....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.

hang on a minute - i didnt give any information willingly to a company. no where did it say on the go compare website if you enter your phone number here you will get bombarded with calls, but if you dont enter it you cant proceed any further and get a quote....

but i am very very careful to tick those boxes to say i dont want contact - so i genuinely want to know why i still get a call?

next time it asks for a phone number im going to put their own number in. let them call them selves and drive their own staff up the wall instead of me.

The depressing thing is, I have been applying for other jobs since I got here.

SITUATION SOUGHT:
Lying phone-monkey seeks work.
good computer skills, although apparently pretty arrogant

@Pagwatch I don't represent the industry. I don't work for it anymore. I don't like it very much at all.

I find way people "punch down" at people in what is perceived to be a lesser job annoying. That's my problem.

Sometimes it's not people who've put their phone number into websites.

I'm scrupulous about not doing it - I'll tick every "don't fucking call me" box if I HAVE to give my number out because I hate being bothered at home. However when we moved house, Virgin gave us a really really dirty (in the sense of being on every bloody "please spam me with calls" list going) number - and the phone rang and rang and rang and rang - we'd get about 7-8 calls a day starting from about 8am going to 8pm at night, and since I rely on the phone to get work-bookings, I had to go running whenever it did ring (and as my agencies often call me from withheld numbers as well - I couldn't use caller ID like I'd like)... and I'd politely say, we're on the TPS, the name you're asking for has not lived here for a very long time, please do not call us again - and I'd get shit back like "you gave us this number and requested us to call you - we're not removing you from the list"... so over time, when repeated requests to not call us were ignored by the same bloody companies - yep I got pissed off and angry.

TPS are fucking useless in situations like mine - the only thing that worked was moving house and opting NOT to port my number over (which caused me a lot of inconvenience in terms of changing my numbers for work and probably lost me some business because lots of my tutoring work comes from people passing my number on to friends - the reason we'd had to put up with the situation).

Now I just get fucking arsing silent calls a couple of times a week - but it's a helluva lot better than I was having to put up with.

HannahHack - do you not think the cold sales industries are unethical/ Duplicitous? Shady? If no, you're mistaken or thick. I've worked for them too, no one who has endured their training can be in any doubt you're being trained, amongst other things, to manipulate, to spot and exploit weakness.

You seem very naive for someone who has worked in the industry.

Ok Hannah.

But many of us have posted that we are not rude but still find the intrusion difficult and annoying.

Posting to the effect of 'tough shit' isn't defending people being punched down. It is just hostile and aggressive.

@Jeremy Please read my post:

"I don't represent the industry. I don't work for it anymore. I don't like it very much at all. "

Having done call centre work I do sympathise with you TigerMoll and I think you are getting a hard time on this thread.

I really dislike the attitude that it's ok to swear, talk down to, or otherwise be rude to somebody who is doing a shit job for shit money. A simple "no thanks" and hanging up will leave you feeling a lot better about yourself than being aggressive towards someone who you KNOW doesn't deserve it (any anger should be directed to the company in question).

I dont like that people get told to fuck off, but the blame lies with the companies, they are perfectly happy for their low paid employees to get peoples backs up for the sake of making a sale - they dont care about their employess, they dont care about the disgruntled 'customer'... they're happy so long as x% of all calls are converted into sales.

OP, I sympathise, I have been in precisely your situation, doing a variety of inbound and outbound call centre work for 10 years. I finally realised I was wasting my life, went part time at the call centre I worked at last and went to uni. A lot of hard work and 3 years later, I got the job of my dreams, a career for life, and the satisfaction of knowing I NEVER have to set foot in a call centre again. Do yourself a favour, realise it sooner than I did and make an escape plan now! Don't waste any more of your life!

I'm with TPS and always tick the box on forms etc. I do not get sales calls at all. I've had this current landline for 2 years.

i'm sorry op but i don't want to avoid answering my phone - and hence failing to hear anything important from dh, dcs schools etc - just because you dont' want people to answer you if they dont' want your call! how arrogant is that, suggesting that i have to listen to messages and screen calls rather than take them instantly, when there might be a problem. the rest of us try to avoid running our lives around sales calls actually and
i should be able to answer my phone without being pestered.

your firm has possibly called that customer every night that week, interrrupting her from feeding her baby, making the tea, doing her kids homeowrk - just for nothing! you dont' realise how many other calls people are getting.

For the last TWO years i have been Hounded by calls Every Day from a call centre even though my name has been taken off of the marketing data list and my number removed from the phone book . I have pleaded with them to stop phoning my house but still they call the next day sometimes twice a day .
I have reported them to my phone company who know about their nuisance calls but say they can do nothing about it as the calls are coming from another country . Op it is VERY annoying to receive these calls .

HannahHack - I read it, the point is when a cold caller calls they are REPRESENTING a nasty industry, they are the company.

Once I took a call from my mobile phone company (CPW) about an extension to contract. I was in the middle of NOISY kids supper. I said I would look at the stuff if they posted it. I am a lawyer and not going to sign a new contract without seeing anything...and I def couldn't concentrate then!

Anyway, I found out months later that they had signed me up to a crap deal. I was furious. Given my (basic!) knowledge of the law I got out of the contract after an extended row.

I never ever talk to cold calls now. I say, "I am not interested. Good bye."

I don't get how cold calling is a good sales technique. Any company that cold calls me EVER goes on my shitlist and will never get my custom!

And whoever said all that bollox about ethical jobs, some people actually DO live by their principles. I can sleep at night, ta :)

It is hard not to take personally. I worked in an inbound call centre and got abuse every day. I work for 999 now and we get abused, sworn at etc - and these are people that ring for help. So I think some people are just that way inclined. If I get a cold call on my mobile, I just don't answer or send it to voicemail

Tigermoll, it sounds awful, and I have sympathy for you, as I know you are just doing a job.
And there are few of them around

However, I think you might be being a bit naive about where your list comes from.
A lot of websites do trick you into giving your details, and yes they are sold on, or they take details from competitions you enter, or comparethemarket type of websites.
Yours might very well be a good one, but I doubt it very much.

I try to be polite with these callers, as I do recognise they are just doing a job, but I have occasionally lost it or called their bluff.

Main ones are life insurance, energy suppliers, and sky/satellite engineers.

You are in an industry with a very bad name, but it's not your fault.

We are registered with telephone preference service, and have been for about 5-6 years. We always tick the box to say don't contact us... we still get half a dozen or more a week, sometimes several in an evening.

Most of the people that phone I would regard as rude, it is rare when I say (politely) that they shouldn't be phoning us and please take our name off the list that I get an apology, and often they either ignore that and continue "because you don't want to miss our special offer on XXX" or just put the phone down without another word.

You're right, it is illegal to cold call, but a lot of companies still do. So don't be so sure that your company isn't one of those that does.

"
Oh you're perfect for this job you know. Genuinely I have no doubt your arrogance comes across as well on the phone as it does here.

And you wander why people are rude to you?

I'd take great pleasure in telling you to fuck off and get a proper job if you rang my house.

I'm normally polite, say 'no thanks I'm with TPS' and then hang up but I'd certainly make an exception for a twat like you."

^ This

i should say that there is no need for swearing at someone. i always politely say i am not interested and on tps.

i must admit on moving in we obviously got someone else's phone number and we had about 6 calls a day for mrs hague. eventually a few months in i said to one south asian caller.

NO I AM NOT MRS HAGUE, I NEVER HAVE BEEN AND I'M DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION BY YOU PHONING EVERY DAY SEVERAL TIMES A DAY. HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF YOU COULD NEVER HAVE A MEAL WITH YOUR FAMILY WITHOUT SOMEONE RINGING FOR MRS HAGUE. WOULD YOU LIKE THAT EVERY DAY DAY IN DAY OUT FOR A MONTH. NO I DO NOT LIVE IN EVEREST AVENUE ADN I AM ON TPS AND I AM NOT MRS HAGUE MY HUSBAND IS NOT MR HAGUE I JUST WANT TO SLEEP AND EAT AND DO THINGS IN MY OWN HOUSE IN PEACE.
WOULD YOU LIKE IT?

i never got another call from that company again but all the polite no, i'm not mrs hague adn not interested had made no differnce whatsoever.

I get that it is not your personal fault if the company you work for behaves in a shitey way, and you need a job, fair enough

it isn't the train guard's personal fault when the train is delayed due to the train company's incompetence

it isn't the council person on the other end of the phone's personal fault if the council has summonsed me for council tax I've already paid

but it is the fault of the organisation that that person works for, and that organisation need to know it is being shite, and the only way to tell it is to tell a representative of that organisation.

Which is you
or the train guard
or the person at the council

and I agree it shouldn't be done abusively, but if that organisation is breaking the law and taking the piss, and behaving abusively itself...

If your company actually doesn't do this, then apologies, but it's a shame its methods so strongly resemble those that do.

Hope you manage to find a better job soon, sincere best wishes for that.

I know you have a difficult job non more so than dealing with the lovely Joe Public so you have my sympathy unless you work for Intelligence Finance who are a rude bunch of arse holes who will not take no for an answer.

yes i agree never engage with a cold call. DH talked to someone selling from BT and they signed him up without his consent and then wouldn't let us cancel. it's jsut not worth engaging with them at all because many will scam you and sign you up for things you havent' said you want.

YANBU at all. I work for a charity and we fundraise via the phone using numbers that people have given us, and our callers still get grief. My sister works inbound for a large organisation and it sucks, people are incredibly rude.

My worst charity phone call moment was when a woman called to cancel her direct debit. She was shouting at me because our system didn't recognise her name, address or reference number. Twenty minutes in she realised her DD was with another charity which is why I couldn't find her - she didn't apologise.