Have you ever worked in call center?

*training

I work in a call center and I am really hating my job right now. I got a complaint yesterday that led to a verbal warning. I called out today

I never coped. Unrealistic call time targets and unrealistic customer service targets. I hated being a verbal punch bag for a corporation that constantly screwed up, didn't learn anything and didn't care.

It was the worst job I've ever had. I think I lasted three weeks.

This job (insurance company call center) has been eye opening. It is shocking to find out just how stupid so many people are

I was a phone sex operator in 1995. Does that count?

..an in-house travel call center. in other words I was a fellow employee with the engineer I was talking to. I got along great with the old timers and higher ups, but as new people started filtering in , compliance rather than customer service became the norm putting us travel arrangers in a more adversarial position with the callers and admins. I bailed(retired) a year ago after 22 years! hated my last 7 years there, but did some wonderful work. The fraus I worked with were all about CYA. I broke rules a lot to help out the travelers, realizing how hard things were for them out on the road.

I did outbound calls for Marlboro Miles customers to survey they about their purchases. I quit after a short while, but not after I called a couple of spouses of deceased customers who didn't appreciate the windproof lighters.

R3 I’m in the same boat. I’m not a punching bag for the company, I’m just trying to help. When did it become ok to scream at other human beings on the phone? I just want to hang up on some clients because they have no manners at all.

I work for a company here in the UK in one of their contact centres. I have to say that they are, by far, the best employers I've had so far. I'm disabled and they have been so damned supportive of me - giving me time off for doctors and hospital appointments, arranging my shift patterns so that I can get to work easily, even little things like making sure that my workspace is adapted for my needs. Compare that to some other companies I've worked for, and yeah, I think I'll be here for a few years to come. Is there progression within the company? Yeah, if you want it. Is there opportunity to do different things? Yeah, if you want it. They're a major player in their field and yet the attitude and atmosphere is so damned relaxed. As for problem customers - if some wee frau-cunt gives me attitude or loses it with me, I'm authorised to talk over them and if they become overly-verbally abusive - whap, straight to my manager or disconnect. We, the employees, are more protected than what the customer thinks. And as for their assumption that only a fraction of calls are recorded - nope. For DPA (data protect act) and company liability, *all* calls are recorded and yeah, in the five years I've worked for the company, I know of at least two calls that have been played in court to convict someone for threatening behaviour (dozy bitch in Surrey threatened to blow up one of our offices) and another for sexual harassment.

Call centres are hit and miss, to be honest. It depends on who you work for. Companies like mine are not very common, definitely, but what I would say is that if you feel so bad about working for the one you're with, OP, get the fuck out. That's what I did with my last employer. They're not worth it, you're not beholden to them.

R10 I'm in the US. Over here the customer is always right. I cannot talk over a customer or disconnect them.

I am a supervisor at a call center. Health care. We stress customer service and outcomes over metrics. It’s about helping people (most callers are sick and need help). Many staff members are proud of the work they do because they get to help others in need.

I can certainly see how other call centers can be a drag. It’s all about how many calls you answer or how much money you bring in. There are no rewards for the agent taking those calls. And they put up with so much shit.

[QUOTE] if some wee frau-cunt gives me attitude or loses it with me, I'm authorised to talk over them and if they become overly-verbally abusive - whap, straight to my manager or disconnect.

If this were allowed in the U.S. call center work wouldn't be such a nightmare and customers would learn some basic manners.

Just left a call center job after three months. The worst, worst thing I ever did. I gave two weeks but they begged me to stay thru the New Year. Co-workers would walk out, not come back from their breaks, work two days and disappear. And I couldn't blame them. Screaming customers, incompetent managers, tattletale co-workers. And shitty pay.

Ramp up the fake kindness and sincerity in direct proportion to how rude and unreasonable the customer is being. Do it the point of absurdity if you have to. During dead times in the conversation while you're waiting to change screens or find information for them, make inane small talk. "Did you see that game last night?" "How's the weather where you are? Oh, I envy you!" Make it a game. And always end a conversation with the rudest callers by telling them how wonderful they are.

R14 that's sounds so bad its almost laughable. Good grief. What kind of industry was it? R15 I hate operators like you!

R16, I was only like this to people who were rude. I knew some of the asshole customers hated it. The best part was they couldn't complain about me. What were they going to say, that I was too nice to them?

Yeah, it was the worst. I only lasted a few months till i found another job.

My Latino bf worked in a call center taking sex calls from men thinking they were talking to a buxom blonde. He would put a scarf over the phone and alter his voice. He became quite adept at edging the men on, holding them back, then bringing them on to cum all over themselves. The longer he kept each caller online, the bigger his performance bonus. He got a high rate of repeat clients who would ask for ‘her’ by name and the longest call times than any of the females. Gay men know how to talk dirty biatches!

It's a bit shit that you have no control over how the customer speaks to you, OP. My company adopted this policy after a few major complaints from staff (including one girl who was signed off sick for two months with stress) - it's improved things dramatically. Our turnover rate (or churn rate - the percentage of staff leaving per year) has dropped pretty much as well. The idea that the customer is always right is something that *never* really caught on over here in the UK. It's more a case of "the customer is always right until you look into their history with the company and you discover how cunty they really are, and then you can start dismantling them".

Worked at a Verison affiliate almost 2 years with over 150 cubicals and the first 3 weeks were crazy and overwhelming since there was so much to learn and after a month of class you just had to dive in, we lost half the graduating students in the first month, but after a month it became so second nature with the usual irate customer, the phony empathy you put on after their tirade, and the several options you offer them, and if it didn’t work you escalated the call and took the next one. If it was a crazy call you had a good story for the break room.

A few weeks later one of my co-workers saw a rookie struggling with calls and took him aside and told him he’d be glad to help him on any issues after work if he needed it and the guy turned out to be an undercover boss and my peer became my manager the next week, I’ve always remembered that and it was the one thing I took with me from that place. Six months after I quit that place burned to the ground and I keep wondering if it was arson, but now with smart phones (back then a Black Berry was considered high tech) that job became obsolete.

Are you talking about call centers that I would call for help with some company’s product, or a company that robocalls me with stupid, aggressive marketing or scamming? I’m on the “Do Not Call” list, which doesn’t seem to stop anyone these days. And there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop the calls, which go on multiple times a day.

I work in a government call center (not federal so I'm unaffected by the shutdown!) It is one of the most stressful jobs ever, but after sometime you just adapt. Our call center handles mostly social services. New employees train for two months before they interact with customers. In America, most people are accustomed to calling corporations where customer service is the main priority, the customer is always right, etc. When you are calling the government its very different. Our burden is to provide correct information about your case. We are happy if you are pleased with what we say, but if not then oh well! That just means more paperwork for me and you.

I like the job because I have so much independence and I don't have to rely on coworkers to do anything. I also have a pension, top notch health insurance, and other perks of government jobs. The downside is I don't like to socialize anymore when I'm not at work, after interacting with so many thousands of people week after week. People with problems are draining. Even if they aren't your problems they zap your energy. I need time to recharge in solitude!

I live in Canada and worked for a call centre that received calls from American customers for a major American jewelry corporation. I didn't find the people rude as much as I found them incredibly stupid, and they didn't listen. I remember talking to one woman who was so stupid. I kept telling her a promotion was over and it was no longer being offered and she kept asking me for it. It wasn't like she thought we could make the exception for her, she literally didn't understand that the promotion was over.

I also worked for a theatre company, selling tickets for theatre shows. It was fine except when very popular shows were selling, it was annoying when they would ask for the Saturday matinee or evening shows, knowing that there were no tickets left but they kept insisting we look. Or they would get mad if none of their dates were available.

Hate corporate but love call centers. Commraderie and sharing of food. Birthday cake constantly! Met lifelong friends there. Try it P/T and you'll see what I mean. Best 2nd job always.

Any stories about Qualfon? I find the concept of a US call centre having a chaplain to be unusual.

Yes, I think the worst part was interrupting people in the middle of dinner to ask them to speak with a dead person. On many occasions some wise ass relatives or whoever answered the phone were like sure, I'll give you his/her new address and telephone # and it would be to a cemetery.

I hate my job because it is turning me into a racist. People call in an enforce every stereotype under the sun. I have a particularly hard time getting yelled at by someone with a foreign language accent. I speak with small business owners, who are some of the stupidest and lazy people out there. My worst customers, Vape shop owners, nail spas, barber shops.