Tell me how not to want to kill yourself at a call centre???

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me how not to want to kill yourself at a call centre???

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

There's no way. Start looking for a new job before you're totally turned into a shell. At least it's easy to interview because you probably don't work M-F.

mechacop posted:

This is a really important answer. I feel like with each day, I am becoming more and more empathetic and able to build that relationship with the customer. I feel like by doing so, I'm really starting to improve my own social skills in my personal life.

I thought this too but that won't last.

# ¿ May 23, 2014 05:59

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 02:02

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

Madmarker posted:

Quite frankly, you won't. Every day is going to be a constant battle with anxiety and depression. You will gain weight. You will get sick. You will become more dependent on alcohol than you ever thought possible. Really, the only thing halfway decent about call center work is the joy when you quit. Call center work is a special kind of hell where you are ground into servile paste.

Even after you're long gone, by the way, that weight doesn't come back off.

# ¿ May 24, 2014 00:52

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

mechacop posted:

Is there some in-joke of scaring people away from this sort of thing? It really isn't bad at all compared to the horror stories you guys tell.

I was literally starting to think about suicide by the time I left and most of my coworkers weren't much better-adjusted. There's also a huge megathread on SA of call center employees with similar sentiments.

# ¿ May 25, 2014 03:28

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

Captain Mog posted:

I just have to ask this: what's the point? I mean, I've never ever ever heard of anyone buying a single thing from a telemarketer in all of my days, so why do these call centers exist? How do they get money? How is it profitable when telemarketers are universally reviled? I just don't understand?

It's a numbers game... they cost little enough that if 2 out of a 100 people bite it's profitable.

Also, lots of them are inbound, so, basically, because it's way cheaper than having regular employees handle customer service inquiries.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 13:38

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

Part of Everything posted:

I will never understand why people will work at a job that entails doing something to someone that they wouldn't want done to them, and then even further, have the gall to complain about how miserable those people are to them.

If you stay as a cold caller, customers are going to treat you like poo poo at worst, curtly at best. I work 12-14 hour days and am barely scraping by. The last thing I want when I come home exhausted and hungry is for my phone to ring and have some rear end in a top hat on the other end trying to sell me a home alarm system. If you call me I will hang up on you, because I've learned that saying "no thanks" isn't good enough to make you stop. If you call again, I'll be mean.

So the answer to your question is: if you want to be happy, get a job that doesn't involve harassing people in their homes.

gently caress off, dude. Nobody wakes up and says "You know what I'd like to do? A demeaning job where both management and clientele treat you with contempt, for poo poo pay."

If you don't want to be called again ask to be placed on a do-not-call list because otherwise you will be called again. The dialers are usually computerized and when they aren't calling you back is the policy. It's not in the hands of the guy making barely more than minimum wage whom you're abusing.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jul 9, 2014

# ¿ Jul 9, 2014 05:20

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

PT6A posted:

Well, it kinda does. I have no problem with people calling me, I have a problem when I tell them politely that I'm not interested and they push the matter. Some have called me back two further occasions, which is just un-loving-acceptable.

They have to do those things or they'll lose their job. If you're so concerned, you can tell them you want to be put on the do-not-call list, which they're legally obligated to honor. Or you could just not say anything and just hang up; that's one of the least rude things people do so NBD.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2014 00:51

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 02:02

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS: Dec 21, 2010

SubjectVerbObject posted:

Sigh, rant on.

1. If you take a job where your job is to be a jerk to people, what do you think people's response is going to be? I don't understand how you think it is okay for them to be pushy assholes, but it is wrong to throw their poo poo back at them. The fact that they earn money to do it makes it even worse. If I went around messing with people on the street, I would expect people to get in my face, and if I used the excuse, 'but I am getting paid to paid to mess with you', I would expect to get my rear end kicked.

2. They are calling me, using sales tactics (ie, lying and manipulation) to try to get me to spend too much money on things I don't need. They are using my time and my phone for their business. My phone, my rules, and my rules say that if you bug me at home, I tell you what a scumbag you are.

3. Admittedly, since I have been on the no call list for 10 years, the only calls I get any more are people who are complete scammers (Rachel from Cardholder services), so my sample is skewed.

Having worked in a call center (not outbound, although that didn't stop people from being similarly abusive), nobody does it unless they're desperate. Clearly you have no understanding of what it's like to do.

PT6A posted:

Can/should I ask to speak to their manager in that event, so I can chew out the person who actually made that stupid policy instead of the low-level person who has to follow it? Does that work?

The guy you are talking to will never be high enough up the chain to actually have any influence and may not actually be a manager.

I don't think most people have an appreciation for the scale of a real call center. If Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters did something you found objectionable, would you march into the local Wal-Mart and yell at the store manager? Do you think that would make them change their policies? That's essentially what you're proposing.

quote:

2. I worked as a telemarketer for one and half weeks. Three days of training and one week of selling. The training was all about what lies you can tell, and how to overcome objections like "I can't afford it" and "I don't need it." I quit after one week of lying to people trying to get them to buy things they didn't need and couldn't afford.

Yeah, that's literally what sales is all about. Nothing specific to telemarketing here.

RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Jul 12, 2014

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 04:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me how not to want to kill yourself at a call centre???