provident agents [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

crooky

wow and thats why I loved my Provi job, cos I loved talking to the customer lol

Joshua_W

crooky wrote: »

wow and thats why I loved my Provi job, cos I loved talking to the customer lol

:T

Such a shame Agents with so much experience leave, yes they are replaced but it's never quite the same.

twofingersup

crooky Im even more convinced after reading all this that you are very PRO provident so if you are not a manager then your in marketing .
I left when the £5 fines came in because I could see where it was all heading ....and I wasnt wrong either. I was never fined £5 because I didnt make a mistake but I am human and knew that it was only a matter of time ..the managers make mistakes the office staff make mistakes but the agents were supposed to be super human.Yes the job has changed greatly over the past 10 years and will continue to change ...the company is changing the relationship between the customers and the agent ....to be honest they would like everyone paying by direct debit so they could do away with the agents altogether.In the world of finance provident is classed down the bottom of the pile and they are trying to climb out of that and they are standing on their agents to do it. I was an agent and I still side with the agents and I do think that they have been hit hard with all the changes. Last year at this time they were calling for sales sales sales and new customers then when they get that they start hitting the agents with all these charges. Its always been a risk game ..you take on 10 customers 2 of them at least are going to be rubbish. Fresh start is people who have been written off already ..provident agents get greenwoods write offs and greenwood agents get provident write offs..and if you are daft enough to do them then there's another source of charges on the agents .
I could go on all day about it. I think the FSA are right to be looking at all these practices.
I am for the agents because I know what it is like being out there on cold dark winter nights trying your best to collect from some of these people that you get on your book and then being penalised because your best isnt good enough.
Not all managers are bad but my own personal experience is that they are programmed to speak Provie talk and think Provie.I know when the £5 fines came in that some managers did their best so that their agants didnt have any fines but I also know there were some who seen it as a feather in their cap when they had fined agents
Agents are easily replaced because there is always people looking for a job but I know in one office that these agents havent stayed either and you will know that where there is a turn over of agents that the agency does suffer.
Hope whatever you are getting out of this and if you have really been an agent at least show a bit of support for the agents who havent been fortunate enough AS YET to get out like we did

Joshua_W

"I do miss it but im under no illusions its the same now. Theres too much pressure on growing the agency and making sales for my liking these days and thats not what I like so I couldnt do the job now. Thats my choice."

No Manager or HO staff would post that comment twofingersup.

Many of us have left due to the "job" not being Part Time anymore, daily reporting of figures means you are expected work every day.

Refusing to pay you in, sending you back out on Tuesday to get more sales as you've not done enough, holding over books at the end of each quarter to get more sales, delaying pay in to Wednesdays etc.

Fines for customers going into arrears, reduced commission for customers in arrears, daily phone calls from Managers wanting to know sales figures etc.

It's why we left.

New Agents will start, oblivious to the pressures to come.. and then they learn how they are expected to work each and every day.

They then find they have been deducted £'s from their commission for customers going into arrears, despite phoning them, texting them, calling on them several times, spending time, petrol, phone calls etc.

Deductions on Agents commission sucks.

I'm glad I'm out of it.

shaftedbyprovi

You're right joshua there's no way that post by 'CROOKY' is a manager or agent. Read it properly and they trip themselves up too often!. Thats coming from someone in head office in the know, if not from the big CROOK himself. Why else would he know theres changes to commision coming up and lots of other things he says. I was not only an agent but also a D.M so I can see where people are coming from regards the managers, You are told how to treat agents as there are so many rules and regulations concerning self employment and I once recall being told at head office to be very careful how you treat an agent but that now seems to have gone by the wayside. You must have Crooky worried if he's taking a personal interest in these posts, HE HAS THEM ON ALERT TO HIS MOBILE? You must be very involved if you're going to that extreme!!!

crooky

LMAO seriously how many times do I have to tell you I dont work for Provident, not in a managerial role, not in marketing not anything. I am self employed but not as an agent or in anyway anything to do with home credit at all. What have I to gain from lying? I left as an agent in 2006 or thereabouts.

Please do explain where I trip myself up? You state I have yet provide no quotes to show me where. Post it and ill gladly comment on it. Oh and im a she not a he thank you. Oh and I dont have these posts on alert to my phone at all. I am subscribed to the thread just as I am to others, nothing sinister on it. You really are a suspicious bunch arent you. Its quite funny now actually. You really are convinced im working for Provident and nothing I can say will convince you otherwise because you are too small minded so actually listen to anyone else.

scooby088

I can't believe this is still rumbling on, but i heard from a greenwoods agent today that they were going to get paid minimum wage for the hours they are collecting. Maybe a step in the right direction for provident agents too.

twofingersup

Crooky I really dont care who you are ...I was an agent and because of that my sympathies are on the side of the agent.....you say you were an agent yet your sympathies lie on the side of the company. If you are who you say you are then you will know that there are many women out there in dark winter nights doing what is now a high risk job and they are being penalised for doing their best. I am a male but I have a heart and can feel for these women who are at risk of attack and many of them need to work to support a family and these fines are crippling them. Can you imagine going out working and doing call backs so many times and then still ending up actually owing provident because all your commission is swallowed up in fines.That is not an exaggeration because that has happened ..what company can possibly think it is right to do that to their agents ..and what agent would think that is ok. I rest my case.

crooky

I have never said my sympathies are with Provident. I am just able to see the bigger picture and I can see a system that rewards good agents who look after their agency. Those who have issued irresponsibly over the years are finding it biting them in the bum right now. Yes I agree for some its out of their control but the reality is that most deductions are brought on from agents issuing willy nilly over the years. Ive been there collecting on those dark night and believe me I was in rough areas so know the dangers but I was aware of those and adjusted collecting times during dark nights or had someone drive me. I dealt with it and had I really felt uneasy then I would have resigned. No amount of money is worth risking life for.

Joshua_W

There's nothing wrong with being PRO Provident, we all were until these "fines" started.

This entire thread started when the fines were introduced and we now have over 1000 postings, 108000+ views entirely due to Agents seeing deductions on their commission statements.

Thousands of Agents have since left the company, many no doubt as a result of these deductions.

Agents can benefit of course with this system, but in reality the net result will be a loss.

Scrap the system... end of complaints.. end of these posts.

Personally I think the reduction in commission % for accounts that go into arrears is sufficient, as is the increase in commission % for bringing accounts back into quality.

I'm sure Agents would be more willing to issue to new accounts without these fines. They won't issue risky business as they still have to call week in week out several times etc for reduced commission.

crooky has made many valid points and it's of no concern who she may be... that's her business. I'm happy to believe she is as she says she is.

We both have family who still work for Provident and it's in our interest to see the company doing well and making profits. I just don't agree with the company making deductions from Agents commission.

And as this entire thread was started due to that fact nor do the vast majority of Agents.