Fed up with call centres and their staff?
Are you sick and tired of call centre staff who are unhelpful, badly informed and sometimes rude? Do you get frustrated and angry? Do you sometimes find yourself being rude and abusive?
Well take a minute to calm down and remind yourself that you are in fact speaking to a real person and not a machine. That person is almost certainly poorly paid and doing this job to make ends meet, almost certainly ill-informed by Management in quite a few areas and quite possibly ill-trained and lacking support.
They might be facing redundancy through no fault of their own and wondering how to pay the bills next month. They might be just like you or your friends or your children - would you really treat them like some people treat someone in a call centre?
Well here is a plea from someone working in such a call centre. It wasn't my dream to be here but I am here to help, believe it or not. What would transform my job would be if you were calm, polite and remembered that you are speaking to a person.
Please greet us as you would anyone else: my heart plummets every time I answer the phone and here the words from a customer "Oh great, now I have to explain it to another one". I'm not "another one", I am the person who is going to try and help you.
Please have your order number or reference number ready. Unfortunately I am not psychic so if you don't know this number it makes it very difficult and time-consuming to find your details. What is the point of the company sending you emails confirming your order if you cannot either be bothered to read them or bother to record the order number.
Please don't swear at me. No explanation needed.
Please try and be as concise as you can. I don't get paid any more money to answer a higher number of calls but I still don't need to hear all the unnecessary details that most people see fit to tell me. Keep it short and sweet if you can please.
Please accept your own mistakes and take responsibility for them. It's not my fault if you type your address incorrectly so please don't shout at me if your order is subsequently delivered to the wrong address.
Be realistic. Much as I might like to, I cannot change or alter the company's rules or policies. If you decide to cancel your order after the cooling-off period, please don't shout at me when I tell you that we cannot cancel your order. I don't make the rules and I don't have any discretion in bending them to any great degree. It stands to reason that I will assist as much as I can if you are nice. For some customers who are kind and polite I will go above and beyond what is required. For others who are rude and abusive I will not.
Please don't swear at me. No explanation needed.
Make sure you know what you are getting into when you place orders. Read the Terms and Conditions. Understand what you are signing up to. Find out what the cancellation period is. Know your rights. Write down your order number or reference number and keep it to hand when you call us. Save your emails giving you details of your order.
Recognise that some things are out of my control. Like the delivery of orders. Once an order has left the warehouse please understand that it is not my fault if the order is then lost by a courier, delivered to the wrong address or stolen en route. I will do everything I can to help you solve the problem but please try to acknowledge the difference between me and the company. I am always so grateful when customers say "I know it's not your fault, but..." because they clearly differentiate between me and the company.
Don't order online if you are in a hurry. Need something urgently because it's someone's birthday? Going away on business the next day? Then please make your purchase instore and physically take it home with you. Please don't rely on the Internet where credit checks can take time, delivery problems may occur, you might hate the item on sight and need to change it urgently, etc. Allow yourself some time. Please don't shout at me because your order has not arrived in time. Plan ahead - if you need something urgently buy well ahead of time. It's not my fault that you left your purchase to the last minute.
There, that is my gripe off my chest. Believe it or not, I am here to help you. It makes my day go so much better if I can solve your problems and assist you without taking any aggression and abuse. Just remember - if you frequently get cut off it could be because you are being horrible. I am in charge of the 'disconnect' button and I won't hesitate to use it. Be warned!
(Such an excellent gripe. Sadly, the author submitted this anonymously - The Weekly Gripe)
Comments from visitors
I do get 'intresting' customers on the phone but they are annoyed as the company has let them down. I don't take their silly comments to heart (I know they want me to though...) because I know for a fact I can sort out the problem and end the call knowing I have made a customer very happy indeed and he/she is likely to shop with us again.
Wow some people think call center work is a crap job, no job is great though is it?
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Soup de jour - 21-Jan-12 16:55
Krisnera zhazh tan vred. It's Armenian,so you'll have to translate it.
P:S:Call center staff,if you don't like your job,quit!
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grumpyoldwoman - 7-Apr-11 07:18
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grumpyoldwoman - 7-Apr-11 07:17
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Charmbrights is an idiot - 7-Apr-11 02:35
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As much as I admire you for sticking up for your friend, i'm quite sure he would have spoken for himself if he had wanted to.He has clearly abstained from doing so. Which leaves me to question your reasons as to why you felt the need to comment on his behalf...with or without his consent.
With his consent...i'd say that's a case of ...why have a dog and bark yourself !. Without his consent, that's a toss up of two...you're either looking for an argument or to score more posting points.I'm not bothered either way.
As for my written english being "atrocious"...do you really think I care about what you think? I'm not in school and didn't think that my english was being examined. Oh sorry, I forgot...silly me...if I don't have silver spoon up my 4rse and can't write in the queens english, that means i'm not worthy.
As for my french...i don't do french, as you've noticed. I wasn't trying to be clever. Sarcastic maybe. And yes sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and i'm glad to possess it, as it is something you and Congo don't have.
What is wit MikeP?
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Astra : Yes, 'American English' is a paradox and a travesty.
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Oh Congo, what a pointless cliché. Letting down the side there a bit dear boy.
I am assuming that you gain amusement from this little persona of yours? It grows a little old though.
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You are of course free to consider what you will and one does not hold your ingrained envy against you.
'Colonial' is a widely accepted and easily understood concept. It is rather surprising that, in this day and age you seem unable to comprehend the fundamental difference between a college 'degree' which, of course, is nothing of the sort and a Degree.
One would question your claim to be 'educated'.
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I've been looking in on this site from time to time for a few years now. What i've noticed is that you love to act holier than thou. You make remarks to people as if they are beneath you when in fact you are beneath every person that has ever commented on the weekly gripe. You make time for taking the pi$$ out of others.If you were so high and mighty you wouldn't even be trying to entertain this site with you jester antics.
You're not english, so what gives you the right to remark on what others can and can't do. Skip the island in the pond bit Congo...what is your nationality or country of origin? Where was your mother and father born? Est-que comprends l'anglais ?
You're Congolese, which goes to show that you don't really belong to any country. Get over it, get real and take that tarnished silver spoon out of your back-side.
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For your information, I have also been educated in the UK, however, my language patterns were set at an early age, and so I continue to use the american english which is easier for non native english speakers to pronounce and which is more widely used.
Since you feel free to consider American english a ''travesty'' then I am free to consider British english archaic.
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My dear Sir or Madam, it is perfectly "OK" with Congo that you claim to speak six languages, have been born in the UK, were educated by Colonials and become muddled at times.
It is not however "OK" to infer one has "issues" with your nationality (perceived or otherwise) and even more risible to attempt to excuse your inferior command of English by claiming that the language as spoken and written by Congo is in some way "archaic" as opposed to the travesty that is 'American' English.
One is, of course sympathetic to your unfortunate circumstances but please refrain from such baseless assertions.
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To answer your rather silly point - no - Im british, born in England to a British father of scottish descent and a non English mother. I learned my mothers language first as I stayed a lot with relatives and the schools I went to taught american english - rather than the archaic british english.
Aside from English and my mother's language - I also speak 6 other languages, so youll forgive me im sure if things get a little muddled every now and then.
Is that ok with you ??? or are you one of those types that would like to see me sent back to ''my own country''.
And since you obviously understood what im saying id say your issue was more with my percieved nationality than my use of ''proper'' british english.
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"So please, have some thought and consideration for those of us who didnt have great begginings or a college degree.. "
What pray, is a "college degree"? Are you, perhaps an American?
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1) get another job
Yes - id really like to do that, but unlike some of the people here who seemed to be living in la la land I didnt have the greatest start in life. I moved around a lot, learned English as a second language, had alcholic parents, lost a loved one in a war. Im not trying to sell a sob storey, and yes I KNOW there are people who overcome far worse, but I didnt. I didnt do great at school, and while I am trying to get my life sorted and improve status in life, I dont have the options that some people here seem to do. I CANNOT just go out and get another job, its either this or cleaning toilets. And college, and night classes require MONEY.
So please, have some thought and consideration for those of us who didnt have great begginings or a college degree..
2) Have some respect for the people that pay my wages... yes - that would be the company I work for, and while I respect that its the customers that fund that company, it does not mean that I have to kow tow and take every kind of abuse from someone on the end of my phone who doesnt like my accent or resorts to some kind of childish tantrum because they cant get exactly what they want...
3) Indian call centres, yes they can be annoying, I was born in the UK and it can tick me off having to deal with someone a thousand miles away who has been told to call themselves John when its obviously more like Kumar and who is probably about as much use as a wet tissue in trying to resolve my problem... but please remember that these too are people - people who are most likely being paid little more per hour than the cost of your M & S lunch.. it is NOT their fault that the company they work for has decided to cut corners and relocate to Mumbai.
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You also admit to having a them and us attitude....nuff said!
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Blueintheface - 30-Dec-10 15:26
Customers should have a little patience, so what if you have to repeat yourself a couple of times to get your problem solved or wait on the phone? It's no excuse for treating Call Centre staff like scumbags especially when they have to hear the same thing 100 times a day and still maintain their calm and treat you with respect.
Ocassionally you might come across an individual who is in the wrong job and is not at all helpful [as you do in any industry] calmly ask to speak to another operative or their manager as soon as you realise they are not going to even try to be helpful, you can try and manage your own expectations by knowing your rights and putting your point across as succinctly as possible.
Why not try and help those who are trying to help you by meeting them halfway rather than making their working days a misery?
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If you don't like what you're doing - DON'T DO IT ANYMORE!!!!
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