Did your mother teach you to treat people like this?

[tropicsgoddess]

i've been there i used to flip the SC's off over the phone (like they're going to see it ) while i talk with them with the sweetest southern accent in my voice. we were allowed to disconnect when they cursed but it still was nerve wrecking having to put up with it sometimes.

I would mute my phone and go off on the SC's and throw some snide and sarcastic remarks their way while they think I'm as sweet as pie. Chazzie, you have my sympathies. *hands over some bags of chocolate and booze*

[Chazzie]

Thanks everybody for the advice (And the hot chocolate, kittens, chocolate and booze ). This is why I love this site. Thankfully the management here is great - When I had my anxiety attack on tuesday they took me off the phones, pep talked me, and had me just listen in on calls for the rest of the night. They won't baby me as much later on in training, though. But yeah, the management and the hours are what's keeping me there, but even though I'd most definitely take a pay/hour cut, I'm seriously considering other employment.

@Hermione: Yeah, I try to say that I understand they're frustrated a lot - empathy does help with some of the customers. This guy just hated everyone's guts. I'm trying to imagine him behaving the same way after seeing me in person- Methinks it would have taken a nicer road.

@Horrorfrogprincess: I can certainly hope!

[aspira]

It sounds cliche, but it really does get better. I've been working in a call center for almost 7 years now (4 of them doing cell phone customer service), and it was so beyond overwhelming the first month or two. But after that, you start to know what to expect, and it gets a lot easier to not take things so personally. Hang in there, give it a few months, and THEN if you realize it's not for you, get out while you can. It takes a special personality to be a call center rep, it's most definitely not for everyone, but I promise it does get better!

[The Electric Fetus]

you GO, chazzie! you can always fratch to me in person! *offers fudge and cookies and pepsi*

[sylvier]

I used to work in a call centre, and I remember the calls we heard in training. Quite far-removed from reality, but if they played some of the usual calls, most newbies would probably quit before they ever had to take a call.

[Shalom]

She thought I was insulting her about the printer being out of paper, not my intention, so I found a different way of checking.

I remember one particular TS rep who just knew that the luser's X was unplugged, but that if he suggested that this was the case, the luser would go off on him that he, the rep, was implying that he, the luser, was a moron. So what he said was something like this: "Try unplugging your X and then plugging it back in again, sometimes this helps solve the problem." Of course the guy plugged it in and said "It worked, thanks."

Or if you want to be sneaky, say "Maybe the plug's upside down. Unplug it, flip the plug over and plug it back in, and let me know if that worked." This way, it will fix the problem and get the luser off the phone, and it won't occur to him until later that you can't plug in a 3-prong plug upside down, and therefore he knows that you know that he's a moron, but he's off the phone by then and can't go off on you...

[wraiths_crono]

Ah that's one of the reasons i'm sooo happy I got away from AT&T phone support, tho I did learn how to just ignore the angry customers unless they made it personal.

I will say doing that type of job, when ever I call for support for my stuff at home, or have to call anywhere, I am super nice the the phone person even if there is a problem, you can hear the surprise in their voice when they say "well I am unable to do ____" and I respond with "ah, ok then no problem."

[Darkforge]

I'll throw my advice in too, i've worked the phones for almost 2 years now workign with problems and complaints.

Step one is have an outlet, doesn't matter what it is, a stress ball, sticking the finger up at the phone, swearing at the customer once they have hung up, venting at a coworker/friend/other half, workign out at the gym after worklistening to loud music, a nice cream cake after work as a treat, or posting here.

Get an outlet and find one fast as there will always be some customers that get to you no matter how experienced you are, and you need to be able to get the stress out as otherwise it will build up to the point you can't take it any more. Be creative, I mean Gravekeepers outlet is probably venting to us in a highly amusing way.

Second thing is to realise its not your fault they are pissed off, if they suck they will suck no matter what, you just have to minimise it. Try to pre-empt the customers as much as possible, say "I know you've been on hold for a while but i'll try and help you as quickly as possible" before they complain about long hold times.
Say "I know its annoying but we just need to confirm that you are the account holder before I can access the account information as I'm sure you wouldn't want just anyone to be able to access your account" before asking for a password/SSN so they can't go on about you asking them for info.
Explain "Now we have to go through a few steps on the troubleshooting, I know some of them are very simple and you've already checked but we have to do them and if we can fly through them as fast as possible it means we can get to the meat of the issue faster" before they rant about you asking them to see if it's plugged in or turned on etc

Pre-empting makes a huge difference. The salespeople at our place do a bit of sales pitch, then after a good point they say "now, there is a small catch to this deal" which sets the customer thinking "oh god, how bad is this "small catch?"" so that when we say that the catch is that the payment is made by a monthly direct debit the customer thinks "oh, thats not really a catch, I was going to pay that way anyway". But it not only reassures the customer but it means that 5 mins later when the sales people ask for the customers bank details for said direct debit the customer doesn't get defensive and go "WTF do you need my bank details for?!?!" as they already know and have been pre-empted.

Basically its easier to fix an issue if the customer already knows what needs to be done and why before it comes up than trying to fix the issue if the customer has brought it up and refuses to acknowledge that they might be wrong.

well thats my 2 cents worth, I hope you find it useful and I hope the job goes well.

[MoonCat]

It takes a special personality to be a call center rep,

Oooh, I'm special!

Honey, I've worked in a call center for...wait for it....32 years come this November 20th. It is survivable. The others have given you some great advice, I'll just add this: Go easy on yourself if you have a rough day, give yourself time to get into the swing of it. If you have good management that makes up for a lot! Come here to vent as much as you want, this site is great. And try to leave work at the office. When you go home, take a deeeeep breath, let it out and let it go. You can do it!

[Jay 2K Winger]

I have a potential job lined up working in a helpdesk-y position. (Waiting on the screening process to finish.) I may not be able to vent about the job on this site (the job is for a government contractor), so I do plan to acquire some stress relievers of some kind, and play some nice violent video games when I get home.

[BaristaTrav]

I did this CSR thing for 5 long , excruciating years.. There is only one way to handle this job..

Complete. Emotional. Detachment.

It's tricky, and takes some mental training.. but basically you must do this to be able to survive this gig. The sweet grandmother who tells you how wonderful you are and wants to send you cookies (you will get those), to the sobbing pleading mother of 8 who is begging for help and needs her phone or her dying kids will die, to the abusive jacka$$ like the one you described, all have to be dealt with in the same way. They are customers, and you will do what you can to help them as such, period. You are not a life-saver, nor are you a receptacle for SC vile hate-filled spittle. If you are fortunate enough to help sweet grandma who wants to adopt you on one call, realize that the very next could be someone who is criminally insane, or just criminally rude. Also realize that starving mom who's kids will die if you don't give her an extension on her 4 months past due bill (and you will get those) is talking to you about a cell phone, although they will try to elicit sympathy as if you were withholding cancer treatment.

Learn to develop a thick skin. Take it in stride. Never take it personally (easier said than done.. but can be accomplished with mental training) and as soon as a call escalates past the point where you can help the customer, bump it up the chain. That's the best advice I can give. If you are having panic attacks already, you need to re-focus and find balance.. or this job will get the better of you, and will just be an awful, short-lived experience. I wish you the best.