rude call centre customers!

kenshaz

steve-cov,support your response ,Supermaket staff always take you directly to the required product and continue to assist,perhaps we have identified a training need in respect to call centre staff,are they adopting company policy
or would a career change help

steve_cov

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote:

What exactly is "insultingly" substandard grammar?

For a start, how about:

• "We have sent a letter to yourself." or "I'll just put yourself on hold." (misplaced use of reflexive or emphatic form of 'you')
• "The company want to help." (singular subject, plural verb)

And let's ask others to feed in their favourites... if you are still unconvinced.

steve_cov

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote:

You may have a good education and natural linguistic intelligence; not everyone is so blessed.

As it happens, I am head of communications for a public sector body, but why do people with poor English work in a job which requires a high degree of linguistic ability?

Have you ever tried playing Taboo? It is a game which requires players to describe a mystery object, concept, place, person etc. to other players without using a selection of key words which would be "giveaways". This would be a good training exercise for those call centre staff who seem incapable of describing their actions or their employer's policy to an appropriate level.

If I had been 5'2" and 8st at the age of 16, perhaps I could have become a jockey. As I was 6'1" and 14st, that career path was not open to me. Why, then, do people with awful English think they ought to have the freedom to choose a patently unsuitable career and force the poor customer to put up with it?

kimith84

nenya wrote:

Has steve ever thought that the computer is actually saying no? And does he even realise how frustrating for the agent when the computer does say no?

Probably not - computer say 'no' *cough*

completly agree with this - sometimes customers expect things that physically cannot be done. ie, "i want my delivery here within the next hour" so what you want is sent by harrier jet?

and when people ask to speak to a manager just because they think either a - they will get some form of compensation for kicking up a fuss or b- that you're so stupid because you work in a call centre you couldnt possibly solve their problem.

i agree that everyone is entitled to a high level of service - and doesnt desrve to be passed around or be spoken to rudely. However sometimes things do go wrong, these can be rectified usually pretty easily - but flying off the handle at some poor operator as soon as the call connects is not the way to deal with issues!!!

ahrimaniac

'And let's ask others to feed in their favourites... if you are still unconvinced.'

You're being unbearably pompous.

Instead of your, naturally.

Turning_into_scrooge

I have worked in the past answering the phone as CS to customers and have never once had a stroppy customer or an abusive customer on the phone, i did this job for 5 years. Maybe the CS advisor needs to address their attitude to the customers ringing in if they are getting abusive calls.

Turning_into_scrooge

kenshaz wrote:

If you refer back to my post you will realise to your cost, that the word ALL was not used.Please do not associate my post with your description.
The response you have made, confirms my perceptions of call centre sales staff,I suspect that you refer to your customers as pretty ignorant.
The customer is buying a service and should be treated with respect,frustration generated by complex telephone selection systems and staff on targets and bonus is all inhouse created,and the problem lies with your employer and the rush for bonus related pay.

I had the pleasure of phoning student finance yesterday for my son. After the 6th call into the service i finally managed to find a button to press to speak to someone human who actually said as we were having a conversation about this that she'd had several irate customers that day who needed to speak to someone but all there seemed to be was press a button and we ill give you a recorded message with no access to a human.

Murtle

fudgeukraine wrote:

All common courtesy seems to go out the window when on the phone to a call centre! why? there's no need for it! Just listen to the options. where I work, there's a central number then sub menus clearly stated. So why then, is option 3 (general enquiries) the busiest, yet I'd estimate 2/3 of these calls are technical problems, which is the next option 4. Therefore, by avoiding listening for 5 more seconds, you've wasted your own money, time, and delayed others who have genuine enquiries that I deal with.

Or is it as I suspect - Option 4 gets you through to the dreaded India :rolleyes:

The last call centre I had the misfortune to call, I chose the correct options through their telephone system, listened to dreadful hissing music for 10 minutes before someone answered my call. Unfortunately, their helpful system put me through to a department that couldn't help with the call as the department that could was busy.....I was then told to call back when they were less busy...apparently I know when this will be....

Another of my irritants on this is when call centre staff phone and ask you to clarify your security questions...again this may be down to poor training, but don't use DPA as an excuse....confirm to me you are who you say you are....then we can discuss my account....but phoning up and saying hello I'm x for xyz company, can you confirm some security questions for me is not going to go anywhere......(no they weren't phoning back in relation to the call where they couldn't put me through)

M

nenya

Murtle wrote:

Another of my irritants on this is when call centre staff phone and ask you to clarify your security questions...again this may be down to poor training, but don't use DPA as an excuse....confirm to me you are who you say you are....then we can discuss my account....but phoning up and saying hello I'm x for xyz company, can you confirm some security questions for me is not going to go anywhere......(no they weren't phoning back in relation to the call where they couldn't put me through)

M

Yeah, and you;ll be the first to complain if the call centre misdialled a number - confirmed who they were didn't ask any DPA security questions and spoke to someone who wasn't you about you account where it be mobile phone, bank account or Credit Card - yes i expect you would be the first on the blower to the manager to complain that the agent didn't variafy it was you.

And we don't hide behind the DPA - it's the law that we ask these questions so we don't give the inncorrect details to the wrong person - whether it's us phoning you or you phoning us. :mad:

kuohu

Nenya I think you have totally missed Murlte's point on that one. I understood the point to be that the call centre staff do not prove that they are who they say they are. You have to take it at face value, when in reality it could be anyone asking you for your dob and mother's maiden name.

I don't disgree with anything you said though.