Patronising call centre staff (rant)

heretolearn_2

I usually find call centre workers very polite and that they do try hard to help me out/solve my problem/pass me on if they can't.

My son is working in one at the moment and although it's challenging, he loves it and is hoping to build a career there. He had 5 weeks solid training before he was let loose on calls under supervision, and has continual monitoring and further training. It think most call centres take a very professional attitude towards the service they provide.

The only time I DID have someone extremely rude and patronising was about 15 years ago when I bought my first home PC and it had a fault. The awful man I got through to kept insisting he needed to speak to a man about it! He even heard my then 9 year old son in the background and tried to convince me to let him talk to him. He just couldn't accept woman+computer. I should have complained at the time really.

duchy

Ha Ha I work in BB & phone tech (I suspect I work for the same peeps as Spike) and I've had people (generally older men) tell me they need to speak to someone technical rather than a receptionist ."Er yes that'll be me"
My favourite was the rather posh lady who asked me "Oh as the football is on are the girls in the office answering the phones because the boys are watching football" I was totally taken aback for a moment and then burst out laughing.

I find some customers are abrasive or aggressive because they are dealing with something they don't really understand and feel if they appear "weak" that an agent will fob them off or blind them with techno-speak. Often I find the first couple of minutes of a call are spent putting a customer at ease and building rapport-and from then on it's plain sailing . As for the customers who ring up ranting and raving -I usually let them get it all out -don't interupt them-and once they've got it all out (and often run out of steam) I get busy sorting it out. The one thing I won't tolerate is people swearing at me -the odd slip out of frustration is OK but swear AT me and I warn you once -second time warn again -third time the call is terminated. I'm working for a living not a verbal punchbag - I'll also document on your file I did it so the next agent will know exactly what happened when you call back. Most agents will do the best they can for you -often their performance bonus relies on resolving your problem and there's also satisfaction in a job well done.

Most customers are great however but like call centre agents you will get the odd bad apple too. My personal rule of thumb is treat customers how I l'd like to be treated if I was ringing up.

Azari

duchy wrote: »

The one thing I won't tolerate is people swearing at me -the odd slip out of frustration is OK but swear AT me ...

It's nice to see you have the intelligence to appreciate the difference between someone swearing, e.g. "It's bloody ridiculous" and someone swearing at you, e.g. "You're bloody useless".

Any sensible person will treat the two completely differently but I've seen people take the former as an excuse to become belligerent and uncooperative.

I'd never swear at someone but if something is f**king absurd I may well mention the fact.

jjj1980

Having worked in call centres/roles that involve a high amount of telephony work, I can see this from both sides.

The role where it was most obvious was when I worked in the Executive Complaints Office at a well-known finance company. Just walking to and from my desk each day meant passing the Customer Service and Collections departments and I was forever picking up on the staff members tone and thinking "Well that's going to be another complaint!".

I did used to find that as we dealt with customers who had gone through every department trying to get a problem sorted, they could be split into two main groups - those that were relieved to be finally through to someone who would give their full name and direct dial number and even if they weren't getting the answer the hoped for, we're accepting of the fact that he matter was being dealt with. Then the were those that for one reason or another had just gotten to the end of their tether and had no time or patience. The only thing you could then is give them chance to let off steam before starting to deal with the problem.

Yes I saw colleagues reduced to tears, decide to quit etc but I always tried to put myself in the callers position, who would most likely not have the understanding of our processes unless they had worked in similar situations.

I've had reason to complain to my bank recently about bad advice given by a relatively new member of staff. I used to work at the same bank and since I left, internal processes have changed. Which means an ability they used to have within the system is no longer there. I was extremely angry as the staff members advice has cost me money but I never shouted, swore etc as I've had it done to me and it's not nice.

vyle

Numberlock wrote: »

Oh, how I detest those obnoxious individuals who hide behind their telephone anonymity and think they can be as patronising and officious as they like to customers....I wish call centres would employ more mature people in both age and attitude. Personally, I do not appreciate being lectured to by someone who sounds like they're 16 years old. (rant over)

Let me clarify: Judging by your last sentence, you would be happy if,

A: the person on the phone was older but had the exact same attitude.

B: Had a voice that sounded older.

As soon as somebody brings age into something, they somewhat lose their credibility.

It reminds me of a brilliant situation at work, where one of my saturday staff, who was 16, knew everything about the stock. You couldn't find a single person more knowledgable or technical and when he was in, he was the go-to guy for any queries.

In came a customer who decided he didn't want to deal with my colleague because he was too young and wanted somebody "more experienced."

So he tried handing the customer to me (customer refused because I didn't look experienced enough, because although I'd been there three years and was 25, I looked too young), and a couple of other colleagues who failed the "experience test."

Customer: "I want to deal with that gentleman over there."

He points to a colleague who has been there for thirty years and is rather old, but he's merely BEEN THERE for thirty years. He's useless, but quite good at blagging.

My colleague: "Okay, I'll be happy to get you somebody LESS experienced than me..."

He heads off and grabs the senior colleague, who, under the first barrage of questions replies, "I'm afraid that's too technical for me, sir. I'll go and get my expert."

Off he trots and grabs the first colleague. The look on the customer's face was priceless, but alas, he still refused to be served by someone so young and walked out.

Ginger_Poodle

Similar experiences in various roles. Favorites include a customer waiting to speak to me (as duty manager) trying to shake hands with another customer (middle aged chap in suit) as he was walking next to me (female, fairly young and in uniform) as I approached. As a call centre manager I used to struggle to convince customers that I was in the head office in England because of my broad Scottish accent (they took the wall down a few years ago). Finally, making a chap squirm when he had to tell me that he hadn't been speaking to a colleague of mine named Abdul as he didn't sound like an Abdul! Asked what an Abdul sounded like as ours had an exceptionally strong northern accent

dori2o

I had a caller just a few months ago who wasn't happy that she was not due a tax refund.

No matter how I tried to explain it she couldn't grasp the fact that there can be no refund due if no tax has been paid.

After much explaining and reasoning the woman said to me,

'You don't want to help me because I'm black.'

How exactly would I know what colour she is by talking to her on the end of a phone.

I encounter many different types of people. Many are obnoxious but then I expect that with taxes. Nobody wants to pay them yet they have little choice (unless of course you have the funds to employ a decent accountant, isn't that right Mr Osbourne?)

At the end of the day I give everyone ample opportunity to come round. If they don't and continue to treat me like a piece of dirt they get the bog standard service.

If they are polite, or come round to speaking to me half decently, they get the rolls royce service.

I may be a public servant, but I deserve to be spoken to with as much respect as anyone else would deserve.

Azari

dori2o wrote: »

I may be a public servant, but I deserve to be spoken to with as much respect as anyone else would deserve.

Indeed.

People may not like paying tax but if HMRC did not do their job they would soon start complaining when there were, for example, no hospitals, doctors, schools and much diminished road repairs and policing.

Millie_Millsters

dori2o wrote: »

I encounter many different types of people. Many are obnoxious but then I expect that with taxes. Nobody wants to pay them yet they have little choice (unless of course you have the funds to employ a decent accountant, isn't that right Mr Osbourne?)

Out of all the people I've dealt with on the phone, I've found that HMRC are absolutely brilliant at customer service. They've always listened to me, told me exactly what I need to do (if anything) and sorted the problem out.

Although they are almost impossible to get through to sometimes, I've found early on a Sat morning quickest :T

jordanchaos

Evilm wrote: »

FYI - I still have the problem that over a telephone my voice can sound very very young and I'm nearly 30- its just something to do with telephones! I totally hate having to replay a call to check something because of how it sounds.

Im a fairly strapping lad, even if i say so myself, but when I worked in a CC I dreaded call listening, for lack of a better description I sounded like... well ....a bad 70s interpretation of a camp man.
doesnt happen when im on my phone just when i had to speak to a customer.