....to be so ANGRY at the way people speak to me? (RANT)

[tigermoll]

I work in a call centre. It's hardly my dream job, and most days it makes me want to put my head on the desk and cry. I have been applying for other jobs since I started here (6 months) but, (as you may be aware ) it is not a brilliant time to look for work. So I'm stuck here for the forseeable future.

Often, very often, when I call people they are so rude and aggresive it can bring tears to my eyes. The people I call have voluntarily put their phone number into a request for information, so can hardly be surprised that they then recieve a call. However, this doesn't stop them from swearing at me, denying they ever made the enquiry, accusing me of lying about the enquiry, blowing whistles at me, claiming to have never ever heard of the company I'm calling from, or indeed the service we offer, sometimes even denying that they are the person they said they were a few moments ago, or that they even know what the internet is, mocking me, sighing, tutting, ranting, deliberately wasting my time then hanging up, asking aggressive questions in an attempt to 'catch me out' as they see it, and being as patronising and dismissive as they can. They assume that they can speak to me however they like, in a way they would never dare to speak to my face.

I understand that recieving calls can get annoying for people. In this case I would respectfully suggest that they:

Go on the TPS register
Get an answerphone to screen their calls,
carefully check any form or enquiry they make and tick the 'do not contact me in the future' box
and:
STOP PUTTING THEIR PHONE NUMBER INTO WEBSITES

But, no matter how irritated the recipient of the call may be, or how justified they may feel, do they forget that they are talking to a human being? A human being who:
a) is unlikly to be doing the job out of a strong desire to work as a call centre operative, and more likely, works long hours at low pay in a job they dislike.
b) is not responsible for the business model of the company, - it wasn't their idea to make all these calls.
c)is not a shareholder in the company, and probably doesnt like their employer very much
d) has no power whatsoever to take them off OTHER companies' phone lists, or change the fact that other companies may be contacting them, especially if they make a habit of chucking their phone number around.

It is actually illegal for a company to 'cold call' - ie get your number and phone you without obtaining your prior consent. So when you do recieve a call, it is as a result of your actions (ie you have given them your number and not ticked a box that says they can't pass it on), NOT because the company calling is EVIL.

If you are called by a company, and have no interest in the service they are offering, why not just politely say 'Thanks for your time, but I am not interested in the service you are offering. Cheers, bye.' There is no need to act out your irritation in a pettish display of superiority just because you feel yourself so justified that you can act any way you like.

Grrr. Here endeth the rant.

[AnnieLobeseder]

Last time we had a computer scan phone call I put DH onto them. It was very funny. He's a professional computist, so he had the poor guy going round and round in circles, and when the guy gave up and just asked in desperation for payment details, DH just kept saying, "No, it's OK, I'm happy to help, you don't need to pay me!" until the guy hung up.

Next time they call, I'm going to ask if I'm having computer issues because of all the porn I've downloaded and then tell them about the types of porn I like best.

[slug]

I had one of those hobnobs. I had to laugh at the sheer arrogance. before launching into my scary teacher bollocking voice

[microfight]

I had one of those computer callers it went a bit like this

caller "I am calling from the microsoft certified engineers dept"
me "but which company are you from?"
caller "the microsoft certified engineers dept"
repeated again
caller "you have an error report blah blah"

I pretended to right click left click etc for quite a while until he realised I wasn't actually allowing him to access my computer at which point he became really angry and shouty saying

Caller "YOU HAVE JUST WASTED MY TIME....YOU THINK YOUR SO CLEVER DON'T YOU"
I simply replied that I did indeed think I was reasonably clever and thought it made a change for me to waste a cold callers time
He slammed the phone down on me.

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

I had a scammer call the other day so I hung up, he rang back and shouted at me for hanging up, so I ............hung up....again!!

[Tanith]

I had one of those scammers the other day. It went a bit differently, though:

"Is that Mrs. X?"
"No."
"Yes it is."
"No it's not."
"And your postcode is A12 2BC?"
"No, it's not."
"That's what I have written down for you."
"Well, it's not me."
"Oh. Well, according to my records, you have an error on your computer."
"No, I don't."
"Yes, you do."
"Look, if you can't even tell me my name and postcode, I don't rate your ability to diagnose my computer!"
"Yes, but it has a fault."
"I'm terminating this call. Goodbye."

By the way, I'm a childminder. I work from home, looking after lots of little children. I have to answer the phone in case it's a parent. Every cold call takes my attention away from those small children for whom I'm responsible.
That's why I'm on TPS. But it doesn't work very well. So I don't answer my phone any more and parents call my mobile. I have already started to get cold calls to my mobile. Where does it end? What makes cold callers think their business takes precedence over mine?

[Andrewofgg]

scotchmeg If I'm at home maybe I've got the day off, maybe I'm retired, maybe I'm working from home - none of which possibilities make it acceptable to cold-call me and be a nuisance. If the person called says NO the caller should get off the line. At once. Even if the caller is making the call to avoid the dole-queue and the person called is as rich as Bill bloody Gates, and I don't suppose he answers the phone himself.

[madhairday]

Savour it, twill be the last no doubt

[onagar]

madhairday, I think I'll print this thread out then and save it :o

[AnnieLobeseder]

Initially, I did have sympathy for you having to put up with people's abuse, though you're just going to have to realise that the job you're in pisses people off.

To suggest that putting a phone number into a website means you want to be called or that people should not answer their own telephone and screen calls (and then have to pay to call genuine callers back) is just arrogant and ridiculous. So you lost any sympathy I might have had and now I'm annoyed with you without you even having called me.

[madhairday]

So people at home for whatever reason deserve to get cold calls because they're not out at work? Fabulous. Really have heard it all.

To the poster whose dh had a stroke and was targeted by these utter scum, I am shocked but not too surprised, but so glad he has gone on to make such a good recovery. :)

Onagar - I agree wholeheartedly with every word you have written on this thread

[clam]

Have had similar, NoOne, except they said they were from Microsoft and they got my number from the "company I bought my PC from." I said no they hadn't (as I would have had no reason to give my number to them, and anyway had moved house and changed numbers since then), they were adamant they had and "anyway, what's the big deal with us having your number?" That was the point at which I may have become rude.

[NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes]

I've had the computer virus people too.

Me: Hello?
Them: Hello madam, I am calling from customer services about the error message on your computer.
Me: Whose customer services?
Them: Customer services.
Me: For which company?
Them: For your computer.
Me: What is your company name?
Them: I'm calling from customer services about the error message on your computer.
Me: There is no error message on my computer.
Them: Yes there is.
Me: No there isn't. What company are you calling from?
Them: Goodbye madam.

[MotherOfHobbit]

Haven't read the whole thread but you have my sympathy, OP. I've also done my time in a call centre and the way people speak to you can be very upsetting (and I was in one where they called us). I was constantly amazed how rude some people can be to a total stranger. You'll find something else, don't let it get you down. Good luck.

[WillowFae]

Sorry, didn't convert it

[WillowFae]

I got a call from the 'your computer has a virus' scam yesterday. I then found this youtube - brilliant :)

[Anniegetyourgun]

too many "maybes" there

[NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes]

"someone has chosen to buy a phone, install it and pay for the line..."

I have chosen to buy a house with a gate, a path and a front door. Doesn't mean I would choose to have a cold caller walk up the path and knock on that door or that it's now my responsibility to dig a moat and install crocodiles and attack dogs to keep them away from it.

The TPS is the telephone version of the moat, the crocodiles and the dogs.

I have signed up to it, companies should respect that. Lots don't, they ignore it or find a loophole around it by saying "you must not have ticked the box..." or "well you went on our website and..."

I don't care where someone works. A job is a job these days and call centre employees are probably earning more than I do at the moment.

But you can't deny that some of the salespeople are phoning with a bad attitude of their own.

I remember politely telling one energy company salesman that I didn't want to change suppliers and he countered with "so are you telling me that you aren't interested in saving money? Can you afford to waste money then? What have you done, won the lottery or something?"

In an ideal world karma would have smote him there and then and guaranteed me the winning numbers to make up for his smuggery, but I just had to settle for putting the phone down on him.

[Anniegetyourgun]

I think maybe, knitted, you may be confusing the Telephone Preference Service itself with some setup on your former employers' telephone system that automatically checked the TPS list. You may have been physically able to make calls to TPS numbers from a manager's phone, but the company is still in breach of the regulations by allowing you to make that call. Basically it's about the customer's right not to be called, not about what software you use. If the phone isn't on the TPS checking network you should check the list some other way before calling. It is not up to me to tell you that you shouldn't be calling after you already have, and it is most emphatically not up to me to pay my phone provider to block the numbers of every company in the country that might decide to ring me up!

After all that, I'd still give you a not-too-offensive response, unless you didn't take "you should not be calling me" for an answer. After that all bets are off. I probably won't swear unless it's been a very bad day, but I will be quite snitty, and perfectly within my rights to be so IMO.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

That's what I was referring to earlier - customers who have had (desired) contact with a company haven't really any cause to be rude.

Cold callers don't behave in an ethical manner, see bemybebe's post. That's beyond the pale.

[bemybebe]

Totally Lying

I caught DH out writing 7K cheque to a company selling solar panels, thank god I was in time. This was after he came home after suffering a stroke during an op (3 weeks in coma) and 1.5year in a specialized rehab hospital (learning the simplest things like eating and writing) during which dh thought he was travelling on an airballoon during the day making regular stops at the hospital (where the fuck did this come from??)... anyway, you get the picture.

I told repeatedly the chap who kept calling long since and DEMANDING to talk to dh that we have no interest, we have 4 dsc and 75% down on household income and he kept banging and banging. I think our number got sold as a "good chance there" later on as we had a cascade of various cold calls despite being TPS about 6 months later. This somewhat dried up now, but I still feel the way I feel... all around 6 years later.

Dh is fine now, btw, it is amazing what human brain can recover from.

[knittedbreast]

willofae who is that aimed at? op?

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

knittedbreast... I'd imagine that only a) and b) would have customer services. Cold calling telesales, to me, is a different animal.

[knittedbreast]

witchinwadrobe- sorry i currently work for a online retail business in customer services. you wont hear from us unless you have a question about a product or want to place an order. Alt you have ordered something thats out of stock and we call you to tell you.

I used to work 8 years ago for a telesales company, not fun. some complete cold calling (ie youve never even thought about our product) and some call backs after you have a product or wish to have a chat about work done.

[WillowFae]

My phone is there so that friends and family can contact me. Along with any businesses that I WANT to get in touch with me - i.e. I'm dealing with them and they need to contact me as part of that (such as our solicitor at the moment because we are moving house).

It is NOT an open opportunity for cold callers to ring me up and sell me things. Treat me with some level of intelligence. If I want to use a product I will search out companies that can supply it and contact them. In fact, cold call me and your company's name will go on a list of companies I will never deal with so you lose business.

Sorry to be blunt but you work in an industry that counts as low-life scum as far as I'm concerned.

And I am registered with TPS - doesn't seem to make any difference.

[knittedbreast]

Please could you answer this question... Did your company ever use methods to thwart or circumvent TPS? Did they provide training to operatives to 'swerve' past a punter's 'No, I'm not interested'? Did the company instruct operatives to remove numbers when asked or was that something (some) operatives did for themselves?

once again the company i worked for 8 YEARS ago, I am not defending the company im telling you how it is to work for one

q. 1- no
q.2 - no, you just say ok thank you for your time.
q.3- yes, you tick a box if they say they would like it removed. you then put the material in a box and never see it again. As a sales person there is no way to ensure that your request has been followed through.

Also I think people are boxing customers services (what I do now) and cold calling telesales. They are not the same