Call center advice from a call center employee posted on Miss Manners

[snugglegirl05]

http://lifestyle.msn.com/messageboar...e-54e33fca9f15

Here is a post from a call center employee posted on Miss Manners.

What are your opinions regarding the employee's post & the replies made by other members?

[TelephoneAngel]

Dont open the call yelling at the CCR (customer service rep)-This make us hate you from the start, and there is less of a chance you will get what you want.
- not neccessarily, if you have a GENUINE problem and have spoken to various people beforehand, the yes, I can understand you are angry, if you are yelling for the sake of it, then, YES


Give all the info we request- It actually is needed. If you dont want to give it, dont get upset if we cant help you.
- I have writte posts about this

Dont act like we are stupid when we ask you to spell something (Name, street)- Not everyone spells it the same, and it can make a difference whether or not a transaction goes through.
- Especially if you have a KREATIF name

If you are asked for YOUR info, give YOUR info- Some places need the name of who they are speaking to, not who the account is under.
- yes, posted about this


Dont get mad at us if there is a system problem and we cant help you at that moment. Chances are it will be fixed within a couple hours, possibly even minutes- With technology, comes occasional problems.
- most people are ok with this they know computer errors happen


We know we sound like robots, but it is our job to follow our script.
- don't I know it

Supervisors do not sit right next to us and usually dont take calls or cant do what you are asking. Many times they may not even working when you ask for them. So dont ask us to hand the phone to them. That is not how it works.
- And they will ONLY repeat what I just told you!

If we notice you get upset when we are being nice. Chances are we will be nicer because we know it will make you even more mad. Its our revenge for being a PITA, without us getting in trouble.
- Can't say I've ever done it

Dont speak down to us. Just because you have a 'better' job or whatever, doesn't make you better. For all you know, the person you are speaking to is going to school to be a doctor.
- yes i have said to a customer "stop speaking to me in that tone of voice or i will terminate the call"


nIf you are calling to make any sort of payment, have your stuff ready-As in right in front of you. Dont put us on hold to go to your neighbors to borrow a CC (yes this has happened).
- have a pen already!

Listen to what we tell you. We dont want you to call screaming at us in a month because you never agreed to XYZ. Just because you were in a hurry and didn't listen, doesn't mean your not liable.
- PLEASE LISTEN!


RESPONSE TO COMMENTS

If I ask for a supervisor, please don't ask me to tell you what's happening. It's above your paygrade- and that of the last 6 people I've talked to.
-MY SUPERVISOR WON'T RESPOND WITHOUT KNOWING THE FULL STORY BEFORE SHE SPEAKS TO YOU SO SORRY, YOU NEED TO TELL ME.

Ms. Thang, the fourth one I was passed to in order to check on my prescription (which apparently, they accidentally dropped, so instead of solving it THEMSELVES, they made ME call my doctor and authorize them to fill it again!) must have helped OP write this.



She kept huffing and puffing when I kept prefacing my responses to her queries with, "For the fourth time...."



She spluttered a couple of times during our interaction, "You know, you keep saying that. It's not my fault you were passed around 4 times." I told her it wasn't my fault either, but she works for the company who's putting her in this position, so instead of attacking me for being justly outraged, she should probably continue to apologize EVEN IF IT'S NOT HER FAULT, because that's what she's THERE for, g.d. it!
-no its not what she's there for actually.You want to be sarcastic to someone, you've got the wrong number.


Say, "Thank you so much for your help so far, but I still don't understand why I can't have a catered lunch with the Pope after all this hassle. There just has to be a way we can make that happen." Repeat. Trust me, if you stay on the phone long enough, eventually you WILL get what you want.
-Don't be rdiciulous, if I tell you it can't be done, then I can't pull it out of my backside.

[TelephoneAngel]

Honestly, the comments are like all the sucky customers you ever encountered, on one page.


No, my account number and phone number and address social-security number is not "needed"--only one person has my account number, so that's all you need. The rest is just a "service delay" tactic.

- erm no, its to ensure that I don't accidently put a whole load of charges on the wrong persons acccount, if those charges showed up your accout you would soon start screaming that I didn't check properly whose account it was.

I actually had a CSR ask me "How may I help you?" once I finally got to her after some 10 minutes navigating their idiotic "Auto Attendant" phone system...



I asked her what her favorite soda was... she was perplexed, but answered "Coke"... so I promptly told her: "Please, grab one of your Cokes and take it into the phone room and pour it into the Auto-Attendant."

- Meanwhile, because you couldn't just phone up and ask for what you wanted, without making a scene, all the other customers had to queue an additional few miutes every time.

[Squeaksmyalias]

I was on that board for a short time. I have to say, that was the worst board to post that on.

For people posting on a manners board quite a few can get very catty and insulting, there were times when I thought they were attacking the OP just to do so. I posted once, and had everything from my sentence structure to one simple comment I posted torn apart. I get my writing isn't that great, but really it was understandable. I don't recall them actually answering my question, but then again I stop reading my own thread because of how they were.

americanavocet made a stupid comment for sure....

[snugglegirl05]

Squeaksmyalias:

I posted a reply on Miss Manners. A very long one. It details what I have had to deal with as a parking attendant when Visitor parking is reserved, what the client has tried to do to solve the problem of not enough Visitor parking, the kind of person & employee I am, & what I do to get ready for a busy & possibly crazy day at work.

I noticed that I have not received any nasty replies so far. I rarely post on that board, but I had to after reading the replies.

[Squeaksmyalias]

Squeaksmyalias:

I posted a reply on Miss Manners. A very long one. It details what I have had to deal with as a parking attendant when Visitor parking is reserved, what the client has tried to do to solve the problem of not enough Visitor parking, the kind of person & employee I am, & what I do to get ready for a busy & possibly crazy day at work.

I noticed that I have not received any nasty replies so far. I rarely post on that board, but I had to after reading the replies.

It's been a few years, since I've been on there. When I was, it was very catty, I even stopped reading there because of it. You may get lucky.

[BookstoreEscapee]

A little freakin' empathy in life would do a lot to dispel misunderstandings and confrontations. Denying anyone the right to be upset just makes things a LOT worse, and if you can't handle upset customers, get out of the job, or take a break (which would be totally understandable).

Goes both ways, bud.

I'm always shocked when I hear customer service reps complaining about their customers.

I worked for an insurance company for two years in the call center and I loved it. Talking to angry people was a bit like a game for me.

Really? Shocked? You worked in a call center and you don't understand why some people might need to vent once in a while?

[joe hx]

That board was full of ignorance.

I loved the common theme of "I'm taking my lack of service personally so I'm going to yell and berate you, but you shouldn't take it personally because it's your job! If you do, quit!" (like it's that easy). Not everyone has that super power of "not taking it personally" (I do, though )

[mattm04]

Why is is so difficult to press the buttons that best represent you situation and wait for someone to answer. If they want to verify who is calling before they go further, let them. That way they have all the needed info ready to respond.

With that out of the way, listen to them and explain your issue. If they can't fix it then ask for a sup. Every time I have followed that route I got what I needed or the correct reason behind the issue.

Wasting time arguing with the CSR or sup over the phone tree, or info verification is useless. The tree, marketing had a say in it, info verification very well legal is involved and they do it to keep your info safe/comply with applicable state and federal laws. Got a problem with it, the sup can do anything about it, write a letter or email to the Corporate entity.

[smileyeagle1021]

Honestly, the comments are like all the sucky customers you ever encountered, on one page.


No, my account number and phone number and address social-security number is not "needed"--only one person has my account number, so that's all you need. The rest is just a "service delay" tactic.

- erm no, its to ensure that I don't accidently put a whole load of charges on the wrong persons acccount, if those charges showed up your accout you would soon start screaming that I didn't check properly whose account it was.

I'm tempted to sign up to reply just to call her out on that one.
She clearly has never had her account number stolen, which I have, and let me tell you, after that I am greatful to be asked all those questions. Because them asking those questions after I lost my check book and someone got a hold of my account number is how the bank caught it and was able to block it and inform me of the problem.