|
Handed in my week's notice yesterday. I apologise in advance for the drastic "negative impact" my resignation will have on your weekend call queues, workforce management.
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2012 21:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 18:31 |
|
|
AT my place, the 'floor-walkers' are really the puppets of workforce management. Apparently the center only gets paid for the first 12m30s of a phone call, so in an effort to maximize profits, the floor-walkers get walky-talkied by WFM and they come and nag you about why the call is taking so long... I'm not sure how long I can take FiOS Tech Support...
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2012 23:28
|
|
|
Just wait two weeks and they will stop while they focus on another metric. My managers (all past agents) actually had a two day (5 hours each day) class on how to manage a company since we are sinking fast. We went from a full center with not enough seats for everyone to having only 1/4 the center being used in about half a year. My project has gone from 30+ agents at a time to about 3. It's always fun working somewhere where you don't know if you will be employed or not the next day.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2012 23:38
|
|
|
Haha, it's so true. If one of your stats is suffering and you're getting hounded by it, just ride it out until they don't care about it anymore. Right now I've successfully beaten back coding a dumb verification/discount screen, AUX time (time off phones) maximum got bumped 2 percent, bringing me to "with meets range", the only "demon" i have left to slay is the stupid post call survey. They literally want it offered on every single call more or less, unless it's an independent agent, this includes lienholders and bank employees, and court workers/law enforcement. gently caress YOUUUUUUUU.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2012 23:45
|
|
|
Loving Life Partner posted:Haha, it's so true. If one of your stats is suffering and you're getting hounded by it, just ride it out until they don't care about it anymore. Does the post-call survey have an effect on your pay or incentive structure? I once worked customer service (basically billing) for a wireless company, and it's impossible to position overages to ANY customer in a way that will let you pass the after-call survey. This call center was piece-rate. The lowest tier was $9/hr, and you only got paid if you were talking on the telephone. If I were a sick, sadistic person, then I would really enjoy managing a callcenter. I'd change metric requirements and incentives and piece-rates just to watch the agents squirm. Still working in a callcenter at 24 has me royally depressed. I'm embarrassed to tell my friends and relatives what my work is...
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2012 23:57
|
|
|
for context I work in a mortgage company collections dept. So today a guy was fired because they found out he was simply going onto accounts that usually pay around the same time of the month and putting notes on the account that made it looked like he talked to them and arranged the payment. Basically he was just boosting his stats by lying which is a huge no no. What's even worse is that he was from the loss mitigation department which is as high up as you can get in collections. So he knew what he was doing and that he would get caught. What a moron. Also one other guy quit on the spot.... like I said hi to him that morning as usual and sometime after lunch he just quit and walked out. I think maybe he might have been doing something shady too and figured he'd get out before he was found out but who knows!
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 01:03
|
|
|
God, I work for a national telecom in the US (not saying which one), and we can't deny service to anyone either for basic phone service. I, thankfully, work in tier 2 so I don't have to deal with everyone. But sometimes, jesus, you get those people. Someone screwed up one order, so I fix it. I tell the CSR who called me, and I explain it, ask if they need anything else like I'm supposed to. Then she tells me (doesn't ask, *tells* me) to take the call because I'd fixed it and she didn't want to deal with everything else. Gets extremely pushy about it, until I finally just tell her to do her job. We also have to take orders from outside vendors who sell door to door, and it is the most annoying thing. Between outright lying to you to get their sale, getting one of their buddies to pose as a customer to get a sale, or trying to push you into giving them some invalid order, bleh. Those are the worst calls because we have a time goal of 8 minutes per call average, and the fastest I've ever done one of their orders if 15 minutes. And sometimes I can take between ten and fifteen of them per day. EDIT: Oh! And another thing. I don't mind working non-consecutive days off, but I HATE whoever decided that starting at a different time on each day was acceptable. Edwhirl fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Feb 25, 2012 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 01:22
|
|
|
"You mean if I lower my plan I lose some of my services!? Well, I guess I'll shop around for another carrier." That was a gem from today's shift A good call from the other day which I actually commended the customer before we hung up. This gentleman called in because he had a roaming bill of approximately $13,000. He politely asked how my day was. And requested assistance with his bill. After verifying account and whatnot. I ask what I may help him with. He asks why he owes us $13000. I calmly let him know it's for roaming charges. He had gone to Australia and used his phone data. He asked why we did not let him know he was going over. I inform him that it is because looking at his usage, it looked like the vast majority of his data usage was two sessions at the end of the trip, back to back of each other. I then explain that his (Approximately) 600 MB of data billed at $20 per MB totalled a bit over $13000. He asked what we could do about it. I ask to place him on hold, and ask for help. Both TMs available were busy with other agents,so I went back to customer and explained that those were valid charges. He once again asked if there was anything to do. I placed him on hold and decide to rerate him. I have a credit limit of $250. I get back on the line and let the customer know of a "crazy idea that might work" I advise that an international plan for 800 MB would be something like $200. I tell him he would be responsible for the 200 and he says that's fine. The whole time we are talking as grown adultscoming up with a solution to a problem. So I submit a $12,908(13108-200) credit request to our high level team. I inform him that I could not guarantee that it would go through. He mentioned that I have helped him more than the previous four bastards that left him on hold for over twenty minutes each. So anyways, I provide the customer with his ticket number and advise on the Estimated date of resolution, and wished him the best of luck. I also did thank him for being so cooperative and making things alot easier for me. He thanked me for my honesty and we hung up. I really hope that adjustment goes through. And I even requested that I be the one that contacts him if everything goes to plan. Sorry for the long post, but I really wanted to tell someone about my great experience with a customer. A rerate is nothing out of the ordinary. I did not do anything special, but the way that call flowed is the way all calls should go, rather than "why do I have to pay three extra cents for taxes!!!!!"
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 10:05
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:Does the post-call survey have an effect on your pay or incentive structure? The only thing I'm precluded from by not performing better are merit bonuses that are handed out monthly, I'm actually trying to bring my stats more in line, because a girl on our team has rocked out a "top performer" spot for 5 or 6 months running, earning $200 bonus every month, and that seems pretty sweet. I actually like my job, and don't mind telling people where I work, mostly because it's a pretty decently important thing (auto insurance) and its complicated/challenging at times to figure out messed up policies.
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 13:48
|
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:AT my place, the 'floor-walkers' are really the puppets of workforce management. Apparently the center only gets paid for the first 12m30s of a phone call, so in an effort to maximize profits, the floor-walkers get walky-talkied by WFM and they come and nag you about why the call is taking so long... Sounds like you need to accidentally press the headset button when calls start getting around 12 minutes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 16:31
|
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:AT my place, the 'floor-walkers' are really the puppets of workforce management. Apparently the center only gets paid for the first 12m30s of a phone call, so in an effort to maximize profits, the floor-walkers get walky-talkied by WFM and they come and nag you about why the call is taking so long... Are you at a core center or a contract center? "Only gets paid for the first 12m30s" makes me think you're at a contractor. I'm at one of the larger core centers, and they've started riding us like crazy about handle time this week. Sending people around 12 minutes into the 14:30 handle time, twice-a-day stats emails, the works. It's a fact of life in call center work, though. I'm even older than you, and hate the work, but I refuse to be embarrassed by it because I make more doing this than almost anything else at this point. Ride it out till next month and there will be a new focus, probably SMS compliance or some poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 19:19
|
|
|
Yeah, I might be embarrassed about this job but I'm a college dropout making $20+/hour with full benefits in one of the shittiest states in the nation, so I could be doing a helluva lot worse.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 21:28
|
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:AT my place, the 'floor-walkers' are really the puppets of workforce management. Apparently the center only gets paid for the first 12m30s of a phone call, so in an effort to maximize profits, the floor-walkers get walky-talkied by WFM and they come and nag you about why the call is taking so long... Holy god, I think we work at the exact same place. Are you in Ohio?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 21:58
|
|
|
BlackIronHeart posted:Yeah, I might be embarrassed about this job but I'm a college dropout making $20+/hour with full benefits in one of the shittiest states in the nation, so I could be doing a helluva lot worse. For sure. My position caps out at ~$28, and it's union, so you get a raise every 6 months till you cap, or you have to cap within 3(?) years. Plus benefits, a ton of available overtime if that's your thing. One of the guys I work with is doing ~25 hours of week of overtime a week, and is on track to make $100k+ this year. Too bad it's call center work, so the schedule sucks, no one respects you, and you talk to idiots all day.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 22:16
|
|
|
I'm embarassed about where I work too, especially now that all of my friends are moving on into real career-type jobs, but at least it pays the bills while I figure out what to do next. I reported my company for an ethics violation the other day. I am a little worried that they will know it was me, but I'm also too burned out to care about getting fired.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2012 22:21
|
|
|
you ate my cat posted:For sure. My position caps out at ~$28, and it's union, so you get a raise every 6 months till you cap, or you have to cap within 3(?) years. Plus benefits, a ton of available overtime if that's your thing. One of the guys I work with is doing ~25 hours of week of overtime a week, and is on track to make $100k+ this year. Too bad it's call center work, so the schedule sucks, no one respects you, and you talk to idiots all day. poo poo son, where do you work, I thought I was doing good. Granted, there is technically no cap here, but we started at $13/hr, and with bonuses I usually hover about $15/hr - but I'm one of the two best people on the team. The rest of the sales team averages about $60/paycheck in bonus money, I average twice that. But on the other hand, I have the best job security on the planet. Because we're sorta new to being a call center (started off as just a regular old ambulance chasing firm, we just (like as in the last 2 years) started being a call center.) and I'm the only one willing to work my shift (12-9 with weekends) AND am always first or second in call stats? My immediate supervisor joked with me that the only way they'd get rid of me was if I started doing blow of the boss' desk - and even then I'd likely get a free 30 day vacation to a dry-out clinic. Plus, I get to say I work for a "law firm" to people that don't know any better. It's call center work through and through, but I get to slap a fancy title on it and make it seem like I've got a real job. Considering that out of all my friends that actually, y'know, graduated from college are working retail, I'm doing a lot better than them. I like it. I get to talk to crazy rear end people about how they're too much of a crazy rear end to work, and because they're so drat nuts they should just hire us so that we can handle everything so that the gubmint can't do horrible things like implant tracking chips in them.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 04:08
|
|
|
Do they actually expect you to do any work after you hand in your notice??
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 04:38
|
|
|
you ate my cat posted:For sure. My position caps out at ~$28, and it's union, so you get a raise every 6 months till you cap, or you have to cap within 3(?) years. Plus benefits, a ton of available overtime if that's your thing. One of the guys I work with is doing ~25 hours of week of overtime a week, and is on track to make $100k+ this year. Too bad it's call center work, so the schedule sucks, no one respects you, and you talk to idiots all day. Do you work for the government as I know if you live in Canada you want to work for a Service Canada call centre. 40k a year, government hours, no call monitoring by anyone (it's illegal) plus after a while they let you into other departments.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 06:47
|
|
|
sbaldrick posted:Do you work for the government as I know if you live in Canada you want to work for a Service Canada call centre. 40k a year, government hours, no call monitoring by anyone (it's illegal) plus after a while they let you into other departments. Wait, how does the company do QA if higher-ups can't review calls after the fact?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 08:18
|
|
|
AA is for Quitters posted:But on the other hand, I have the best job security on the planet. Because we're sorta new to being a call center (started off as just a regular old ambulance chasing firm, we just (like as in the last 2 years) started being a call center.) and I'm the only one willing to work my shift (12-9 with weekends) AND am always first or second in call stats? My immediate supervisor joked with me that the only way they'd get rid of me was if I started doing blow of the boss' desk - and even then I'd likely get a free 30 day vacation to a dry-out clinic. Sorry, but there's no call center where there is true. Here today, gone tomorrow.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 09:02
|
|
|
RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:Sorry, but there's no call center where there is true. Here today, gone tomorrow. ...the joys of working for a place that's a law firm first, call center second. They still don't think they're a call center. It's cute. I can still gently caress up big time and get the axe, but since I'm willing to work the weekend, and I pull awesome numbers while slacking through the day. We don't have the same strict metrics that a lot of you guys do - we have metrics and stuff, but they're a lot looser with them because they don't know WTF they're doing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2012 12:34
|
|
|
bulbous nub posted:Holy god, I think we work at the exact same place. Are you in Ohio? No, I'm at the Utah FSC. We do work for the same place though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2012 03:38
|
|
|
To answer the questions, I do FiOS tech support. Same work that Woodsy Owl and bulbous nub do, but I work directly for the big V. There are benefits that come from working for a big union shop. The downside is that we haven't had a contract since August, when we went on strike, because the company is trying to slash a ton of the benefits because they're incredibly expensive. Make the money while you can, I guess. Speaking of which, Woodsy and bulbous, are your centers unionized? I've always wondered that. martyrdumb posted:Wait, how does the company do QA if higher-ups can't review calls after the fact? Contractually, we can't be recorded at the center I work at. They end up doing a lot of real-time call monitoring, which is honestly pretty inefficient and doesn't give us a lot of feedback about anything.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2012 04:10
|
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:No, I'm at the Utah FSC. We do work for the same place though. Right on, I saw FiOS support and the 12m30s handle time jockeys so it immediately clicked with me. Good to know there's at least a bit of similarity there but poo poo is so terribly unorganized it's not even funny. you ate my cat posted:Speaking of which, Woodsy and bulbous, are your centers unionized? I've always wondered that. We are not and at my last recollection, the company we work for is against the idea of it. Funny story though, we did have people from the Verizon union (or whatever, I'm not entirely sure, I was out on a med leave at the time) show up at our center and picket those going in. What I would give to do my job at a core center, where my actual focus would be on actually fixing issues and not just hitting call time (to quote an ACCM: "Call time is king, nothing else matters really") to please superiors. Now don't get me wrong, I do fix issues and have a clue what I'm doing (I've been IHD, Sup, Trainer, I got demoted over office politics, whatever) and normally run a sub-8 minute handle time, but some of our policies are loving retarded. To dispatch, all dispatches need to be approved by our IHD, we negotiate access times with the customer, and then we do a warm transfer to IHD so they can basically grab the ticket and hand it off. During peak hours when our IHD is serving basically three centers, it can take about 45 minutes for the whole process, making a 10 minute call nearly an hour. bulbous nub fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Feb 27, 2012 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2012 04:17
|
|
|
bulbous nub posted:Right on, I saw FiOS support and the 12m30s handle time jockeys so it immediately clicked with me. Good to know there's at least a bit of similarity there but poo poo is so terribly unorganized it's not even funny. I'd give anything for some loving benefits. This contractor call-center lured me in during recruiting with the promise of full health benefits. Turns out this organization will say whatever they can to get you in the door. The 'health benefits' were nothing more than a completely private, non-sponsored non-employer health plan. It is the same type of health insurance plan you can buy off the internet. Everyone in the training class flipped their poo poo when the HR lady came down to hand out the private insurance brochure. oval office. I've seriously stopped giving a gently caress about handle-time. It means dick to me. Having good stats doesn't net me a promotion or incentive or anything. All of the supes and trainers have been there since inception. There is no chance I will ever be anything more than a phone-Jockey. Drop-ships now 'requires' oval office-puss checklist approval. gently caress that poo poo. Ugh...
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2012 06:18
|
|
|
martyrdumb posted:Wait, how does the company do QA if higher-ups can't review calls after the fact? As I understand from my ex, they sit and watch people do it and based on what they do on the screen and the notes that's how they QA it. Even then it's not really QAed as it's the government so different kind of call centre goals.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2012 15:21
|
|
|
I know that this is technically a "rant" thread for Call Centres but I tried to poke around Business, Finance and Careers and couldn't find another discussion thread. I'm going to a job fair for a call centre tomorrow, and wanted to know more about what to expect...where should I post/ask about that? Sorry about this being in the wrong thread and all. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 04:08
|
|
|
This thread makes me so glad I'm not taking calls anymore. I worked in call center environments from 1992 until 2008. I developed great typing skills by typing the most detailed, CYA call notes ever (that saved my butt many times from evil coworkers), and now I have a job where I use those typing skills to enter data all day. I listen to music all day and frequently go most a week without talking to any of my coworkers. Love it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 04:39
|
|
|
cuntvalet posted:I know that this is technically a "rant" thread for Call Centres but I tried to poke around Business, Finance and Careers and couldn't find another discussion thread. I'm going to a job fair for a call centre tomorrow, and wanted to know more about what to expect...where should I post/ask about that? It really depends on what kind of a call center it is. Is it an inbound help center thing? Outbound inside sales? Call centers vary widely. I'm in the inside sales section of a 99% inbound sales call center. I get lucky in that the company really doesn't know what to do with the 6 of us inside sales people, and so long as I outperform the other five, I'm safe. But I know the metrics are much stritcter for inbound, since that's what they're more familiar with, and that our metrics are looser than "proper" call centers. So what are you going to a job faire for? That makes a lot of difference as to what sort of advice you get.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 06:14
|
|
|
I no-call-no-showed my voluntary resignation. F that place. I start at a way better inbound sales support call center in a week.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 20:23
|
|
|
AA is for Quitters posted:It really depends on what kind of a call center it is. Is it an inbound help center thing? Outbound inside sales? Call centers vary widely. WiPro BPO. They provide call centres for various companies, this one would be in-bound tech support for Bell Canada (the phone company), I seem to believe. I went to the job fair, and you filled out your little application then went home, usually there's a small interview before you're done, so it was a little off putting. That said, I believe I'll get a call back for an interview, considering most of the people doing the applications in the same room as me either: Needed ridiculous amounts of help on the application Wore sweat pants and/or stained clothing Used words like "seeked" on their application. This girl specifically was sitting next to me, saying her answers outloud as she wrote them. I corrected her, told her she wanted the word "sought" and she spelled it "soute" And then there was the woman who had this conversation with the recruiter: Applicant ( ):*handing in her application* So...when will I hear from you?Recruiter (  ): We will go through your application profile and if we feel you'd be a good fit, we'll call you. : You'll call me? : Yes, we'll call you. : Like...on a phone? : ....Yes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2012 23:39
|
|
|
Woodsy Owl posted:I no-call-no-showed my voluntary resignation. I might be making my way out here real soon, by the end of the week maybe even tomorrow. I've got an interview tomorrow morning for a Tier 1 helpdesk job in a real environment. If I get it, I'm immediately going in and telling this place to go gently caress themselves. I wonder if I can find a cheap marching band that knows Celebration by Kool and the Gang for rent for about half an hour tomorrow...
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 06:33
|
|
|
bulbous nub posted:I might be making my way out here real soon, by the end of the week maybe even tomorrow. I've got an interview tomorrow morning for a Tier 1 helpdesk job in a real environment. If I get it, I'm immediately going in and telling this place to go gently caress themselves. Good luck friend. I used to work FiOS support in Hilliard and handing in my resignation (though it was just a little form they had stacks of in the break room) was the sweetest, most freeing feeling ever. Be on your guard though, it was a pain in the rear end to get my last paycheck.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 07:13
|
|
|
Quest Jefferson posted:..handing in my resignation (though it was just a little form they had stacks of in the break room)... It really says something about a company when they have a pile of resignation forms readily available.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 08:57
|
|
|
Quest Jefferson posted:Be on your guard though, it was a pain in the rear end to get my last paycheck. Workforce management was handing them out on the production floor. I suspect this next check won't be any different. Luckily for me I go berserk when someone tries to gently caress with my money. Which means I'll do whatever is necessary to get a straight answer.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 18:31
|
|
|
This.. This just happened in our chat.. people become less inteligent over time i truely belive the avg ancient greek was miles ahead of us common sense and knowlege mabye not tech but just smarter over all And spelling and grammar as well? fact i have a degree from unc and i cant spell a dang
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 21:01
|
|
|
That doesn't sound THAT dim. If it were spelled correctly you'd probably not bat an eyelid. My wife has a degree and an MA and has trouble spelling, it's not unusual.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 22:00
|
|
|
Welp, pending drug test and background check (both of which are no big deal at all) I start on 3/12. It may end up being a part time job but if I can get 24 hours a week at the right pay, I would make just enough to live comfortably and tell my current job to go gently caress themselves. I've got a meeting with HR on Friday to finalize all information and set hours, pay, that stuff. Thank. God. I've been at this place drat near three years and it's just slowly eaten away at me every day.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2012 23:52
|
|
|
cuntvalet posted:I know that this is technically a "rant" thread for Call Centres but I tried to poke around Business, Finance and Careers and couldn't find another discussion thread. I'm going to a job fair for a call centre tomorrow, and wanted to know more about what to expect...where should I post/ask about that? Can you speak English? Are you not mentally retarded? Congratulations. A call center will hire you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2012 13:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 18:31 |
|
|
RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS posted:Can you speak English? Are you not mentally retarded? Congratulations. A call center will hire you. Goodie! Now to wait for the call!
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2012 20:12
|
|