Asheville Customer Service (Charlotte, Raleigh: home, utilities, income)

[Karebear31781]

Can anyone elaborate on the Customer Service jobs offered in and around Asheville. My husband and I are seriously considering packing up our Wisconsin home to move to Asheville with our 1 year old daughter. I'm currently a customer service rep for JI Case and would like to get into another Customer Service position in Asheville. What is the average pay for Customer Service Reps with approximately 4 years experience. I'm trying to decide if this move would be wise for our family or if finding another city might be more ideal. What are some of the major companies around the Ashville area? For example, in Racine the major employers are JI Case, SC Johnson Wax and Bombardier. Please help!
Thanks,
Karen

[lovesMountains]

Karebear, I bumped up a prior thread about Asheville for you to read and maybe get some of your questions answered. The best advice seems to be research job opportunities first to see if moving to Asheville is a viable option. Good luck!

[roxors]

There's a company named "Clientlogic" that does nothing but customer service in Asheville. It's pretty large. I don't think the pay is very high though. They are a call center for various utilities around the country from what I've heard. I knew someone that worked there and they would take customer calls from electric company clients of Con Edison in Southern California. They sometimes advertise, but I don't think the pay is real high. If you're in Racine, near Milwaukee, the pay is likely significantly lower in Asheville then you have up there. I lived in Milwaukee and also Minneapolis for a long time, and have found wages to be somewhat lower in North Carolina generally, and Asheville specifically. Look up Clientlogic in google and see what you can find out.

As far as industry, there really isn't much. Largest employers would probably be Mission-St. Joseph Hospitals and the Biltmore Estate. This is a great place to live, but unless you have a good job lined up first, you would probably want to think real hard about moving here. There are higher wages in both Charlotte and Raleigh with much more opportunity, plus lower home prices. If I were to lose my job in the software industry, I'd have to move out of town almost certainly.

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by Karebear31781

Can anyone elaborate on the Customer Service jobs offered in and around Asheville. My husband and I are seriously considering packing up our Wisconsin home to move to Asheville with our 1 year old daughter. I'm currently a customer service rep for JI Case and would like to get into another Customer Service position in Asheville. What is the average pay for Customer Service Reps with approximately 4 years experience. I'm trying to decide if this move would be wise for our family or if finding another city might be more ideal. What are some of the major companies around the Ashville area? For example, in Racine the major employers are JI Case, SC Johnson Wax and Bombardier. Please help!
Thanks,
Karen

Depends on why you want to move to Asheville. It is expensive and you are better off / wise to have a position prior tp arriving. I think lovesMountains would agree. My daughter has lived there almost 11 years, since before graduating from UNC-Asheville - the "Harvard of the Hills" and it took her at least 8 months to find a position. Do your research before uprooting your family. Much luck to you!

[weenus]

Originally Posted by roxors

There's a company named "Clientlogic" that does nothing but customer service in Asheville. It's pretty large. I don't think the pay is very high though. They are a call center for various utilities around the country from what I've heard. I knew someone that worked there and they would take customer calls from electric company clients of Con Edison in Southern California. They sometimes advertise, but I don't think the pay is real high. If you're in Racine, near Milwaukee, the pay is likely significantly lower in Asheville then you have up there. I lived in Milwaukee and also Minneapolis for a long time, and have found wages to be somewhat lower in North Carolina generally, and Asheville specifically. Look up Clientlogic in google and see what you can find out.

As far as industry, there really isn't much. Largest employers would probably be Mission-St. Joseph Hospitals and the Biltmore Estate. This is a great place to live, but unless you have a good job lined up first, you would probably want to think real hard about moving here. There are higher wages in both Charlotte and Raleigh with much more opportunity, plus lower home prices. If I were to lose my job in the software industry, I'd have to move out of town almost certainly.

i just now found this
hopefully you didnt take this job
i work there and the pay is crap
the hours are crap
i dont recommend this company

[the Parkies]

It seems the more desirable the area, the lower the wages and higher the costs. In San Diego we call this "the sun tax." In Asheville we could call it the "mountain tax." Bottom line, employers pay only as much as they have to pay to entice workers, and when "sun" or "mountains" (or other amenities) already entice them, employers don't have to kick in nearly as much as they would if they were hiring for the Alaska pipeline. To move to the Asheville area with any real financial security, we had to wait long years until we retired AND both had Medicare health coverage.

So... YES... as others have already suggested (on this thread and others)... think long and hard before moving to the Asheville area without solid, reliable income already in place. You may be far more wisely located in the larger cities like Charlotte and Raleigh, where work is much more available at a living wage.

Best of luck to you! : ))

Jan & Bill