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The one I worked at was terrible. I only lasted a year. You couldn't go to the bathroom when you needed to. I had my first bladder infection in my 40's because of it. They had a command center that would buzz your phone if you were taking too long to type up notes about the call and tell you to get back on the phone. It got to the point that they didn't even want you taking notes about tech problems. They wanted you on & off each call in under 5 minutes regardless of the type of call.
They didn't care about customer service, it was sell, sell, sell.
They gave you report cards on all this crap they wanted you to do in less than five minutes. It was like being in kindergarten.
The one I worked at was terrible. I only lasted a year. You couldn't go to the bathroom when you needed to. I had my first bladder infection in my 40's because of it. They had a command center that would buzz your phone if you were taking too long to type up notes about the call and tell you to get back on the phone. It got to the point that they didn't even want you taking notes about tech problems. They wanted you on & off each call in under 5 minutes regardless of the type of call.
They didn't care about customer service, it was sell, sell, sell.
They gave you report cards on all this crap they wanted you to do in less than five minutes. It was like being in kindergarten.
The buzzers made me want to scream. I was the only person at our helpless after 7:30 and if someone held for two minutes, the buzzer went off and it was customer facing.
It's in the same league as fast food or retail. Lousy low paying gigs that aren't meant to be a career.
They're called survival jobs. I encouraged both my kids to take a fast food job as their first job. They got work history, references, money---which they peed through----but used it to leverage to another , better job.
Several years ago, my DH lost his 6-figure job because they figured it could be done better in India. We had savings, but went through it and still, no job with benefits. We'd exhausted Cobra---and our savings, it was $1500/month to carry a family of four---we were facing no insurance, with major health problems. I took on a job at a call center long enough to qualify for Cobra---I think it was 60 days. They fired me on day 63, for not selling enough of their crap, but I had what I was after---qualification for Cobra again. Then, it was $1800/month. My DH had some excellent contract jobs, but no benefits, I worked from home, and we depleted much of the rest of our savings carrying Cobra. Then, he got a FT job with benefits---All this was before ACA.
Please don't launch a discussion about ACA here, its been discussed to death on other forums. I'm just saying sometimes people take crap jobs to survive, you do what you have to.
And, BTW, callcenter jobs are terrible, but most offer benefits, they figure you couldn't afford them, anyways, on their pay, so its just a way to attract employees, they never figured I'd utilize it for 2 heart attacks--dh, two spinal surgeries and a hip replacement---me, a full set of braces for daughter, and psychiatric inpatient care for one year for son. I got my money's worth out of them!
The buzzers made me want to scream. I was the only person at our helpless after 7:30 and if someone held for two minutes, the buzzer went off and it was customer facing.
I know! I swore when I got a new job, I was going to make them buzz me so that I could stand up on my desk and say I quit! But my son was talking about applying there, so I couldn't do it..lol
I notice that a number of people here say customers are rude. There is really no excuse for that. BUT, if you've ever called a call center, yourself, you might have experienced something that could make their ire a little more understandable:
I know that by the time I'm done wending my way through the options, I'm fit to be tied.
Is that the fault of the person on the other end of the line?
I keep reading about the atrocious working conditions normally found in call centers around the US. Strict monitoring, not being able to use the bathroom without permission and an array of workplace rules that would make any prison warden blush. And of course the pay and hours suck, you have almost no chance of being promoted to "management,", etc, etc.
When people complain China steal your job, they will (Media will not tell them as well) ignore the truth that India/Phillipines steal more call center jobs from America. Those jobs should be in MS, AL, GA etc.
I've worked at my call center for about 2 months. It's for a regional cell phone company. I came straight from fast food, so I was shocked that a legit customer service place hired me. And I want to go back to my grill so bad.
The training was a joke. You have these "instructors" who are suppose to teach you the ropes of the policies, protocol, how the system works, etc. All we did for 3 weeks was sit in front of a computer, and go through hours and hours of point-and-click content programs to learn what the job entails. The instructors just sat in a corner on laptops and barely said anything but "hello" when you walked in. We never shadowed veteran associates to listen how a pro takes calls, which we were told once a week during training we would do. When we took our first phone calls, complete deer in headlights moment. Everyone did not know what to do with a difficult question. 3 people from my class have quit already.
Now I'm on the floor in my regular cube, and I've never felt so helpless and abandoned in the workplace. My boss is cool and all, but half the time she leaves early or is never found when I have a question. I sit and sit and sit, have no voice by the end of the day from talking, have to wear pads because you can only pee on your 1 break and 30 minute lunch. The system is so slow and unreliable. Everybody has told me it's the greatest job they've had......wtf drugs are they on, gimmie some!!!
This job has made me realize the dark side of humanity, more than working a drive-thru ever did. Just because you call an 800 number and get through to an associate doesn't mean they are a robot who doesn't emote. I violently start shaking if a customer starts yelling at me, almost start crying! Why do people think when they get a new phone or tablet the bill won't go up?!?!?!? Yes, the device itself was a penny, but you have to pay the monthly access fee!!! Says it in big letters on our website and in the contract you signed!!!
I've been browsing craigslist and job boards for something else. I feel like a jerk for looking for a new job already, but I just can't take it. I'm too nice to give people bad news, you need a steel heart to do this role. I'd do better at a phone sex hotline!!
Organize and the company won't be able to treat their employees that way.
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