To hate call centre work?anyone worked in one?

[redbedled]

A month ago I started work in a call centre and I hate it.
My last job was in a department store for 8 years which I loved but it closed down and this feels like torture.
Yes the money is better but it's giving me anxiety (already had it but it's getting worse)
It's a sales role,8am till 6.30pm
I have to get up at half 5 to catch the 6.15 bus then I'm not getting home till 8.15 pm.
It's mom -fri
The people I work with are really loud and cocky and a lot younger than me.
I'm late 30s and shy and just want to take calls and go home but it's not like that.
Are they all like this ?
Everyone slags everyone off.
I feel like a fish out of water.
They record your screens so watch every move you make,you have to sell on every call (even if you miss sell ) they take advantage of elderly customers or lonely customers who think you want to chat to them (I do ) but then you have the team leader in front
Sell
Sell
I'm feeling sick every day.
I can't sleep
I'm getting 3 hours a night
I don't want to let people down by quitting but I can't stand it.

Ive done call centre work and when I left it felt like leaving a car crash!I had terrible anxiety I had a panic attack out of work hours but I still think it was caused by being shouted at by angry customers who didn't have a manager to discuss with.It affected my relationship, my moods and everything all I can say is I would not recommend anyone to do call centre work for longer than a year.

What happened, op?

Yes!!!!

Had a 1 to 1 today and they wanted to put me on a performance plan as my sales aren't up to scratch.
They wanted me to get 4 sales per hour (some calls take 30 mins)
Said I was over on my work call time by 3 minutes and went on a massive rant about how if every advisor took a extra 3 mins a day that would be 1 persons full shift etc etc
Enough is enough for me

I worked in a call centre. Sat at a desk all day, wearing a headset was the equivalent of being chained to the desk.

Every eight hour day was like doing a long-haul flight in cattle class - and as a result of sitting down for so long, I started to have problems with blood circulation in my legs.

I used to work for Sky call centre, it was exactly like you described too although I was 19/20 and quite shy.

Absolutely hated it. All the games/competitions/pressures for sales and 3 monthly reviews was unbearable. Not to mention getting talked to like crap by multiple customers every hour of every day. I did 40+ hours every week. It was impossible to just keep work as work, it's all so full on and everyone's pressuring you into doing things like the entertainment team at a holiday resort when you just want to sunbathe and relax.

Actually got signed off sick with anxiety and depression for 3 months and I never returned. Found a job in healthcare which I don't mind now.

It's not worth it OP, the constant anxiety does more harm than good. Look for something else in your spare time.

@redbedled

Just a update -I walked out today

Glad to hear it OP, good luck with your future! Sending

Glad you walked out, sounds an awful sweat shop. There’s always something better.

I worked for an American Company in their call centre late 90's. Lovely people, great bonuses and I felt appreciated. I then moved away and applied for a similar job in a bank call centre wrongly assuming it would be the same. It was terrible. I had to cross sell constantly, there were some awful bitchy colleagues who low level bullied me by excluding me and gas lighting me when I questioned why I had been left out of team emails. I had to ask to go to the toilet and was sometimes told no and was forced to stay late when I only had an hourly train service to rely on and finished at 7pm meaning I wouldnt then be able to put my son to bed. I had recurring tonsilitis and was very unwell but was told it wasnt possible to have it twice I went off with stress at one point as I hated it so much. You were 100 percent right to leave op. Your health is more important

Hi op have you looked for call centre jobs in a bank they are ok. I worked for Santander for long time and enjoyed my time working there.

I worked in a call centre and it was bloody awful, never ever again. I lasted a just over a year. I used to cry on the train on the way there and back. I worked 8 to 6 and the commute was 1.5 hours each way, so I was out the house from 6:30 am to 7:30pm every day.

I would get pulled up on everything I did. I was left an insecure mess. I did get good at arguing with people over the phone though!

It wasn't sales, it was actually a call centre for a college with five campuses.

@dahshsnxnjj

Hi op have you looked for call centre jobs in a bank they are ok. I worked for Santander for long time and enjoyed my time working there.

They are not all ok. See my post directly above. I didnt work for Santander though so maybe the exception rather than the rule

Yes but I wasn’t in sales, I did complaints.

I liked it. I still work in contact centres but in change.

I also posted up thread. I worked for DLG/RBS. Huge corporates are just as shit as unregulated call centres/contact centres. Dehumanising actually. Performance review: You’ve been in comfort code for ten minutes......aye, dealing with peri menopausal flooding. Got told to go to my GP if it was that much of a problem, my responsibility to manage apparently.

I worked in a call centre for a well known Insurance company in my early 20s and it was like being in school... everyone was bitchy and two faced. There was a constant gossip mill.

There were days when I would see I had hundreds of calls waiting and my soul died just a little.

Fortunately I got away and now have a job I love. Hopefully the same will happen for you too OP.

@Iseeyoulookingatme

You want to try working in customer services in a call centre it's even worse. Its a horrible job and I won't ever do it again. Try looking for something else op.

Nah I've done customer service in a call centre, ops job is definitely worse. At least in customer service, you can essentially ignore the person while they scream at you, let them get it out of their system, and once they've finally shut up then you can help them. Cold calling sales is you constantly pressuring people to buy stuff.

Find another job if you can op and quit. Until then, just do your best and don't pressure yourself on it. Let the others pressure themselves, more fool them.

Emergency services contact centres will value your experience but give a much better working life?

Nevermind missed where you said you walked out. It's better for your mental health anyway.

Well done OP. It sounds like you have a good attitude and I’m sure you will pick something up soon. You can hopefully feel relieved now.

Good for you for leaving OP.

I’ve worked in two call centres. The first one wasn’t so bad, but the hours and money were crap and the new managers were so difficult to work for as they were constantly harping on at you to meet targets you just didn’t care about.

The second one was hell. It was inbound too, but the callers were so nasty and horrible, and you couldn’t really help them either. I only lasted 5 months.

I've worked somewhere that was really a call centre but dressed up as something else. I was constantly watched and made to feel like a child. Turning around to chat to someone for 2 minutes was met with daggers from managers and they would usually report my behaviour to my manager.

We were in 'codes' so had to change our code for the toilet etc and these code statistics were scrutinised and we were told if we'd spent too long not taking calls.

I am so glad to be out of there.

You've done the right thing. You do not go to work to be made to feel like shit and you should not dread going to work.

Will you be okay for money now OP?

The very worst job I had was in a call center doing debt collection while I was a mature student! It was a horrible job and I felt horrible doing it. I was putting pressure on (often vulnerable) people like mothers with young kids, elderly people etc who had run up catalogue debts. This was back in the '90s so not nearly so bad economically then as it is now. We had the team leader on our backs and the manager on hers. After 6 months I resigned and a few days later I was doing inbound sales in another call center. Compared to the debt collection that was easy peasy.

However I learned a lot about the debt collection industry - how utterly corrupt it is and how to play games with debt collectors!

Ive always been good at selling (I run my own small company now) and at least the people who were calling in had done so of their own free will.

Whenever I have to call customer services now I try to be polite to the agents, call them by name, and thank them for their help. If I have a complaint to make I do emphasize that I appreciate that I know its not their fault personally. I have always found that if you get the agent on side they are more likely to escalate the problem or put you onto a manager.

I lasted five months in my call centre job, and I wished I’d left sooner. It wasn’t sales, but I still hated it.

We weren’t allowed to deviate from the script, but we were under constant pressure to keep our call times short. And every second of our day was monitored. If I’d stayed, I’d probably have had my probation extended as my call times were “too long”. The team members’ statistics were emailed to the whole team every week - an added pressure and embarrassment.

This organisation didn’t want human employees, they wanted robots. Robots wouldn’t have deviated from the script or taken toilet breaks.

I will be ok for money in the short term.
I'm applying for jobs this evening.
It's strange my anxiety has came down already.
I'm the most relaxed I've been in ages.

I work for nhs111 in the call centre. Have you thought about working there? It’s a lot better than most call centre jobs although this is the only call centre I have ever worked in.