Horrible Job in a Contact Centre

[Mumofone1902]

Worked in my job for 10 years. Finally getting myself back into education and out of there but I don't start until September.

I need to save money to manage a year on just my husbands wage but I am finding shifts so much harder now.

The constant swearing and belittling by customers. Last week I was only on shift for a few minutes before a customer started swearing at me and we can no longer hang up on them when they swear.

I have told my manager I cry in the car before coming to work as it is such a toxic environment but seeing as the main issue is customers there isn't much anyone can do.

I have chronic pain, I have my child alone all day then work all evening then come home to a toddler that doesn't sleep at night. I have no energy and I just can't do this anymore. Especially knowing I only have 6 months left, when I thought I was there forever I resigned myself to it, but the light being at the end of the tunnel actually makes shifts harder!

I just need people to comment coping strategies and things I can do to get through the months. I know AIBU isn't the best forum but it's the one that gets picked up the most and I feel like I have reached my limit.

I have changed my diet to help and have taken up walking to get out the house and try to keep positive but I just don't know what to do.

Do you work for Dwp by any chance? I know they get horrific phone calls.
Can’t you go on sick leave for stress?

Aw, bless you. it's not metre reads is it.
friend does this and gets told to fuck off they have a smart metre. this is completely immaterial if the company have asked her to call for readings.

I have worked in a few contact centres, including DWP, and believe me the private companies were FAR worse! Anyway op, I sympathise, it is a time limited job for most before you reach burn out, I've witnessed many strong colleagues reach their limits. Tips from me would be - take breaks after upsetting calls, make the most of the happy customers, and try to detach slightly as none of the anger is personal - that's hard I know. I am pretty good at diffusing angsty calls now after 20 plus years of experience, usually just by listening till the customer has said what they want to say. It's hard though, some people you will never please

At what stage can you hang up on callers? Very unreasonable to be expected to tolerate people swearing at you, no wonder you are upset. Can you say something about the purpose of the calls - is it to chase people for something, sell them something etc?

Sometimes people would be rude to me at work, I found it very upsetting. Things that helped me were

• remembering that I'm generally a nice reasonable person and thinking that if they are flying off the handle at me they must shout at several people a day
• externalising the blame "yes I agree it's poor, I would like to change it but I can't"
• not taking anything personally, mentally switching off when people get angry
• taking a break after an angry person
• talking it through with somebody after work
• trying to see things from their perspective, some people verbally lash out when scared, worried etc - 100% unacceptable but when I reflected on why they might be angry I felt less personally upset as I could see it wasn't to do with me

We also had training sessions about how to communicate with angry people.

Ultimately though I think it's unreasonable that you have to stay on the phone when people swearing at you. Do your colleagues also find this hard? Do you have a union or similar group who can approach your managers seeking a change of policy?

I can't believe you can't hang up after swearing! Can you not at least give them a warning of hanging up. You shouldn't have to tolerate abuse.

Do you have the same cubical every shift? Can you bring in photos to look at the focus on when you’re having stressful moments?

I found focussing on something else really helped when working in retail and customers kicked off.

Also- really focus on your goals. Keep them in your mind before you start your shift.

I wonder if a count down calendar actually helps? Would you find that motivating?

Good luck xx

Is it Mears group by any chance?! my best friend is in recruitment and has heard so many horror stories from people desperate to leave...

What about lots of self care, book things to look forward to, even if it’s just a friend coming round for coffee. Cook food you like to eat and try and relax as much as possible

I was you a few years ago working in an outward bound call centre while I waited to start my uni degree. I was miserable. What worked for me was cultivating friendships at work. They all felt the same pain I did. And I put motivational pictures up. My main one was of New York which was somewhere I had wanted to go since I was a small child. Think of what your qualification will mean to you and your family and find a picture of that whether it be a family holiday, a better house, more children etc. Oh and get a countdown calendar. Seeing those days add up may help to motivate you. You have got this and you can do it!

Oh and I made it to New York the year I qualified

I have a notebook and do lists of 10s when a customer is screaming to help me cope. We have 4 on our team off with stress. My job is basically pointless. We are the go between for engineers and suppliers. So people call and 70 percent of the time I can't do anything, it's a catalogue company and alot of 'i don't care if it is getting delivered directly by the supplier, I ordered from you and you've stolen my money I am going to watchdog c*' X 80 a day in different variations. I have photos of my baby at my desk and try to do positive thinking. My boss is trying to make me detach but it's hard as I am so tired by the time I come to work after a full sleepless night and day with my child. I honestly don't even have a favourite part of day, it's all just about doing things for others or being shouted at. Can't wait to start learning and use my brain and in the evenings after uni I will have my husband with me and my child, whereas now we are always alone with him as working opposite shifts. (I love him more than anything and his cuddles melt my heart but oh my goodness the terrible twos are killing me with this job afterwards).

I once worked in an inbound call centre. I lasted just under one year. It was really just paging and SMSing, but we had to be at/under 20 seconds per call for SMSing, and 30 seconds for paging. You'd average around 700-800 calls a full day shift. It was EXHAUSTING! You end up feeling like just a battery hen and hardly any breaks. Many people suffered burnout very quickly. I myself had extremely high blood pressure from it (170 over 140) and was told by my Dr I had to quit the job or I'd be dead in another year. I wouldn't recommend the job even to my worst enemy.

I wish I had any useful advice about the job but I don't: you know it's temporary and you are off to better things, so it has come into sharp focus.
Better sleep will make it easier to cope. Ditch the air bed and buy an inexpensive foam mattress for the baby's room so you can at least get comfy when you have to sleep in there. It's an awful phase, but will pass as long as you both stick at it.
Is there a local preschool or playgroup which could give you an extra hour to sleep? Anything to lighten your load really.

Is there a reason you're not allowed to hang up when they are verbally abusing you? I've worked in a call centre and it can be awful because people are happy to be arseholes on the phone. I remember once on the last call of a shift a customer told me to "drop dead" and hung up as the clock struck 8pm when my shift ended and I thought you've done me a big favour as I'm leaving on time!!

I think once you know you are leaving it gets harder to go in, and with having until september it must feel like ages.
You could imagine your last night and being able to tell someone to fuck off, yourself.
I know of people who have done this.

I like to imagine my last day at the company, when a customer is rude to me I intend to ask them why they think it’s a good idea to be such a dick to someone who can see their full name, address, phone numbers and bank details.
It gets me through some shit calls.

Oh god, I feel your pain. Working in a contact centre was the absolute worst job I had. Completely soul destroying and for me the employers were arseholes too. I’ve had cleaning jobs which were better. I left to go to uni as well, and it was absolute bliss. I think I appreciated it far more than the average first year because of what had gone before.

Oh yes the management. The floor manager asked me why I couldn't work full time whilst going to uni because that's what she did. I asked if she thought that was the reason she got a 2:1 degree and not a first 😁.

Used to work on the phones as well. I could never go back to it. As far as coping strategies - focus on your light at the end of the tunnel, it's only 6 months, think how fast the past 6 months have gone. Think about what you are going to do on your last day.....I worked in retentions and on my last day a arsehole customer said to me "Don't you care if I cancel?" I replied "No, I don't". Felt better than sex. I used to have a notepad at my desk that I'd write down what I wanted to say to people, and that relieved some aggression. Myself and colleagues used to also play customer bingo with phrases customers would say to us and daft phrases we'd try to slide in. Doesn't make it good, but definitely more bearable. Good luck at uni

Go off sick with stress, as you clearly are. Do not feel guilty. Four of your colleagues have done the same so it’s clearly not just you. If your company hasn’t put provisions in place to stop losing members of staff due to stress, then that’s their problem, not yours.

I am astonished (and horrified) that if people swear at you, you just have to sit there and take it!

Any employer that insists that staff tolerate abusive and aggressive behaviour from the public to the extent that staff's mental health is suffering is, imo, failing in its duty to provide a safe working environment.

If we had unionised workplaces, there's no way that this would be allowed to carry on.

Just keep counting down the days, OP.

Like a PP can you turn it into a game. Have a number of bingo phrases. Give an award for the most innovative insult. See who can be the fastest to swear.
It won’t make the swearing more acceptable but it might allow you to get a bit of distance so it doesn’t feel so personal.

I love arsehole bingo!!!!!

Horrible phone calls go right through you . I put the phone down on swearers .I should have warned them I was going to do it, but wasn’t really trained to do so. Calls weren’t recorded and there was any pressure ( staff were good @ their job and we weren’t watched ).Hope you get something better OP.

Coping strategies:
Take head set off / turn volume down when someone is screaming
Deep breathing
Day dreaming about the future / nice holidays / what studying you will do
Realise as hideous as it is , it’s not personal
Refer on to another colleague or manager if you can. I did enjoy putting certain managers on the spot , they were useless

I work in a role like this but happily with very little rudeness and I still want to leave.

Firstly I’d go off with stress if I was you. It’s just a job and you and your family are more important.

However things I do are - turn the volume down so I still know someone’s shouting, but it’s so quiet it’s not an assault on the senses. I speak quieter when they shout too to get them to listen.

I say my point and leave it eg “you’ll get a call back in 10 days”
BUT I WANT TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE NOW
“I am sorry, but it will take 10 days”
Then if they repeat or go off on one I just say “hmmmm, I understand” or ask if there’s anything else I can help with and say I’ll hang up if not. I’ve made my point and don’t get dragged into anything. Even if they’re still ranting I repeat what I’ve said, offer to give them information about making a complaint or/and hang up. I can’t help anymore and they have the relevant info.

If they rant without stopping I start to talk eg “let me have you’re details so I can see where we are with this or get you through to someone who can help” (even if it interrupts them). If I think I’ll get distracted I turn the volume down so I can hear myself think and speak and continue with what I need to say. If they continue to ignore me/rant/shout I say “oh sorry, can you hear me? Can you hear me? Sorry I think there’s something wrong with the phone if you cant hear me. I’ll need to terminate the call” obviously I say it a few times, but they listen quickly and let me try to help them.

Anyway...those are my strategies! As well as applying for new jobs between calls!

But if I were in your shoes I’d go off with stress. It’s not worth being unhappy at work