universal credit staff members hanging up on you when you phone

[masterofdoomv1]

hi i phoned universal credit three times the other day as im due a reassessment as im in the limited for work group i asked when my year was up as i hadnt been notified and when id likely be re assessed the first twice i asked this i was cut off after the first few seconds of getting through to somebody the third time somebody did speak to me but with an attitude after i had said that i wasnt happy i had been cut off the previous twice she had claimed there must be a problem with phone lines but seems strange nothing happend that time so im just wondering is it a comon occurance for the staff to hang up on people as i believe thats what happened

It's not common for universal credit staff to hang up on people, no. I expect it was some sort of technical malfunction.

The staff member who had an attitude probably thought the same thing about you if the first thing you said to her was that you weren't happy about things. Why did you even say that?

We're quite lucky we live in a country that provides a safety net like universal credit aren't we?

Do you have to speak to them on
the phone? They usually have a journal section for you to fill in online. I actually think it’s easier to keep things in writing.

You won’t get much help on here re UC. Try using your journal instead and ask them to call you again. I know can be difficult but try to be patient and polite and remember it’s not their fault.

All UC staff that you can call are on soft-phones through Teams, so not sure what the issue is with losing connection.

WCA re-assessments have a massive backlog at the moment but you will be notified when yours is coming up, you will stay in your work group until then.

Better to use your journal but don't mark your message as for a work coach as it wont get picked up quickly, mark it for payment and it will get seen quicker as that will be a different staff member

Xaviera i did actually leave two messages one about this and another about something else and no response ive seen other people say online that theyve had the same issue with asking things in theyre journal and getting no reply thats why i ended up phoning them

DenholmElliot1 the reason i brought it up was because i dont enjoy having to wait half an hour to get through to them just to be cut off after ive explained why ive phoned then have to start again another twice

Strangerthings4NW as said ive left messages on my journal no response thats why i ended up phoning

We're quite lucky we live in a country that provides a safety net like universal credit aren't we?

Did you mean to tell someone who is worried they’re about to lose their income to be grateful for the safety net they’re concerned is about to be taken away by bureaucrats who are literally being paid to communicate with OP yet aren’t doing? 🤦‍♀️

I thought they were communicating with her, but then got cut off.

But yes I can see your point - it is literally their job to deal with it so they could have rung back if they could be bothered.

DenholmElliot1 and yes we are lucky to have uc but i know as others do that have expereince of being uc that although were gratefull its there there is a bullying culture towards claiments now its been widely pulicised and some have felt suicidal because of the way theyve been treated so lets not pretend its perfect or the staff are are all saints

Would they not just notify you when your reassessment date is? They won't just stop payments.

Did you actually say "I'm not happy that I've been cut off twice"? That's not the fault of the person you're speaking to. You could have just said you're not sure if there's a fault with their lines as you've had trouble getting through and ask them to raise it with a manager.

They deal with so many people being horrible through the day.

girlmom21 there was supposed to be a date on my letter when i was put in the limited for work group there was none ive also been told i should have recieved another letter about 2 months before my time in this group was due to end there was none so its mistake after mistake on theyre part

They deal with so many people being horrible through the day.

mhm respects a two way thing maybe you should spend a few weeks or months on uc id love to see you defend the staff after that

Yeah I can see why they were a bit off with you when you spoke to them.

and yeah i can tell you havent been on uc because you clearly havent a clue what its like to deal with them

Yes respect is a two way thing which is why you shouldn't be moaning at someone for previous issues that had nothing to do with them.

You were probably rude/cheeky which is why you've been hung up on by two people and a third had an attitude with you.

i wasnt rude i was civil but before i had phoned i had left messages on my journal which were ignored then i phone twice and get cut off and you think thats an acceptable way to treat people? shocking as it may seem to you but if people feel theyre being ignored on theyre journal and then they phone to resolve issues and the line goes dead twice the first after waiting half an hour to get through guess what people are going to be frustrated

Having worked in a call centre, staff don't generally just hang up on people - you never know when your manager is monitoring you and you'd get in a shit load of trouble. If somebody was being abusive then you would give them warning that you would hang up if they continue, which doesn't sound like the case here. What people tend to do in call centres when they can't be bothered or don't know how to deal with your query is palm you off on another department, I'm sure we've all been sent round the houses like that.

OP I would give them the benefit of the doubt and I hope you get it sorted

I always wonder why when this happens (and it is common) then why don't they call you back - they know who you are and that you need to speak to them. They know you have been on hold - sometimes for a very long time: it's very frustrating. So I can only assume it is deliberate

The probable reason is that they are targeted to take a certain amount of calls an hour. If they make outbound calls it can mess with their stats.

Absolutely rubbish I know but the call centre environment is appalling - it's very difficult to do what the managers want you to do and stay off performance plans, whilst still providing good customer service.

*The probable reason is that they are targeted to take a certain amount of calls an hour. If they make outbound calls it can mess with their stats.
*

As can a long phone call. Therefore having a 'technical failure' at the beginning of a call they know will take a while, wouldn't be a terrible thing for the call centre staff. They often know the reason of the call before it's answered too. It's a bit like when Uber cancel your trip when they are on their way to you when they get a better one. Can't prove they are deliberately doing it can certainly feel like it sometimes

A long inbound phone call doesn't mess with stats the same way as making outbound calls does. And the only thing you might know about a call before you take it is what route they've come in on - you can't possibly know what they're going to say.

You have to tell them why you are phoning at the start of the call. I assume they communicate that somehow to the call handler, otherwise what wound be the point

Are you getting cut off because you’re being rude?

Or are you bring cut off mid sentence even if you’re not being rude?

As that would imply that it could be your phone that is cutting them off.

‘The staff member who had an attitude probably thought the same thing about you if the first thing you said to her was that you weren't happy about things. Why did you even say that?’

‘We're quite lucky we live in a country that provides a safety net like universal credit aren't we?’

Yeah. Imagine claiming UC AND expecting to have feelings or an opinion.

Idiot.