Working in a call centre

People who get on at call center advisors are idiots....I currently work in one at the moment 37 and a half hours a week....just so I can get enough money to get myself to college and get my BSc in computing....an I have to take constant abuse over the phone from all different people no matter who they are just because they think they are better than us....they are not....just beacuse we are on the other end of the phone does not make us any less smarter....I agree some staff are idoits but thats the companies fault for hiring them...most of us are here to help an help is what we do....if customers were not as arrogant on the phone then maybe they would get treated better themselves......

I worked in a call centre for the BBC for eleven months, and I hated every minute of it. My very first caller called me a 'horrid little prostitute' during a complaint about weather forecasts. The abuse we had to take was ridiculous, and I was reduced to tears more than once. All the while I applied for other jobs and didn't get anywhere. I eventually left with no other job lined up for me, and have been having difficulting finding work since. It is beginning to like I may have to work for another call centre as that is all I have experience of - so much for a degree helping you find work!

Narwhal, you are the problem I'm afraid. You should not expect the customer to have the same level of IT knowledge as yourself - otherwise you would be out of a job.

The reason they contact the call centre is because they don't "Know exatcly what your talking about"

You are pig ignorant

Narwhal is right. I too work in a call center, and have done so for many years now. I too support computers. My customers nowadays compared with what they were just a few years ago are braindead. This adds nothing but stress to what is quite a stressful job. My bosses are braindead, they shout and scream at you when you are "patiently" trying to deal with a very difficult customer. The brain are very diffciult because they largely do not realize they have that condition.

I work in a call centre for computer support. I have been in this type of work for 20 years now. Most of my so-called customers are really quite ignorant about computers. Most of them should not even go near a one. They are computer illiterate, and will remain so for the rest of their lives. They do not or cannot understand what they are about. This situation is getting worse and worse. In the old days it was quite expensive to get computer training and the people who gave it were the very best. Nowadays any Tom or Dick head can get computer training, or be a trainer.

When I talk about TCP/IP and need an IP packet trace I expect the other end to know exactly what I am talking about and how to get the information I need. If I talk about using a Telnet client. I expect my end user to know where to find it, and better how to use it.

The job is going downhill rapidly being sold-off to the far east.

Well, don't sit down at the same table with anyone who plays MahJong and insists on playing East Wind. If you have to then sit upstream from them as they probably stink.

First of all, it just shows what kind of a person it takes to call a human being SCUM, based only on the job they have chosen to do. Talk about small minded. We are NOT all thick and of course there are better jobs out there but a job does not make you who you are. Incase you hadn't already guessed, I also work in a callcentre for Sky. The majority of us try our best to help each individual customer with the resources we have in front of us. I would never dream of speaking to a customer the way I've been spoken to down that phone. I can honestly tell you the only call I have ever had that left me in tears was from ... A DOCTOR! So it just goes to show you - it doesn't matter where you work or what your career is - the more money you earn certainly does not make you a better person than anyone else. In fact, by the looks of some of the things I've read on this, It speaks for itself really =]

Marie, if you think you are a person think again. You are scum. Everyone who works in a callcenter is scum. You have been, you are exploited. Left school at 18 with three A levels? - So what? But there were no jobs around - On your bike lassie!

Average wages of £11k? Starve! You will never be a real member of the property owning society. Last year in London, someone who worked only a 10th of what you did earned in their bonus, their increase in value of their house, more than you will ever earn in a lifetime.

Ha Ha Ha.

You are a callcenter monkey!

Kickback, I hate to say it but you're an idiot. I left school at 18 with three A levels but there were no jobs around. I was alreadty working part time so I didn't need to sign on, and the only full time job that came up was in a call centre. I took it, with average wages of £11k. That is nowehere near enough for the abuse and attitude you're expected to put up with from customers ad managers. I don't consider myself above this type of work, in fatc I am still with the same company and have had several promotions since then and am no longer on the phone all day long. This was a good step onto a career ladder that I a,m now climbing through hard work and dedication... not necessarily the one I would have chosen, but for now I am in an interesting job that I enjoy. I didnt want to go to University so I went out to work and thats what I found. I wouldn't do it again. I would say to everyone, PLEASE REMEMBER, the voice on the other end is a person too.

Call centre jobs aren't real jobs; they are simply there for public relations. Companies want to spend the least amount of money on after sales servicing. They invent the remote call centre to provide this service. They have to have customer service because of the laws, but they make it as awkward as possible for anyone to use it.

If you do have to use it they will pretend to be very nice while you do use it, but you will completely frustrated afterwards, after the experience of having called the call centre. You will wonder exactly by what means your problem has been fixed. It won't have been but they will have made you think it was.

Call centres are staffed by fast talking problem solving sharks, more interested in ridding themselves of you, and, for the company they work for, the problem you have. These guys are smart in running rings around what you say. They hypnotise you into believing you haven't got a problem. I would not in normal life give these people the time of day.

Down will all remote call centres: give us back real people.

The reason that most call centres are not nice places to work are down to the attitude of the companies. The company I work for has a fantastic call centre, albeit only about 20 staff. The average time between calls can be 3 or 4 mins giving plenty of time to focus on quality.

is it better to work in research? like interviewing rather than taking inbound calls?

I'd like to work in a call cente. One located in the Bahamas.