problem.

Endlessly being put through to the wrong department, repeating the whole goddam problem and the results of all your previous attempts at getting it fixed to every single person you get put through to.

You start of nice as pie, then 15 calls, 27 tech support people later, you are an axe murderer.

What is going on is that the company are hiding their incompetence and cost cutting behind the poor tech support, they take the personal brunt of the anger, while the fucknuts at the top rake in the cash.

 

[SilverHood]

Ok Tris - you seem like a nice chapy - you know how to use the internet from home. You are obviously informed of how the internet works.

How many of the people you work with assume that the internet is a black little magic box? Or are just generally IT illiterate?
I've only ever had to call up BT, and tbfh, it's awful. I can explain the problem "exactly" as it is, and I get passed on to someone more "technical". Who passes me on to someone a bit more technical. This last person ends up passing me onto an engineer, who checks what I've said, and says, "my god, you're right". I'll have that fixed in a mintue.
Total length of call = 70 minutes.

There's a reason why people are pissed off.

Oh, and from working in real technical support, when people are rude, ask them if they'd speak to their mothers that way.
If they say yes, ask if you can have her address, and ask if you can record the conversation and send it to her. That shuts them up very very fast.

 

[Breon]

Worked in a BT call centre in doncaster.

All customers are stupid imo :kissit:

 

[Brunore]

My favourite is still :

Customer : Are you white or black
Me: white
Customer : ok, I'll allow you to help me then...

I would have been sacked with my responce to that.

 

[[SS]Gamblor]

I work with Bt Broadband now.. and i've had about 5 angry peeps in 2 weeks on the phones so far.

i've managed to get all but 1 of them to calm down.
but i have to admit i had a great laugh listening to him ranting in about everything
He ended up smashing teh phone of the table/desk and the call ended.
10 misn later the person beside me just looked at me and i could hear him shouting about how we cut him off ( wich i didn't ..)

but yes some user are dumb asses .. it's not there fault, but my job is to help these people connect to the internet ... if they do get very abusive i will tell them i'm only here to help, if they don't take any notice i then tell them i am finding there langauge/attitude personally insulting and that if they continue to verbal abuse me i will have no choice but to end the call.


it's all fun really .. just don't take it personally even if the cust is trying to personally insult u.

as a fall back if they continmue to call u a idiot or whatever and u have a sup listening in .. u could always sue them for deformation of char.

 

[Danya]

Calling someone an idiot isn't defamation of character, it's just being plain insulting and as such you can't sue for slander. You could probably sue them for harrassment or something else though.

 

[Spear]

I worked on a ISP helldesk for 2 years I will never again.

The worst cases that I can remember:

The people that call up tell you the problem you then spend 5mins asking them to goto control panel, etc,
after they say 'yes Im there'
you ask 'ok can you read out what settings you have there'
they reply 'um.. Im not at the machine atm Ill have to call you back'

The people that call up saying there <insert family member here> is at the computer and they can relay the instructions to them. You then spend the next 30mins repeating the same instruction over and over listening as this instruction gets changed and then told to the person at the computer.

The people that call up saying <insert family member here> has broken their connection then spending 30mins listening while they have a shouting match about who broke what and who isn't getting dinner later.

The one woman that called up saying we'd broken her stereo system when she put our CD into it thinking it was a computer.

The guy that called up asking if we could just zip up the internet onto a cd and post it to him.

The many people that call up asking us to fix <insert electrical appliance here> because it is near the computer.

The many many people that call up with a none working connections which you go through and fix then at the end ask them 'Do you have more than one phone line so we can test it while Im on the phone with you?' which they reply 'yes' followed by you getting cut off by their modem.


The main problem with working in a telephone support job is you arn't allowed to just say 'Im amazed you managed to dial our number hell Im amazed your brain has the capacity to tell your heart to keep beating, please kindly take up some other hobby that isn't as mentally challenging'.

 

[snake75]

krazeh works on the phones, tries to pretend he's got an important job.....but he's really just a receptionist without the skirt (that cums out on a fri nite so im led to believe)

 

[Binky the Bomb]

Tris, bud, read my sig... it explains all. I worked ina computer store and i got several phone calls a week just like it. Here's the most common one we got:

User: My computer isn't working.

Me: What appears to be the problem?

User: It's not working.

Me: Right. Can you be more specific? Is it powering up when you push the button? Or is it a problem in windows?

User: I don't know about that, the wife/kids (It's never the person making the call funnily enough) says it's not working. My warranty says it can be 'replaced or fixed at the vendors' so i want it fixed, when can you pick it up?

Me: No problem sir, i just need your details. (Take details, check the records), you don't appear to be on our books sir, when did you buy the computer?

User: Check for the DELL's sold last month then, i'll be there.

(Immediate ding there, we never sold Dell's. He's thinking of a place about twenty miles down the motorway. I tell them this, and then things go rather wrong.)

User: Well your a computer store, i want you to fix it.

Me: Yes sir, that will be sixty euro for pickup, maintenance and drop off, plus parts used, if any.

User: THATS OUTRAGIOUS! My warranty says you have to fix it for free. You are a vendor after all!

Me: Yes sir, we are a vendor of computers and there parts. But that warrranty only applies to the business you bought it off, a business we are not affiliated with. If you want your computer fixed, then i suggest you contact your vendor and arrange it's repair with them, they hold your contract so they will fix it for free.

User: I have rang them, but i get no answer. (eep, done a runner) I want to speak to Mr Newman, he's your boss isn't he (yeah, my boss was very well known in the area).

After i handed the phone over, my boss took control and sorted out the problem, mostly my pointing out exactly what i had said, but with a certain amount of conviction (Not to mention saying it slowly and deliberatly). Suddenly, we can do no wrong and were even thanked for our time. It's one of the reasons i wont answer the phone, you got given the sanitised version of the call, were i was working, there is no law against swearing to staff in there place of business or over the phone.

Reason why people are like that? Who knows, maybe it's some gene we have thats related to phones and answering services, that turns us into pretentious pricks. Either that of the wankers of the world have nothing better to do than to ring up and make life a bloody misery for you. It happens to everyone who has to answer that little ringing monstrosity (yeah, my time at customer services didn't jade me one little bit). Take my advice, get another job, as it will only get worse my friend the longer your on the phones. I was told once i had outlasted the previous customer services people who'd worked there by six months. I was only on the desk 9 months, and had set a record. However, my tech skills were required more in the assembly and repair rooms so i was moved back in there full time.

In all the time i was on the desk though, i never once lost my temper or argued with the customers. Mind you, part of the job description is liasing with the balifs and baristers in the area if someone tried to pull a fast one on payment. Caught several people on there moving days trying to do a flit with unpayed gear and equipment, and relocated it back to the shop (Not to mention having both bailif and barrister looking through all there paperwork and unpayed debts for the area with me. Oh how i laughed an evil laugh).
Small pleasures against those who would make your life hell. Sadly, i doubt you have that power or responsibility available to you (Trust me, it's pretty sweet).

 

[Binky the Bomb]

My god, haldf of us are call centre regects.....WE HAVE A THEME FOR THE FORUMS NOW.

 

[SilverHood]

Dunno if it was real, but got sent a .mp3 file years ago with a user who was having problems with his PC not starting.

Customer: "I just got my new computer delivered, and it's not working!"

CSR: "Is it plugged in?"

Customer: "Is it what? Err, how do I tell?"

CSR: "Ok, we have a SERIOUS PROBLEM"

CSR: "Please disconect all the wires, and put the PC back in the box it came in."

Customer: "My God, is it really that serious?"

CSR: "Abselutely Sir, nothing could be worse"

CSR: "Once everything is packed up, call the people who sold you the PC, and tell them you're too stupid to own a computer"

 

[the_hermit]

I had to deal with an old lady who was most put out when an install crew put cable into her house and managed to drill through her cat in the process...

Being the supervisor on call (joy) I had to go take pictures in order to file the claim. It's amazing what a rather large one-inch masonary bit can do to a cat after drilling through a foot and a half of brickwork.

The old girl - bless her socks - knew more swear words than me, and THEN produced the purchase receipt for her pedigree moggie to the tune of £500. We ended up giving the old dear a cheque for nearly a grand after she sent us the cleaning bill for the blood, and to have what remained of our wiring removed and put right.

Those were the days........

 

[[SS]Gamblor]

so u gave her pussy a good drilling then

 

[the_hermit]

so u gave her pussy a good drilling then

ewww! She was oooooold!

 

[[SS]Gamblor]

it had to be said ... well maybe it didn't .. but i can't help it :kissit:

 

[the_hermit]

it had to be said ... well maybe it didn't .. but i can't help it :kissit:

hehehehe didn't take too long either did it!

 

[Apathy]

Have done summer temp jobs in call centres but cannot possibly imagine doing it for more than a month.

You poor people.

a.
*