....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.

Look peeps, why don't you all form some kind of petition/pressure group over this.

There must be some backbencher willing to do a ten-minute rule thing over regulation of tele companies.

MN would be happy, people who worked in call centres would be happy as they wouldn't have to receive so much abuse and the MP would be happy to have their 15 mins (10mins). Are you with me????

BTW I don't think the OP should be saying, effectively, "it's your fault for not being smart enough to keep your number off the database."

The onus shouldn't be on the ordinary person to protect themselves from being harassed and I think the methods these companies use to get and farm numbers are pretty despicable.

But I still feel sorry for the poor sods who work for them.

Onagar - how is the employee supposed to know the truth if the company says, hand on heart, "this person has asked us to call them"? If you request a call then that over-rides the TPS listing. The fault is with the company who's lying to the call centre workers - the call centre people can only work with what the company tells them.

HannahHack - One, please do not @Hunty me - it is HuntyCat to you. I find that just as condesceding as call centre operatives mispronouncing my name. Two, are you being deliberately obtuse - the SN childminder would not be fielding cold calls for me, but would be caring for my DD with asd so that I am 'not in' to take these calls.

I stand by the fact that if call centre staff feel that it is acceptable to be rude to me by ignoring me, that I can and will be rude in return. They get what they give - if I get one phone call from a company, IN OFFICE HOURS, I will be polite if listened to. If I get a second call after I have requested that I am removed from that particular company's database, and I am rudely ignored in this polite request - I will be VERY impolite, just as impolite as I feel they have been to me.

I do not wish to take any calls other than emergency calls after office hours.

There must be some backbencher willing to do a ten-minute rule thing over regulation of tele companies.

We did that and got the TPS, but they still won't stop calling us. All they have to do is obey the regulations that already exist and we'll be fine.

My heart just bleeeeeeds for coldcallers. Why don't all these who think it is ok to receive unsolicited calls just go ahead and subscribe to all the cold calling and leave others in peace.

Yes I am ENTITLED. Not to be harrassed in my own home whether it is day or night.

Hannah I think it's fair to say that someone like you might quite possibly earn a "fuck off you fucking dumb twat fucking cunt" from someone like me if you rang me. Just saying as someone that paid £35k income tax last year (a pols to all other ladies for angry boasting).

Apologies to nice cold callers if previous post was a soupçon blunt x

Then it is the company with whom you have issue, bemybebe. The caller and the company are not one and the same and should not be treated as such. I don't think anyone's saying it's unreasonable to be annoyed at cold calls, or not want them. But you can choose how you conduct yourself. I am amazed at how people can justify their own rudeness (and thinly-veiled snobbery) when the target of it is an anonymous voice on the phone.

Pops - right up to the point the employee posts an OP such as here.

I have a problem with the person who disturbs my peace ThePopsicleKat.

I feel very sorry for anyone who gets abuse in their job. I work in a shop on a university campus, and I get a little amount of swearing and anger (usually when students haven't brought ID and I can't legally sell alcohol/cigarettes to them).

I also have an anxiety disorder, and my medication means that I am easily confused and forgetful, so I'm easily manipulated by pressurise sales people. I once had to pay £30 for some face cream because I couldn't escape from a saleswoman; I was having a panic attack and I was miserable and terrified and couldn't speak properly.

If I get a call - not that I tend to answer it these days - I just wail "Fuck off!" at them before turning my phone off and hiding it in a drawer. Sorry, OP. It's not you, it's me.

So I take it you would behave in the same way to anyone else who disturbs your peace then. The builder being noisy about building your neighbour's gazebo. The child crying on a bus, the mother failing to shut him up. Would you eff and blind, shout vitriolic personal attacks, or behave generally aggressively and unpleasantly towards them in a manner similar to that which you are suggesting is acceptable (if not downright admirable) when aimed at call centre employees?

I'm not really sure what the problem with the OP is to be honest FridayNight.

I have had so many cold callers ringing it is a joke! We moved to a new property, connected the landline and listed it as ex-directory. Have not given this number to anybody at all.
When these people have called I have quite simply told them sorry not interested or no, theres noone here by that name, if the same company has called again I have repeated and asked to be removed from whatever list. Some of these cold callers are quite persistant, in which case I will hang up.
Yesterday I got a phone call from another of these companies (claiming to be from microsoft technical support), my DS(4) answered the phone and when he asked who it was the man on the other end replied that he was going to come and kidnap him!! I heard this myself as i took the phone away, as this complete and utter bastard was repeating it!! At this point and I went absolutely mental and the prick just kept repeating his script!
I then had to console my child who was telling me that he wanted to stay with mummy. When the phone rang today he told me not to answer it incase it was the naughty man who wanted to come and take him away.
The number was changed last night but we have already 2 cold callers today. Sorry but if you insist on calling my house from now on you will be met with a swift fuck off and a hang up.

Whoops, FrightNight, not FridayNight, sorry.

Wow, I'm missing my landline like crazy

No Popsicle because none of those examples are invading my home. If you took the time and courtesy to read my previous posts you'd understand the context of my post. OP was taking herself out of that depersonalised state and did quite quickly acknowledge that.

ThePopsicleKat - Builder being noisy building neighbours gazebo - yes, I would be rude if it was NOT IN OFFICE HOURS and he had been rude to me and ignored me when I politely requested peace after office hours. Child crying on a bus - erm, no, a child crying is NOT someone being rude. A child crying is entirely normal. So I will be rude if someone is being rude to me - not so much for the disturbance (though that IS annoying, it doesn't justify rudeness) as if the person on the end of the phone is being rude to me by ignoring my requests.

Call Centre caller ignoring my polite request to NOT CALL, and continuing with their spiel - rude rude RUDE, and WILL get told to STFU and fuck off to the far side of fuck, and when they get there, to fuck off some more. Just depends on whether the call centre worker is ignorant and rude to me, really. If they accept that I do not want their product, and no-one from that company calls me again - then I have no need to be rude. If however, they refuse to stop with their sales patter, and refuse to answer my questions, then I have a NEED to respond to their rudeness with rudeness myself.

Crikey Hunty are me? Top woman

My God, I've heard everything now. If we don't want unsolicited sales calls we shouldn't be at home.

Btw I currently have not one but two jobs, neither of which is for a "capitalist" organisation (do you mean commercial?). One job leaves plenty of time for arses to call me in the evening while the other leaves plenty of time to call me in the day. But since I've been signed up to the TPS for the last three years, they shouldn't be calling me anyway. (Joining in the thread this late at night because I've only just got home. From my low-paid job. Which isn't for a sales company.) It's irrelevant really though, because even if I were one of the idle rich, that doesn't mean I "deserve" to be called. Because, you know, there is a law against it. Not ought to be; there already is.

Of course I don't start with the effing and blinding - nor do I usually finish with it - though I am ashamed to say I did use it once to an unhelpful help desk (but apologised immediately). My excuse was I was going through a nervous breakdown at the time and really wasn't like myself at all.

Am rather surprised at the use of the word "entitled" in this context by theyoungvisiter. It seems totally, well, inappropriate really. Entitled to what? To be left alone? If so, well, yes, aren't we all?

See - only rude to those that are rude to me.

Then I urge you to take another on the house as I ring last orders

I'd better not take a second - I'm still BF'ing DS3.. But thank you anyway.

Cold callers are only a part of the irritating calls, don't get me started on friggin customer courtesy calls. They have my friggin number, I gave it to them, doesn't mean I want my friggin bank to call up every friggin couple of weeks with a friggin courtesy call, finally you get to the end and it turns out they want to sell you a friggin financial product. "can we do anything else for you?" Yes friggin stop calling me, call me if there is fraud, or I'm about to go over my limit. Very.co.uk (and any other company I've used) yes I am a customer, yes you do have my number, but don't friggin abuse it. If I select a payment method, yes, that's the friggin one I want, don't friggin call me to ask me if I'm sure. If I buy a bit of furniture for £80 and I didn't tick the £39.99 insurance (not actual figures) then it means I DO NOT friggin want it. Don't friggin send me letters, then friggin call me, then not answer directly my is this call important questions. Important means, is there a problem with my delivery, is there a problem with a payment, did that toothbrush you sell me contain arsenic. (small print, no probs with the rest of their service). Just friggin answer so I can slam the phone down rather than get irrate, really it's friggin best for the both of us.

I'm not abusive but I am not friendly and do not go out of my way to be polite. From 6pm to 8pm I always answer the phone in my default grumpy voice, then say sorry if it's friends or family. I don't blame the person calling but I'm going with the theory that if lots of people don't act all happy and nice then maybe the company will start to reconsider their marketing, yes this is a pipe dream. There must be enough people who listen to make it worth their money to make so many calls that irritate. The company who employ call centre staff don't really give a shit if a large percentage of people who pick up the phone ain't nice, it still profitable for them. Take it up with them.

Now the friggin cold callers come to my door under the guise of making a friggin courtesy call. This makes me even less likely to buy from them, why the friggin frig would I buy from someone who won't tell the simple truth. Knocking on my door is as far from courtesy as you can get, please just say you're selling. Not that I'd friggin buy from you anyway.

[hgrin]

And ThePopsickleKat - Thinly veiled snobbery?! Are you seriously accusing me of snobbery? Hahahaha. My last job that I had to give up, was working in a budget clothing shop. I have worked as a shelf stacker in a supermarket, in a petrol station, in a convenience store and in a craft shop. I am hardly a snob - but Call Centre work is the one type of work I wouldn't take, as I couldn't justify to myself trying to obtain sales in this way when I feel it is immoral.

A snob. For a girl brought up on council estates in Essex, that has to be the first time in my life that anyone has called me a snob.

So you think it's a class issue? That people wouldn't mind being repeatedly disturbed in their own home by unwanted calls as long as the callers were our sort of people?

Er, don't think so, really.