I am SO sick and tired of all the people who simply will NOT admit that they don't know the answer to your question so they give you incorrect information! I can't stand it!! 

 

Example #1: We are considering changing phone/internet providers. We might go with wireless internet but I have to be careful about "data usage limits" because they result in excess charges. Therefore, I called AT&T to find out how much data we use now so that I can choose a right plan for us in the future. Doesn't sound like an unreasonable question, does it? "If you charge people for exceeding their monthly data usage, you must keep track of everybody's data usage, right? So how much data have we been using lately?"  You will not BELIEVE how many different people I had to talk to and every one of them gave me a different answer, and none of the answers made any sense! My personal favorite was the billing department. They bill you for excessive data usage so they must be able to access the numbers. But the guy kept insisting that billing did not have that info. B** S**!!! 

 

Example #2: Today I wanted to create an online account for Social Security. The online system wouldn't let me do it. I called SS (long wait time) and the woman said that the problems is because I have my credit reports frozen. So I unfroze my credit reports and tried the online system again. The computer still wouldn't let me set up an account! So I call SS again and this woman said once the computer says, "No" you can't ever go back and do it again. Unfreezing my credit reports won't help, I have to go to an SS office in person. That is ridiculous! When I challenged her and said that she was just guessing, she agreed that was true. She finally admitted that she didn't know why the computer won't take my registration but I had to beat the admission out of her! 

 

I'm finding this sort of thing happening more and more. I think the problem is all the "call centers". For the most part the people manning them have no direct experience with the company or its products or its services. They get X days of training and are then released onto the public. And given the high turn-over of these jobs, they don't expect to be there very long, anyway, so why bother to try hard. So they don't know what they are talking about and they probably think that they will get in trouble if they ask a colleague or a supervisor too many questions. After all, every time they stop to find out an answer they are using two people's time (them and their supervisor) and slowing down the parade. So they quickly learn to cover their ignorance and lie. I AM SICK OF THIS!!!

 

Thanks for letting me vent. 

..they probably think that they will get in trouble if they ask a colleague or a supervisor too many questions. So they quickly learn to cover their ignorance and lie. 

They DO get in trouble.  I know a couple people who've worked in call centers and both were miserable, treated poorly and faced unrealistic quotas.  Call Centers are not healthy environments and their product/service is proof. 

 

If it's AT&T, I think (but am not 100% certain) you can go online, look at your account and see your past usage.

I have worked in call centres since 2007. They are very hostile environments and it's a very stressful job. Training is typically between 1-4 weeks. Many people quit before they finish training.

 

As an agent, you are supposed to take a lot of abuse for customers. Often times, you get in trouble for disconnecting on a person who is yelling/swearing/threatening you.

 

The tools that a call centre rep uses every day can be very overwhelming as you have to have 10-20 screens open. While you're taking calls, you are usually expected to upsell and respond to emails.

 

Every move you make is monitored and every call you take is recorded. I have watched people escorted out of the building for getting upset at a customer who was verbally abusive to them. I have also watched management walk around with "pink slips" and fire people.

 

A family member died and when I asked to take some time off to be with my dad, my supervisor told me that, "Oh, your dad is older. I'm sure he's dealt with death before. He'll be fine."

 

There is a lot of gossip and drama. It's a lot like high school. Some people do whatever it takes to fit in. It's all very childish and unprofessional. Bonuses (if any) are only given to those who are favourites of management. 

 

The call centres that are outsourced (let's face it, all of them are) have limited resources and the agents aren't trained probably and don't have access to all the tools. They are expected to read from a script and are given sh*t pay. The reason why call centres outsource so much is because they can pay someone from India about three times less than what they pay us.

 

Of course there is the other side of this, where some agents are just downright nasty to people. It is a soul-sucking job, so there are people who lash out at customers because of how they're treated on the job. There is also agents who will call someone they know on their work phones so they don't have to take calls, or there are those who sleep with management.

 

I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience. When I worked at a call centre, I tried my hardest to help everyone I could. That's why my feedback from customers was usually positive. 

Also, in regards to asking questions while on the floor, there is usually only one or two supervisors per about 100 agents. You were expected to "find the answer yourself" with your limited resources. You were made to feel stupid for asking questions. Sometimes we could call the higher techs, but if you have 100+ agents calling, there's a huge waiting time to get in touch with someone. At my most recent call centre job, there was no way to jump between the higher tech line and the customer, so my customers usually had to wait 10-20 minutes before I could even reach someone. 

Jeeze, Leanna, I'd heard that those call center jobs were the pits but I didn't know they were THAT bad. It sounds like the 21st century version of the old sweat shops!  :o  Actually, although I am frequently frustrated and disappointed that the agents can't answer my questions, they are usually very nice and I don't blame them personally for their company's poor customer service.

 

It's a sad situation when both the agent and the customer feel frustrated, ill-used and unappreciated. But company executives want to be paid higher and higher salaries and consumers want to pay less and less for goods and services so something's gotta give. That "something" is often customer service. 

Jeeze, Leanna, I'd heard that those call center jobs were the pits but I didn't know they were THAT bad. It sounds like the 21st century version of the old sweat shops!  :o  Actually, although I am frequently frustrated and disappointed that the agents can't answer my questions, they are usually very nice and I don't blame them personally for their company's poor customer service.

 

It's a sad situation when both the agent and the customer feel frustrated, ill-used and unappreciated. But company executives want to be paid higher and higher salaries and consumers want to pay less and less for goods and services so something's gotta give. That "something" is often customer service. 

It really is a terrible job, but most call centres are willing to hire just about anyone, so it's hard not to get sucked in.

 

I was among the top agents at my old job and consistently received positive feedback from customers, but in the 1.5 years I was working there, I only received one bonus. A girl who was constantly late and was off "sick" every week received more bonuses than I did. They do bonuses quarterly and they pull agents off the floor to tell them, so we knew who got a bonus and who didn't. It was embarrassing and very demotivating. Even though I worked my ass off and was good at my job, I didn't get bonuses because I wasn't buddy-buddy with my supervisor or management. I wasn't sleeping with anyone in management and I didn't smoke weed/hang out with them after work.

 

It is all about favortism. My supervisor was actually in a relationship with an agent (they lived together), so she was untouchable -- she could do anything without getting in trouble, including dropping calls and making personal phone calls while at work. 

A good example of perspective right here.

 

Life is one big misunderstanding sometimes

As a side note, good article/ podcast on why people won't say I don't know

 

http://freakonomics.com/2014/05/15/the-three-hardest-words-in-the-english-language-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

Thanks for the link to the podcast, Beacon. It was about why nobody wants to say, "I don't know." That is something that has puzzled me all my life so I was happy to see it discussed.

 

It seems that most people think that they will be judged as failures if they can't answer a question. Any question. Even if there is no way they could know the answer (i.e., "What is the color of the boat house at Hereford?") it's better to take a wild guess than be thought stupid. Children as young as 5 or 6 have already learned this lesson. I, on the other hand, am a scientist. I have been immersed in the scientific method for my whole life. For a scientist, you MUST start with "I don't know (fill in the blank)" and then start to design experiments and observations to find out the answer. So for a scientist, "I don't know" is indicative of potential success. For most people, "I don't know" is indicative of stupidity. I guess that makes sense.

.... For most people, "I don't know" is indicative of stupidity. .

Stupidity, failure, weakness, easily mowed over and replaced. 

most bosses fake it....

Actually, Bakon, you are correct. According to this podcast, middle managers are the most likely to "fake it". 

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but this phenomenon interests me...

 

The podcast showed that even children as young as 5 or 6 are afraid to say, "I don't know." The podcasters relate it to our educational system. When you think about it, it is understandable. In school, teachers only ask you questions about material that has already been covered in class. So if the teacher asks, "What is the name of the river that separates Mississippi from Louisiana?" or "Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?" you are expected to know the answer.

 

In point of fact, your mind might be a complete blank. You have no idea who wrote Romeo and Juliet. You regret that you didn't read the assignment last night or you feel guilty because you weren't paying attention in class yesterday. But the fact remains that the teacher seems to think that you SHOULD know the answer and you don't. If you just say straight out "I don't know." you're going to get in trouble. So you guess. Who knows? Maybe you took in the name of that river subconsciously while you were actually daydreaming about the little red-haired girl in the third row? Children learn this very early in life. As I said, even first-graders will throw out a guess rather than admit that they don't know something. 

 

So when you grow up to be a call center representative or a middle manager (or just about anybody else) your instinct is to TRY to provide an answer to any question you are asked. And when challenged, you refuse to say "I don't know." because you think you will be criticized for not knowing. It's a behavior that we hammer into children from day 1. 

A lot of the issue at call centers...is productivity.  They want you to be on that call and doing what you need to do fast...faster than anyone and on to the next call.  I've worked in a different type of call center...outgoing calls lol and no customer service involved and it was brutal.  Won't do it again, it is a low paying job that nobody could possibly get any joy from.  I once got a chair thrown at me and got a verbal warning when I gave the thrower a piece of my mind.  A thankless job, I'd rather be scouting for aluminum cans in garbage bins for a living.  This was years ago, but no way no how, never again.

A lot of the issue at call centers...is productivity.  They want you to be on that call and doing what you need to do fast...faster than anyone and on to the next call.  I've worked in a different type of call center...outgoing calls lol and no customer service involved and it was brutal.  Won't do it again, it is a low paying job that nobody could possibly get any joy from.  I once got a chair thrown at me and got a verbal warning when I gave the thrower a piece of my mind.  A thankless job, I'd rather be scouting for aluminum cans in garbage bins for a living.  This was years ago, but no way no how, never again.

 

I've done outgoing calls as well. It's a nightmare. I worked for a survey company and Sears where I was required to make outgoing calls. I have vowed to never work for another survey company or telemarketer again. I don't know how people do it. When I did outgoing calls for Sears, I had to say the same script over and over again for 3-4 hours without a break. My mouth/jaw always hurt and people were very angry that I was calling them. Horrible, thankless job for sure!

I've done outgoing calls as well. It's a nightmare. I worked for a survey company and Sears where I was required to make outgoing calls. I have vowed to never work for another survey company or telemarketer again. I don't know how people do it. When I did outgoing calls for Sears, I had to say the same script over and over again for 3-4 hours without a break. My mouth/jaw always hurt and people were very angry that I was calling them. Horrible, thankless job for sure!

My job wasn't customer service or telemarketing though, lol.  I was that caller that nobody wanted to talk to  :o

My job wasn't customer service or telemarketing though, lol.  I was that caller that nobody wanted to talk to  :o

What did you do? Collections?