Wherein We Make a Terrifying Discovery

[AccountingDrone]

I'll wait and see how the clinical trials go. Right now I'm on pregabalin(sp?) and it keeps it to a relatively dull roar provided I don't do anything strenuous or stressful.

Yes, I no longer have NDAs on me and the company I was NDA'd to no longer exists. So fark that guy.

Yikes. Well, if you want to post about your old job, that would be fine [mayhaps as self run therapy for PTSD? I have found that discussing my abusive relationship has helped me out over the years, though the jackass dying also helped the nightmares]

But if you just want to discuss stuff in general, that would be fine as well. I know that a bunch of us here have physical issues and a friendly commiseration always helps me on a bad body day.

Hope the pregabalin helps, I found adding what would normally be considered a subclinical dose of gabapentin has helped me drastically [300 mg 2x]

And I absolutely hate people trying to convince me I have fibro and chronic fatigue ... I have other issues and have been dx with those issues, not fibro or CFS. I have several friends with both, and while we have symptoms in common, I don't want to jump on the sympathy bandwagon when I don't deserve it. I know that with me like many other people on this list we would be perfectly happy to pitch in and be part of your support system, even if it is only online and long distance.

[Gravekeeper]

It really made me happy that I got out, because for a while I felt like I made a foolish decision to quit without anything else lined up. But no. It was the right thing.

You were one of the lucky ones.

I worked at a call center for a month and a half, and that was quite enough for me. Never again.

I see you got a week of training. Our newbs were down to about 2 hours training tops, on their first day in, before they were put on the system. Hell, even for the experienced staffers we'd often only get notified a few days in advance of a new client. Then get like 15 minutes of training on whatever complicated new task that required of us.

For me personally half the time I would be told literally for my shift of a new client, given a hand out and a 5 minute pep talk then cut loose. >.>

Sounds like snake oil to me, but who knows, YMMV.

I'll wait and see how the clinical trials go. Right now I'm on pregabalin(sp?) and it keeps it to a relatively dull roar provided I don't do anything strenuous or stressful.

Ones directly run by the company they are taking calls for and ones run by companies CONTRACTED by the company they are taking calls for.

We were the contracted kind and I say this with all bitter honesty: There was almost nothing our sales manager would not say yes to in terms of clients. Which was how I ended up selling pants, talking down suicides, dispatching search & rescue, doing retail network support, answering for US Federal agencies we had no business answering for and noting which vending machines were stealing money at bus terminals all in the same shift. Seriously though, you would be legitimately terrified to know which of your US Federal agencies are totally chill with outsourcing to a random minimum wage operator in Canada after 5pm. Who probably only had an hour of training just that morning. >.>

Aside from the absurdity of it all, it also got us in trouble a couple of times with company's that turned out to be running scams and using us as an unknowing front. One company in particular was like the 4th or 5th shell company set up by this career conman ( he even made it into the papers here >.> ). I have no idea how many thousands of dollars he made off with but he left us holding the bag so to speak.

Basically, he stole everyone's money who placed any sort of order with the company then he hid behind us. As he had hired us to be his customer service line. He sent out order confirmations, shipping details, etc. But your package would mysteriously never arrive. He would tell us that they were just having some shipping delays or whatever. Then he stopped taking our calls but left his order system live and our customer service line live.

So people were still placing orders on his website and what not. Which we had no control over. But the website still gave them our number. He forwarded all his other numbers to us. The one personal number we had for him turned off to voicemail. Then he skipped town.

Leaving us to be brutalized by weeks worth of raging customers he'd scammed and no way to shut down his website order system or scrub our number from it.

I don't remember what happened with the guy. Last I saw on the news they tracked him down and he was living in his mom's basement hiding from the press or something.

Yes, I no longer have NDAs on me and the company I was NDA'd to no longer exists. So fark that guy.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I worked at a call center for a month and a half, and that was quite enough for me. Never again.

I've worked at two call centers, one for a year and a half and another for nearly 4 years now, both support wireless carriers.

Yes, they suck. They really suck. The one I am at now is not as bad as the one I was at before. The pay is better, I get more PTO and the employees are Unionized, which is very helpful. We get contract guaranteed benefts and raises which makes for a nice sense of security.

I'd still love to get out if I could find something better though.

I feel it's also worth pointing out there are two types of call centers: Ones directly run by the company they are taking calls for and ones run by companies CONTRACTED by the company they are taking calls for.

It's the latter that have a reputation for really sucking. My first call center fell into that category and it was horrible. I came in at the end of February with a training class of 25 people. By June 1, I was the ONLY ONE left.

[skeptic53]

Bittersweet on many levels to see this post, knowing there may not (probably) be more, but what a great blast from the past.

FYI my ex has fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, has gotten a great deal of relief (but not cure) from Nicotinamide Riboside, a precursor to the coenzyme NAD+. It is sold by a company called Elysium, which appears to be on of these start-up boutique companies focused on anti-aging science and products. Sounds like snake oil to me, but who knows, YMMV. She gets spells that are associated with fever and swollen lymph nodes that no one has been able to diagnose. She also has PTSD from a severely abusive childhood. My appreciation for your writing is very high so I thought I'd toss that out in the small hope it's something you haven't tried and it might help.

Great to see you back, hope you can come up with something about which to regularly post!

[Ghel]

I am both delighted and terrified to see new content from GK.

I'm glad you're still hanging in there.

[EricKei]

Remembered. Missed. Revered. Lightly seasoned.

I have apparently been playing Darkest Dungeon too much as of late. I read that in the narrator's voice and cadence. x.x

[XCashier]

Glad to see you back, Gravekeeper! I'm sorry your job took such a horrible toll on you, and I hope you're doing much better now.

Call centre work sucks and will kill you.

I worked at a call center for about three weeks, and that was quite enough for me. Never again.

[VComps]

Remembered. Missed. Revered. Lightly seasoned.

Welcome home, GK. Pull up an ergonomic seating device!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

THE LEGEND RETURNS! HOLY CRAP!

I swear I did a double take when I logged on just now. This is like Ali stepping back into the ring.

I remember you GK and all your Nunavut and Pink Camo madness. I wasn't sure if you were gone never to return or what but I am THRILLED to see you come back even if only for a brief time.

I try to make my own posts as witty and hilarious as yours but I always come up short because you're just that awesome. Thanks for keeping us entertained all these years!

[notalwaysright]

Hullo, I don't think I was active when you were posting, but I've heard people talk about your stories! I was laughing so much reading your post last night.

I'm sorry to hear how that place affected your health. I know it's not the same, but I went shopping at my previous work the other day, and while I was waiting at the light like I did many times over the years, I got this sick feeling of dread. The same feeling I got towards the end of my time at that job. It really made me happy that I got out, because for a while I felt like I made a foolish decision to quit without anything else lined up. But no. It was the right thing. I'm happy you've at least made progress with your health.

[Lachrymose]

It can't have been THAT long since the last Gravekeeper thread.

*Does forum search*

Nearly four years?? Holy mackerel! Where does the time go?

Good to see another one for posterity.

[morgana]

Talk about mixed emotions! Great to have you back, so so so sorry to hear you're so unwell.

Missed you muchly, you know. Maybe stay around?

[Pixelated]

They gave me a plaque. I intentionally left it at the office and never went back for it. >.>

That put me in mind of this:
"Headquarters had even started an Employee of the Month scheme to show how much they cared. That was how much they didn't care.”
~From Going Postal by the late great Terry Pratchett

So glad to see you again, Gravekeeper! Although I'm very sorry to hear what your years of employment did to you.

Don't be a stranger, eh?

[CyberLurch]

Hi, GK...

I know you're probably not 'back', per se (one can hope that you are, nonetheless!), but it was damned good to hear from you. You are indeed missed here, good sir.

[Shyla]

You're not that out of practice. Thanks for giving us one more post.

The problem isn't waiting for him to take his socks off to count to 20. It's when he needs to count to 21 that we have a problem.