....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.

We took out an insurance on our dryer. The minute we use it, we start getting up to four calls a day to try to sell us more insurance. Four calls a bloody day!

I'm not thick, I was well brought up, but there is a limit to how polite you can stay when bombarded with nuisance calls.

YANBU OP, there is never any need to be rude, you are just doing your job. I get annoyed with telesales people who are persistent or who phone at a bad time but I try not to be rude, just politely tell them it's not a good time. I'm sorry you're feeling so low, I hope you find something else soon.x

I would think if it was true that all the people you were calling had inputted their number onto a website enquiry form about the particular service that your employer offers, they would react very differently. Are you sure you're not just calling lists of numbers that have been bought from other companies?

I am completely and totally sure. That is the business, - generating leads from a webpage. Byuing them off another company would defeat the purpose. We generally call back within around ten minutes of the enquiry being made. Even in this short window, we get people saying 'I don't remember' and 'I didn't expect to be called'.

I think the issue is that people don't separate out their irritation with the way the business is run (ie they are cross with the company for calling) with the individual human who calls, - they take out their frustration with the company on me. Which isnt fair.

I don't like being stopped int he street by someone who wants me to sign up to a direct debit (now that really is unsolicited) but I would never dream of being rude and aggresive to them.

I have been there, op. I have done telesales jobs in my yoof.

But I dont agree with you, it was never the people on the end of the phone I'd get fucked off with but the companies I worked for. And myself for working for them.

It's a seedy, murky, desperate industry with no self-respect. They dont care about being sneaky (unticking a box rather than ticking) or about being aggressive (albeit with a pleasant tone of voice) or about the person being called in any way, shape or form. They want money, Thats it, nothing else. And nothing nice or pleasant can come from such a mercenary viewpoint.

These companies deserve people to be pissed off with them, unfortunately you have chosen to put yourself in the firing line.

Fucking hell. Never tell them "It's not a good time" or they'll question your every bloody movement for the rest of the week to find out what is a good time

I'm always polite. I always say something like 'I'm really sorry but I am not interested, goodbye'.

How much effort does it cost me to be polite even if I have to do it every day, even several times? Not much less, in fact, than being rude and horrible.

I couldn't be rude because in the end you are talking to a human being, someone who feels just as you do. It just astounds me that people think it is ok to be rude to someone simply because they do an annoying job.

It is never, never, never ok.

I had a call last night from a company telling me that my warranty insurance on my sky equipment had expired and offering me renewal terms.

That's kind of funny because:

a) I don't hold my insurance with them
b) My policy doesn't expire for quite some time.

They used underhand tactics by implying that they were calling from Sky (who I hold my insurance with) and only told me which company they were calling from when I asked and got suspicious.

How is that reasonable?

I am utterly gobsmacked that you feel that you (generic you) have the RIGHT to disturb me in my own home, and I have had salespeople be incredibly aggressive to me on the phone.

I am also registered with the TPS, cheers.

I'm not surprised people are rude to you with this sort of arrogance to be honest.

YANBU. I am ALWAYS kind to people in call centres.

I used to work in one, and I know what it was LIKE.

I have got more abrupt over the years, although all I say is 'thanks very much for calling, but I'm not interested in your service' and put the phone down without waiting for the sales patter to start again.

I agree with everyone that is has spun out of control. I get several calls a day on one the lines in our house and it's a very loud ring. Why should I turn off my telephone (which may, you know, ring with someone I actually want to talk to on the other end)? Or let it go to answer-phone when I am in?

I totally get this is a shit job, and that you would not do it if you had to, but it is literally a nightmare working from home trying to write for a living with the phone ringing needlessly every day.

And I disagree I ticked a box for some of the services I am offered, such as a conservatory, I don't even own the bloody house!

Well if they're annoyed at recieving a call within ten minutes of their website enquiry, I imagine it's one of those stupid annoying websites that don't allow you to continue without putting your phone number in?

My friend used compare the market insurance website once and I swear to god the quotes weren't even on the screen before her phone rang and she wasn't happy about it.

Personally I would have put a fake number in but there you go.

Sorry, I hate the pushiness of some call centre people and that may affect how I deal with them. I inquired online about a broadband deal with a company, I shall call them Speak Speak . A simple email for more info led to the slimiest man ever calling to tell me he'd arranged to switch my account from BT on the strength of our chat (the chat that was yet to happen) and I have ten days to 'opt out'. Opt out of something I had never asked for.

Pissed me off big time and probably coloured my future chats with cold callers.

YABU to suggest that people not wishing to be harassed in their own home should buy an answering machine. What an attitude!

Perhaps some of the rudeness you experience from others could be attributed to your own telephone manner? Just a thought. If you really are ringing people who have purposely requested to be called about a particular product or service then I am astonished that so many of them should be so rude to you unless either (a) it isn't true that they have requested a call from your particular company or (b) you are quite rude to them first.

And I have worked in telesales, and do know how awful it is, all I can say is that I'd rather do pretty much any other job (care work? cleaning?) than have to call people with a made-up script which likely contains some big fat lies judging by the calls I've had lately.

OP - you feel pissed off with the peole you call being rude to you, do you feel pissed off when the company teach you how to shoot down peoples objections, to word your pitch in such a way as to posssible confuse the potential customer etc?

Really, there's FAR worse for you to get anoyed at than the people you're calling

You're in an unethical job. I realize people feel pushed into taking work that isn't ideal, but making a living (however poor) out of annoying other people is not something I have any sympathy for.

ive been looking recently for insurance, and i tried to do some of it by phone only to get told when you ring the 0800 number to go to the website.

so i went to the website, and you HAVE to enter a phone number - its a required field.

and bingo - i come off a night shift and am sleeping when i start getting bloody calls from Hastings insurance. Hastings had come up on a comparison website but i hadnt even registered an interest and i DID tick the box to say no calls and no emails, and still they rang me.

i do sympathise with you OP but sales calls are so annoying. I am never rude an i do simply say im not interested, but its not true that people who receive these calls register an interest, i certainly did not and i ticked the boxes to say so.

'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'

• Many landlords including ours won't let us do the first. And no, I'm not shelling out on an answerphone I can't afford either. The other two points I take - especially the last one.

No-one should be rude to you if you're not rude to them, and they've given you their number. But we constantly get calls for the people who lived here before us, and frankly I am not interested in being sold rubbish. I will just put the phone down.

Hmm, it is annoying getting these calls. It's all very well saying 'stop putting your number into websites' , but often this is mandatory when shopping or doing other everyday tasks and it would be quite inconvenient not to be able to do any of this stuff online. And yes someone may have accidentally ticked the wrong box. Though I always take care over that, and get the calls anyway. Maybe the responsibility should be on the part of the companies, not to sell people's contact details on!

It really is very annoying having to drop what you're doing so someone can bother you trying to sell you something you don't want. If I want to talk to a company or buy something from them, I will contact them. I don't appreciate unsolicited calls.

I do sympathise with the awful treatment you get. There's no excuse for people swearing at you or being aggressive. I used to work in IT Support and it was unbelievable the sort of verbal abuse we got from people we were trying to help. A polite 'no thanks' and putting the phone down works for me.

Absolutely emsyj

How many times do I have to politely say that I am not intersted, I do not want to participate etc etc, before I can tell the cold caller to piss off?

A polite 'no thanks' and putting the phone down works for me

It works for me too but I could quite understand how it wouldn't work for the elderly/infirm/night shift worker/tired parent with a newborn baby....or any other person wishing to be left the hell alone in the privacy of their home.

If a website won't allow you to proceed unless you put in your phone number, then that means that they WANT TO CALL YOU. Don't put your number in unless you want a call!

ShirleyKnot: in your case, you have legitimate grounds for complaining to Sky, who clearly passed your warrenty details onto another insurer. Unless you are implying that the company somehow stole your details, in which case you should contact the police.

I am registered with TPS and still get bombarded with sales calls. Despite telling the person on the end of the line I am TPS registered 9 times out of 10 they carry on with their script regardless and I end up hanging up. Feel sorry for OP if you are genuinely calling people who have asked to be called but can only assume that people are bombarded with so many nuisance calls your call is the last straw in a long line of many.

I don't put my number in...but perhaps those that do simply want to continue with what has often been a 15 minute journey of form filling and when they get to the final part, they have to enter their number to get a quote.

I can quite understand how annoyed they'd be if they weren't asked for it on the first page.

How DARE you put the onus on the people you are ringing to have an ansaphone. Seriously, how DARE you?

Says everything I need to know about you and your industry.

No sympathy whatsoever.