Confessions of a Call Centre Worker

[V A N Q U I S H]

Here’s a list of observations that I’ve had while working in a call centre. If anyone else has more please add!

1 – Don’t call in with the attitude that you are the only person in the world with the issue you are having. Guess what? I just finished dealing with forty other calls exactly like yours!

2 - If I sound bored or non-empathetic about your predicament that is the reason why, I’ve already dealt with the same thing over and over. Conversely if I do sound empathetic it is all an act, I don’t give a damn about you forgetting your password, and no, it’s not cute, and it’s damn annoying.

3 – A call center is usually a cubicle farm, not everyone gets a nice window view. Instead, most workers are sitting in a cubicle with the choice of staring at the wall, their screen or if they are lucky, going on the internet (even that becomes boring after a while). A conversation with a desk mate is next to impossible as calls keep coming in.

4 – Sometimes you may encounter a telephone representative who seems really jolly. It’s probably because they are consuming alcohol; it is a common practice for some call centre workers to self-medicate with a nice rum and coke so that the time flies by.

5 – If your name is something like Mike Litoris, or Long Wang, you bet your ass that we will call five colleagues over to have a look at the screen and laugh about you.

6 – Screaming and swearing will cause one of these few things:

- If the representative is new it’ll confuse them as to what they are supposed to do and it usually means that you don’t get what you were initially after.
- If the representative is seasoned like me, I just recline the chair sit back and watch the fireworks. All my responses will be straight out of a scripting book and I will sound monotonic, which of course makes you even angrier which makes my boredom dissipate. And of course, you probably cussed at me at some point so when I’ve had enough of your ranting I’ll hang up when I choose.

7 – Asking for a supervisor. If the CSR thinks it’s warranted they will get a supervisor as soon as they can. If you are being a jerk the common reaction when you ask for a supervisor is to put you on hold and tell you that they are going to get the supervisor. Instead, they visit the bathroom, check their mailbox, say hi to the guy that they trained with when they see him in the hallway, and once they realize that you are still on the line, they will get the supervisor.

8 – Some of us actually do care if your problem is out of the ordinary, we are humans as well, we just may be a little jaded after dealing with thousands of calls per year.

That's all I can think of right now.


Added by others:

TruHP
-if we put you on hold we could still hear everything you said.

-the "supervisor" that you wanted to talk to so badly? Just a buddy from the next cubicle over.

-We'll mute the phone when you are ranting and talk about you or the weather and wait til your done.

trini shotta
-If you're calling about your sensitive personal information (i.e. bank, government, etc.) there WILL be security questions. Don't yell and cuss if you can't answer them. It's your info we're protecting. And I won't access your account anyways, so keep cussing.

-Don't call with a complex question when you don't have time. I need time to look into it so I can give you the correct answer. I don't care that you're at work... call when you're not busy!

-Don't call with a crying baby in your arms!! Put the kid to sleep!

-Crying about your problems will get you empathy, but won't change anything. Sorry.

[fratello25]

I think when you get to point of starting this thread, it's time for a new job. Good luck!

[hopsoid]

I think when you get to point of starting this thread, it's time for a new job. Good luck!

Exactly what I was thinking; you should move along.

[artsreview]

Don't do it, man. You're young. You got your whole life ahead of you.

[TruHP]

I remember working at a call centre---hated it. I have some things to add:

-if we put you on hold we could still hear everything you said.

-the "supervisor" that you wanted to talk to so badly? Just a buddy from the next cubicle over.

-We'll mute the phone when you are ranting and talk about you or the weather and wait til your done.

[snoopdawgz]

Are my calls really recorded when the operator states that beforehand? if so are they archived if I needed one for reference?

[appleb]

So how's the weather in India?

[thumper80]

5 – If your name is something like Mike Litoris, or Long Wang, you bet your ass that we will call five colleagues over to have a look at the screen and laugh about you.

Lmao i used to work at umm well i rather not say but we would make tons of outbound calls ( sales and collections ) . I used call the whole team over to hear some of the stupid answering machine recordings .

I took some weird service calls too very weird .....
Caller : Hi my computer has a black screen and will not turn on .
Me : Ok is the power light amber or green ?
Caller : what ??? i'm not stupid it's black !!! no screen hello
Me : Umm ok what happens when you press the power button ?
Caller : Nothing
Me : Is it plugged in? and do you have power to your tower ?
Caller : do you think i would call you if i didn't check this things !!!! i am not stupid you know , i'll have your job for this !!!!
Me: ok are you going to be home with in a hr ? I'll take a look at it

I'd get to the home and just turn the power button on the monitor
then get the oh i tried that and it never worked for me ... weird hey

That happened 4 times for me while i worked there.

I have tons of stupid stories from working there

[champlinD]

Here’s a list of observations that I’ve had while working in a call centre. If anyone else has more please add!

1 – Don’t call in with the attitude that you are the only person in the world with the issue you are having. Guess what? I just finished dealing with forty other calls exactly like yours!

2 - If I sound bored or non-empathetic about your predicament that is the reason why, I’ve already dealt with the same thing over and over. Conversely if I do sound empathetic it is all an act, I don’t give a damn about you forgetting your password, and no, it’s not cute, and it’s damn annoying.

3 – A call center is usually a cubicle farm, not everyone gets a nice window view. Instead, most workers are sitting in a cubicle with the choice of staring at the wall, their screen or if they are lucky, going on the internet (even that becomes boring after a while). A conversation with a desk mate is next to impossible as calls keep coming in.

4 – Sometimes you may encounter a telephone representative who seems really jolly. It’s probably because they are consuming alcohol; it is a common practice for some call centre workers to self-medicate with a nice rum and coke so that the time flies by.

5 – If your name is something like Mike Litoris, or Long Wang, you bet your ass that we will call five colleagues over to have a look at the screen and laugh about you.

6 – Screaming and swearing will cause one of these few things:

- If the representative is new it’ll confuse them as to what they are supposed to do and it usually means that you don’t get what you were initially after.
- If the representative is seasoned like me, I just recline the chair sit back and watch the fireworks. All my responses will be straight out of a scripting book and I will sound monotonic, which of course makes you even angrier which makes my boredom dissipate. And of course, you probably cussed at me at some point so when I’ve had enough of your ranting I’ll hang up when I choose.

7 – Asking for a supervisor. If the CSR thinks it’s warranted they will get a supervisor as soon as they can. If you are being a jerk the common reaction when you ask for a supervisor is to put you on hold and tell you that they are going to get the supervisor. Instead, they visit the bathroom, check their mailbox, say hi to the guy that they trained with when they see him in the hallway, and once they realize that you are still on the line, they will get the supervisor.

8 – Some of us actually do care if your problem is out of the ordinary, we are humans as well, we just may be a little jaded after dealing with thousands of calls per year.

That's all I can think of right now.

So many reasons to hate the CSR.

Laughing at names is moronic because your name might be HardDeep from India.
Don't care about forgotten password? you deserve a kick i the butt. Its job to solve issue.
Drinking while on duty? Need to go to shrink.

[help_questions]

Are my calls really recorded when the operator states that beforehand? if so are they archived if I needed one for reference?

as a former call center IT team manager, I'll thell you that it depends on the type of system/dialler that the company uses. Typically, most diallers today are equipped to record every single call. We used to manually archive them to DVD, and keep it for reference. Occasionally, this archive would be used to follow-up with a client or customer, but more so, the archive was great for finding cause and terminating employees with cause.

All a telemarketer had to do was do/say something on the phone to giver the supervisor a hint that something fishy might be going on (falsefying a sale, not following the script), and the next day, we'd pull every single call that person made in the last 2 months. Playing those calls for employees in the meeting is where they are being terminated is priceless......there is nothing they can lie about. Once we pulled 1 year of bad calls as part of firing a 6 year employee....becuase it was 6 years, we were given a mandate to "crucify" the employee infront of a judge if this termination went to court. Sure enough it did, and they ex-employee had to pay our legal costs becuase the evidence was so crystal clear that the employee should not have tried to sue, says the judge. Our lawyer was frigging expensive........

Of course, the IT people are occasionally "unable" the call where the employee swore at the customer, but that is becuase we chose to be "unable". If any big company tells you they cannot find your call, I argue that they likely don't want to find your call, for what ever reason.

[help_questions]

So how's the weather in India?

there are many call centers in Canada.

[15-20_God]

there are many call centers in Canada.

then how's bramptonssauga?

[V A N Q U I S H]

I remember working at a call centre---hated it. I have some things to add:

-if we put you on hold we could still hear everything you said.

-the "supervisor" that you wanted to talk to so badly? Just a buddy from the next cubicle over.

-We'll mute the phone when you are ranting and talk about you or the weather and wait til your done.

Very true!

Are my calls really recorded when the operator states that beforehand? if so are they archived if I needed one for reference?

Yes, most places have every call archived.

So how's the weather in India?

If by India you mean King and Bay, then it's okay I guess, A/C is getting a little too cold.

So many reasons to hate the CSR.

Laughing at names is moronic because your name might be HardDeep from India.
Don't care about forgotten password? you deserve a kick i the butt. Its job to solve issue.
Drinking while on duty? Need to go to shrink.

Not in India, not Indian. You deserve a kick in the butt for being dumb enough to forget a 4 digit PIN/password. Take 70 of those "I'm an idiot, I forgot my password..." calls per day X 5 times a week X 4 X 12 = drinking/suicide LOL

then how's bramptonssauga?

HAHA We've got a call centre there LOL.

[tritium4ever]

Are my calls really recorded when the operator states that beforehand? if so are they archived if I needed one for reference?

I did work in outbound sales once where calls weren't recorded, but as a general rule (particularly for customer service centres) all calls are recorded and archived. If they say the call is recorded, it definitely is recorded and saved.

Note that there is no requirement for them to tell you a call is being recorded. Under Canadian law only one party needs to know a call is being recorded, and the call centre knows they're recording so there's no need for you to know.

[corrupt123]

Do any attractive girls work there?

Although infrequent, I've spoken to a few CSR's who sounded hot and flirted with me. They also hooked me up with sweet retention plans and/or credit card deals

And not that I wanted to stalk them or anything, but they said it was against them rules for them to tell me what city their call centre was in. She just said "Southern Ontario" - is that normal?