....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.

[worraliberty]

OMG @ 'building up a rapport'

I have to say that is one of the single most wank twattery thing cold callers try to do that really pisses me off.

As soon as I hear the fake cheerful "Hi, how are you today?"

It's as though burning acid floods through my veins and I want to kill them after telling them "Look, you don't know me. You don't give a fuck how I am today and I wouldn't tell you even if you were interested. So get on and tell me what you're trying to flog and skip the sales patter bollocks"

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

[ThePopsicleKat]

I am not making excuses for the industry at all; I agree it's awful. My point is that people do what they have to to earn money, and that the person on the other end doesnt deserve to be treated as though they are personally responsible for the ills of the entire company, anymore than you would shriek and swear at the salesgirl in primark for the clothes being made in sweatshops. I would be very surprised if anyone has never worked for someone that is in some way morally dubious, if profits are the first priority then ethics tend to fall by the wayside to some degree or another. Nobody has a right to get on their high horses because the OP is doing what she has to whilst seeking a preferable job. Calls are annoying but you have the choice to hang up or shout "fuck off" and hang up.

[bemybebe]

@Worra

[knittedbreast]

check my facts? well it is 8 yrs since i did sales

and actually some phone companies can/did have services in place to keep these calls from people houses but they werent advertised and most probably realised it made more financial sense to sell their customers details anyway.

pointing someone in directionof the phone company isnt rubbish, if you are getting unsolicited calls they can advise you of tps service (not really our job but mos of us will advise you of the option anyway). How are we supossed to know if you are already tps and it isnt working? effectivly your number shouldnt dial but if it does how do you expect that individual to ever possibly know that?

How do you expect one individual to stop a whole company from ever contacting you again? especially in the postition of customer services? actually the issue is that we dont choose your phone number, it is passed to the company we work for somehow and at some point

[bemybebe]

"My point is that people do what they have to to earn money"

Well, there are ways and there are ways, popsicle... the latter is just wrong on many levels. Sorry, still no sympathy here... and I am v happy to say "fuck off" when all civilized ways of conveying this message are exhausted.

[onagar]

The only reason TPS is not working is because the company that you and tigermoll etc work for doesn't check the numbers against the TPS register. This means that you are in breach of the regulations.

If you get a job doing something and find it is illegal you should stop. If you decide your welfare overrides the law and common decency then you should expect to be treated accordingly.

[knittedbreast]

rapport wankery? well i guess our customer services team has an unusually good relationship with our customers then, its a small company but we have ALOT of customers.
next time you have a prob and need our help and advice would you rather we treated you with the obvious contempt you hold for us?
I know a lot of my customers by voice, and we have a good chat and its very ligth hearted.

its called being friendly- try it? :)

[onagar]

How do you expect one individual to stop a whole company from ever contacting you again?

Every company that does call people is required to have the option on request to remove the customers phone number from their records.

You don't seem to know very much about the subject.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

You sound like a politician now, knittedbreast. Trying to defend the indefensible... it's inevitable. It's a dirty, unwanted industry, trying to grub up money from anywhere it can like a giant carbunkle, causing annoyance and anger for many but abject misery to the people swindled.

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?

[bemybebe]

knitted I am sure some of these cold call companies know me by voice, hence all their sales skills are targeted at my dh, who was very confused after a stroke and could sign to anything given enough push. they smell blood and they go for it. great job!!

[ConstanceTenchOfZombies]

My sister and her husband make a sport out of dealing with sales lead calls, it involves my sister having a very convincing young child's voice, chatting for a while until being asked to go and get mummy or daddy on the 'phone.

What follows is a background conversation between 'daddy' and 'small child' - 'daddy' is usually on the toilet, - lots of long silences, caller often says they will call back but small child insists that daddy is nearly ready, he's just wiping. Gets rid of them every time.

[knittedbreast]

i dont work for a company that does cold calls, that was over 8 yrs ago now.

Also I think youl find it company that should be held to account as it means they will have failed to inform/lied to their staff. As previosuly said TPS does not or at least did not cover managers phones and staff are often allowed to use those phones and so would still be able to get through

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

Knittedbreast... I've just seen your latest post... you're talkijng about different things entirely. Which of these fits your company's model?

a) Customer interface - banks, insurance companies, customer service for existing and new customers who choose to contact for the service;
b) Information provision for people who have ASKED and SPECIFICALLY provided contact information for them to be contacted;
c) Cold sales - phone numbers sourced from purchased lists, phone directories, etc.

Which is it? I can't imagine that a) & b) get anything like the heaps of abuse that c) would. It's not the same. I wouldn't put the phone down on a) and b) but I would on c) as they have had no contact from me and it's unsolicited.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

bemybebe... That is just disgraceful. :(

I can't imagine how any company would think it acceptable to target the vulnerable. Absolutely scummy thing to do.

[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

[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]

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.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

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

[knittedbreast]

willofae who is that aimed at? op?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.