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Unfair selling practices at Bellsouth
I worked for a Bellsouth for twelve years in Florida. Seven of those were spent in consumer services. Four of those years my place was called customer service, and we mainly did changes to accounts when customers requested, or most of the time, helping customers understand their phone bill. In all that time, we had managers who stressed sales but never really stressed it like they did in my last couple of years there.
After four years, our office closed and we had to relocate 30 miles away, that is, if you wanted to stay employed. The new office was no longer called customer service, it was called sales and support. We handled billing most of the time with the incoming calls, but management there made it hellish. All they cared about was selling and how much you sold, not how great the customer service was that you provided. If you did not make your eighty-five percent mark for sales, you were written up, and it would continue until you were fired. A year after this, the goal was ninety-five percent, so anyone that was doing eighty-five to ninety-four had something new to worry about.
Not only are sales more important than the type of customer service you provide, but your well being is the least important to management. In January 2005, the office had a bomb scare, so everyone was ordered to evacuate the building. Within fifteen minutes, the managers, not the police and fire department, were ordering everyone to get back to their desks immediately. The reason? It was because our sales were hurting with us not being on the phones! I could not believe it. It was more important to sell and possibly be blown to bits than for us to be certain that there was no danger in the building. Management thought they had the authority over the authorities! In all of this, management also somehow persuaded the police to allow us back into the building before the threat was over.
Another great example would be the hurricane issues in Florida. Each time one has approached or looked like it was approaching, management would force employees to stay at work instead of allowing them to go home and make preparations. Those poor people would have to call in sick without pay, or stay and be worried about their homes when the hurricane struck. It was no problem for the managers though. They were allowed to come and go as they pleased for all of this. And then afterward, there was no sympathy for those who could not make it to work or had to stay home to deal with the damage. Again, sales were more important than the well being of the employees.
Forced overtime was and still is a big concern. Employees scheduled to work 8-430 were actually being forced to work 8am to 7pm each day of the week, and if they did not, they were given discliplinary action. Never mind there were those with children that had to get them dropped off at school or picked up from daycare. Again, your sales were more important than that. But, the managers were not the ones who had to sit all day long on the phones and deal with the crap from consumers. They got to go home each day on time and be with their loved ones. The rest of us could not do that for fear of losing our jobs over it.
With all of these threats and stories, sometimes you can see why customers have a hard time canceling a service or making a change. The reps are under extreme pressure and are threatened to sell and/or retain a product, or they will be out on the streets. This angers the customer immensely, yet the companies like Bellsouth don't care about that. As long as money was made on the call, managers consider that a great call.
It's time for the consumer and former employee to fight back. Publish those complaints on the internet. That's what it's for. Maybe once companies see this type of thing, they'll think twice.
After four years, our office closed and we had to relocate 30 miles away, that is, if you wanted to stay employed. The new office was no longer called customer service, it was called sales and support. We handled billing most of the time with the incoming calls, but management there made it hellish. All they cared about was selling and how much you sold, not how great the customer service was that you provided. If you did not make your eighty-five percent mark for sales, you were written up, and it would continue until you were fired. A year after this, the goal was ninety-five percent, so anyone that was doing eighty-five to ninety-four had something new to worry about.
Not only are sales more important than the type of customer service you provide, but your well being is the least important to management. In January 2005, the office had a bomb scare, so everyone was ordered to evacuate the building. Within fifteen minutes, the managers, not the police and fire department, were ordering everyone to get back to their desks immediately. The reason? It was because our sales were hurting with us not being on the phones! I could not believe it. It was more important to sell and possibly be blown to bits than for us to be certain that there was no danger in the building. Management thought they had the authority over the authorities! In all of this, management also somehow persuaded the police to allow us back into the building before the threat was over.
Another great example would be the hurricane issues in Florida. Each time one has approached or looked like it was approaching, management would force employees to stay at work instead of allowing them to go home and make preparations. Those poor people would have to call in sick without pay, or stay and be worried about their homes when the hurricane struck. It was no problem for the managers though. They were allowed to come and go as they pleased for all of this. And then afterward, there was no sympathy for those who could not make it to work or had to stay home to deal with the damage. Again, sales were more important than the well being of the employees.
Forced overtime was and still is a big concern. Employees scheduled to work 8-430 were actually being forced to work 8am to 7pm each day of the week, and if they did not, they were given discliplinary action. Never mind there were those with children that had to get them dropped off at school or picked up from daycare. Again, your sales were more important than that. But, the managers were not the ones who had to sit all day long on the phones and deal with the crap from consumers. They got to go home each day on time and be with their loved ones. The rest of us could not do that for fear of losing our jobs over it.
With all of these threats and stories, sometimes you can see why customers have a hard time canceling a service or making a change. The reps are under extreme pressure and are threatened to sell and/or retain a product, or they will be out on the streets. This angers the customer immensely, yet the companies like Bellsouth don't care about that. As long as money was made on the call, managers consider that a great call.
It's time for the consumer and former employee to fight back. Publish those complaints on the internet. That's what it's for. Maybe once companies see this type of thing, they'll think twice.
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