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I just finished a interview at the Bureau of Collection Recovery call center in Eden Prairie. It's collections work, but it's $11.00 and 40 a week, so it would get me out of retail. Any advice for a first-timer?
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Feb 10, 2011 18:53
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 02:29 |
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Got done with day four of training. It's a little unnerving when you find out how new EVERYBODY is to the company. Hell, the Director of Human Resources has only been with us since January. I met one person who's a 13 year vet, everyone else is under 2 years. We use Latitude, which is a pretty user-friendly system. The first batch of "training" was leftover sales demo software from the vendor, with a narrator more passive-aggressive then the GPS bitch. Also took the certification test today and filed for a license with the State. Hopefully I should be on the floor by Monday! ...I need a drink just thinking about it
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Feb 25, 2011 01:40
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Guess who's got two thumbs and can't collect poo poo? THIS GUY! Yeah, I was demoted. I am now a Transfer Agent, so I place the calls and ask for Joe gently caress, then transfer the call to a collector. Transfer agent is scut work, usually reserved for temps. I'm still in the same cube, but my neighbors ignore me, my boss yells at me, and I don't really talk to anyone for more then a few seconds. 
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Mar 28, 2011 07:08
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Ghostnuke posted:Except for the boss part, that sounds awesome. But, I don't DO anything! I just sit there, dial phone numbers, get voice mail, hang up and repeat. My cube neighbors ignore me, and sometimes hours will go by without me saying anything. The whole thing is more dull then a butter knife, and I'm not used to it! I am used to talking to people and helping them. Makes me almost miss the sales floor...
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Mar 29, 2011 06:22
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Just had my annual review, despite only being with the company since February. Aside from a few schedule hiccup's, I scored 4's and 5's across the board. I have to admit, I was kinda paranoid about it, since they hammer into your head that they see and know about everything you do, and I was convinced I was going to be poo poo-canned for not documenting a call my third day on the floor, or forgetting to clock back in for lunch, or taking a bathroom break without telling anyone. I'm still a human automatic dialer, or "Transfer Agent" as they call me, and it's boring as gently caress. No internet access except for wellsfargo.com and 411.com, and no paper of any kind, so no books or magazines, and no headphones. 98% of my time is listening to the phone ring, and 8/10 times it's a voice-mail. Other two times it's either a disconnect recording, or a wrong party contact/wrong number, which is met with me quickly saying "whoops, sorry" and hanging up. On the rare occasion I get the debtor on the phone, they hang up while it's being transferred, or they cry poverty (I gots no moneys), tragedy (My family was eaten by giant rats!), ignorance (What's a Wells Fargo?), or my personal favorite, stubborn (I'm not paying back that $4,000, and you can't make me, so HA!). Having said that, I'm beginning to enjoy it in a sick way. It's easy as all hell, I feel spoiled having a CHAIR and a DESK (I come from retail, so having both makes me feel like a redneck lotto winner), we get smoke/meal breaks every two hours, and I can make my schedule, as long as I work 40 a week. For all this, I get $11 an hour, which is the most I've ever made in my life. I kill a lot of time daydreaming, or goofing off on 411.com, searching for funny names. Know how many people are named Hitler in the country? 16. A few random things: - After a while, you can tell who a person has for a phone company, based off of the voice-mail. -The gently caress is with people's names? What the hell is a Nevaeh Kryskal Hernandez-Johnson? -DO NOT let your kid's do your voice-mail recording. "LEAVH MOMNY MESSAGESA!" No, and gently caress you. -In fact, don't do anything besides "hi, this is so-and-so/555-1234, please leave a message". Don't sing, don't rap, don't declare yourself to be "America's next big thang!". Just don't do it. -If I call you, and I ask for Bill Johnson, and you are John Billson, just say "sorry, wrong number." Please, don't tell me how long you've had the number, how old you are, how hard you are, or any of that poo poo. Also, if you are a wrong number, don't call me a motherfucker, don't cry, don't scream at me, don't go on a tirade about Obama being a secret Muslim. Please, just say "wrong number". -If your name is Alex Johnson, and you asked the phone company to publish your name as "A. Johnson", and you keep getting calls for Ashley Johnson, you have only yourself to blame. -If you co-signed you friend's/girlfriend's/boyfriend's/concubine's bank account, and they bail, you are on the hook. Pure and simple. -To the jackass who's voice-mail was "Peanut Butter Jelly Time!": gently caress you. -Lying will get you nowhere. Example that happened only yesterday: me: Hi, I 'm calling for Alberto Gonzalez*? prick: Yes, this is Alberto Gonzalez, how can I help you? me: Hi, this is Dave, I'm giving you a call from BCR, I have a prick: NO ENGLISH NO ENGLISH NO ENGLISH!!! *hangs up* Oh, and debt collector's will loving drink you under the table. Seriously, they make irish dockworkers look like freshmen. *not his real name
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May 6, 2011 05:09
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I did overnight on Thanksgiving to 7am Black Friday...easiest shift I ever did. Took 10 phone calls. Total. Granted, that weekend was pure hell(70 calls in queue!), but 10 phone calls for a entire shift...I'm still basking in the awesomeness of it.
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Nov 29, 2011 19:21
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Had a rough day yesterday. Our queue never got below 15, and this is supposed to be our 'off season' with Holiday being over. It was 10 minutes to closing, and I got this loving psycho from Tennessee on my line. He was calling about this $1000 Text Message scam that's been going around, and kept threatening to call Nancy Grace and we were behind the scam and a bunch of tin-foil hat poo poo. The part where it got creepy was when he kept saying that the text message 'dun touched ma 13 years old daughter' and we were 'kiddy touchers'. He got really graphic in describing how the text message 'dun touched ma daughter'. I got him to a sup who had to hang up on him, this guy was so loving crazy. I mean like Ted Bundy or Berkowitz crazy. This guy had one of those serial killer voices too, I half expected him to tell me to squeal like a pig. Idiots I can handle, angry people I can handle. But psychos always get under my skin, and I always end their calls feeling a little afraid. Edit: And he called back twice. With the same thing.
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Mar 2, 2012 17:44
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So, we take phone calls from all 50 states, but some states more then others. And after taking these phone calls for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for six months, you begin to notice patterns. To that effect, here are my totally accurate stereotypes for the following states: Connecticut: Rich, bitchy snobs with terrible accents who I wish to beat violently with a baseball bat. Upstate New York: See Connecticut Michigan: Horrifically angry, violent sociopaths. North Dakota: Mentally unbalanced, possibly the result from inhaling toxic fumes from oil fields all day. Arizona: Very angry, often irrational and sometimes violent. California: Middle of the road, angry but open to compromise. Illinois: Like to complain about everything, highly demanding. But even after all of the screaming, swearing, shouting and death threats, I would rather talk to a hundred of the maddest, most rabid customers on the planet then talk to one Geek Squad agent. They don't do anything! All they do is dump phone calls on us because they don't feel like talking to angry people. Seriously, every time I hear the words "Hi, this is Agent so and so from Geek Squad whatever department, I have a customer on the line..." my blood pressure spikes ten points. Grow a loving spine and do your loving jobs! If all you do is transfer calls to our department, why the gently caress do you work for us? *punches wall* There, I'm de-stressed until Monday.
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Apr 29, 2012 03:57
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It's getting pretty bad in our department. We're not a traditional call center, we work at the corporate headquarters and deal with angry customers about everything. We're seen as a dumping ground for other departments, and it shows. In the past month, I've seen 20 people from our department leave. Not get fired, just straight up quit. From my original training class of 15, we're down to me and three other people. There's a real feeling of isolation, a feeling of desperation. You walk past people in the hallway, and everyone's talking about updating their resume, applying for other departments, having interviews with other companies. When a job opened up on a non-customer facing store support line, they received 47 applications from our department, we only have about a hundred people total.  And queues are even worse. Yesterday our hold time was 20 minutes, with 12 people in queue. It hasn't been this bad since holiday.
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Jun 26, 2012 21:17
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We got a group of FNG's coming in at the end of the month, 30 or so doe eyed newbies fresh off the street, most don't even have call center experience. They think if they hold their nose and work the floor for 6 months, they'll get their foot in the door and be able to transfer to a graphic design job or whatever the gently caress they think they learned in college. I just want to walk up to them and say "If you remember everything they taught you in training, you'll last a week. If you forget everything they taught you, you'll last a month. Welcome to the suck."
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Jul 6, 2012 16:10
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Ugly In The Morning posted:... Do we work at the same place? I have the exact same thing happening, but we're so short staffed I'll take any backup I can get. Did your employer announce layoffs today, including 600 "Geeks"?
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Jul 7, 2012 00:40
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Pureauthor posted:Am I missing something here? Why would working call centres have anything whatsoever to do with graphic design jobs in the future? We're a internal call center at the corporate headquarters, and plenty of people think that if they work customer service for a few months they can apply to other internal positions in sales, marketing or graphic design. Once they reach they're 6th month mark they realize that they're stuck.
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Jul 7, 2012 06:35
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Dear Northeastern United States: please stop calling us forever, or at least until you learn to speak English. A refresher: You live in Massachusetts, not Mass We sell computers, not 'da 'puters Our cashiers name is Sarah, not fat bitch
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Jul 28, 2012 01:58
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rockinricky posted:You just described life in a *racks shotgun* Take your FISH! and back out the thread nice and slow boy. We don't want any trouble.  For those who don't know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FISH!_philosophy
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Aug 8, 2012 00:18
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Reading the New York Times today, it looks like my company is announcing our new CEO...again. For those playing at home, this is our 3rd this year. And my boss wonders why I'm cynical about working here.
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Aug 20, 2012 14:56
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Boomer The Cannon posted:It's enough to make you blue (and yellow, right?) Perhaps... 
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Aug 21, 2012 03:52
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Slam Pajamas posted:Hey did you post those stories about working at a Rosetta stone kiosk? I'm not asking to whine about "fake stories" or whatever, I'm just curious. Yup, that was me. I couldn't find a picture of my manager so I used a placeholder and got called out for it. In fairness, that was 3 years ago.
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Aug 21, 2012 16:17
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legsarerequired posted:Does anyone here have anonymous surveys about their management? I was talking to someone who worked at the Gallup--outbound calls--and he says that every year he fills out a survey about the management. Yup. Twice a year like clockwork. "OK everyone, time to take the mandatory survey about your direct supervisor and the company! Remember, these surveys are completely, totally, 100% anonymous! Really! No one will ever know who you are, and nothing in the surveys can be traced back to you in any way, shape or form! We promise! ...please start the survey by entering you Employee Identification Number and login password."
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Oct 22, 2012 17:43
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cuntvalet posted:Ahh, I've developed a few new catchphrases lately, (un)ironically, taken from tips on how to speak to children. They work well on my customers. Funny, a book on how to talk to children could be a valuable tool in call center work.
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Dec 20, 2012 04:45
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So, interesting day today. New Jersey called. By that I mean, everyone in New Jersey called us. To complain about Mobile stores or mobile issues at regular stores. Cambrige. Orange. Newark. Green Acres Mall. Garden State Mall. Paramus. Paramus again. Fort Lee. Jersey City. Paramus again. Mount Laurel. Secaucus. Howell. Paramus again. They just...they just kept calling... THEY JUST KEPT CALLING!!!!  Oh, and one call from Lansing, MI. Some dickhead complaining about three "hoodlums" in a store. Apparently they were using "profane language" and "smelled of of the marijuana". And he pronounced marijuana with a hard J, like Mr. Mackey from South Park. Those "hoodlums" are the only paying customers we have left, aside from the elderly, the redneck, the mentally unbalanced and immigrants who have arrived in the United States in the past 90 days.
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Jan 6, 2013 08:28
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So, this is it. I got out.  I got laid off on October 26th. And I have never been better. It's almost impossible to describe the feeling adequately. If it's anything, it's relief. That's the closest I can come to describing it. Relief. I'm not happy, I'm not sad, I'm not stressed. I'm just...relieved. Almost like I had a boil lanced, or a hemorrhoid drained. I wake up in the morning, and I actually look forward to the day ahead. I actually have a decent job now. Overnight security for a data center. Only took a dollar pay cut and it's a world of difference. I put in two years at Best Buy, and when I first started I fell for the job security line hook line and sinker. Be loyal to Best Buy and Best Buy will be loyal to you. How naive of me. I've tried going over it in my head, trying to come up with some specific memories of what happened. Names, dates, what happened etc. But it's all become a gigantic blur to me. I keep in touch with two guys from there, but everyone else is just out of my mind. I sat next to someone every day for eight months, and I can't remember their name anymore. It didn't mean poo poo. None of it did. Screw 'em. Getting screamed at by idiots while being managed by imbeciles, all for the benefit of a bunch of schmucks. No one needs that.
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Nov 20, 2013 12:33
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:It's the problem with having a job where you have to constantly be present to do any work. This can sum up a majority of call center's policies. Even though we dress like office workers and talk like office workers, we are not office workers. Closest comparison for policy and procedures would be a machine shop or manufacturing floor.
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May 27, 2014 20:57
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lurker1981 posted:
Pretty much this. Back when I was a debt collector, one guy I knew kept a pint bottle of vodka at his desk, and would sip on it throughout the day. Management had to have known, but because he could pull in 10k a week in collections they didn't say a word.
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Nov 1, 2014 15:27
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you ate my cat posted:I worked for Comcast from home for about 6 months. Worked split shifts, 9-1 and 6:30-10:30. It ended up with me basically never leaving the house. I would have to go to the office every Thursday, and often I couldn't remember where I'd parked my car when I got back from the office last Thursday. It worked great for a lot of people who did it, but it was a terrible idea for me. How is working for Comcast? The Minneapolis retention center keeps trying to recruit me and I need a job, but I just can't shake the feeling that it'd be working in the 7th circle of hell.
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Nov 26, 2014 18:44
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 02:29 |
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Rand Ecliptic posted:I was terminated from my last call-center job, and I'm about to apply to a new call-center job. It honestly depends. If it was some 12 man sweatshop where no one cares, they might say it was an out-and-out termination. Multinational conglomerates? You worked there from this date to that date, no further comment at this time.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:50
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