Call Centre - put through to handler WFH

[Harvestfestivalknickers]

Just had to renew my insurance today. I needed to make a small amendment so rang their call centre. The call handler I was connected to was obviously WFH. I gave her my details but she had to clarify them several times as there was what sounded like a dog barking. The line was so bad she said she'd call me back. She did so but the barking continued. I made the comment that the line was still really bad and I could hear a dog barking. She didn't respond to that but carried on talking. As she came to the end of the call, the dog started barking quite clearly again. I was surprised that a large insurance company would tolerate this, surely this isn't acceptable, calls are recorded aren't they?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5113035-woman-complained-to-manager-about-dd?page=1

I do. Thank you.

That's really taking the proverbial. Managers should be making regular calls to check up on this sort of thing, and any indication that the call handler is not working from suitable premises or not taking the job seriously should be dealt with by withdrawing WFH privileges.

Yes, that dog will have overheard all the OP's personal details...

Or don't have dogs that don't recognise simple commands like 'shut the fuck up'.

I agree. It was different during lockdown when many of us had never WFH before and had makeshift home offices/work areas. By now we should all expect a level of professionalism.

I agree that it's unprofessional to have constant interruptions when talking to the public/clients etc but as shown on here people seem to think that as long as the work is "done eventually" it shouldn't matter how bad the service is. But the problem is these things will just get worse and start affecting more services.
So it's a dog barking on an insurance call. Then as someone else said an IT bloke having a row with his wife. What if you rang your GP and you were finally discussing your awful crippling depression or your embarrassing bowel issues but the GP had to keep interrupting to deal with their upset child or you could hear Judge Judy ranting in the background? I mean surely as long as you eventually get your prescription or get referred to whatever it doesn't matter then? And if that's the case maybe GPs should just bring their child to work with them and play in the corner of the surgery all day. Or have a tv playing with their favourite show so they can relax better at work.

The point is really that by allowing and ignoring small interruptions at first, it starts to get worse. Well it was only a dog barking becomes only a child crying. Its only "unimportant" services like energy/ car insurance so why does it matter can soon people health insurance claims (where you might be calling upset about cancer diagnoses treatment etc) and health care professionals dealing directly with patients.

Once you start accepting poor service from some places it often becomes the norm and more and more acceptable for everything.

When I wfh and make or receive calls, my parrot will start calling out very loudly. I usually move him to another room but on occasion when I don’t, the other person is fascinated by the parrot screeching and forgets what it was they were talking about and are only interested in what type of parrot he is, does he talk, what does he say. No one has ever remonstrated with me about it.

i agree it doesn’t look professional to have any domestic background noise though

Really don’t see how that’s comparable.

People should be perfectly capable of wfh and having a dog at home (albeit it should be kept quiet or away from working space). Totally different to looking after a child.

As long as the call was handled and my query was dealt with, can’t say I’d bother complaining.

it isn’t
so best to ignore that poster

I remember calling someone who was WFH and all I could hear in the background was "Mummy I need a poo!" I complained as IMO the child should not have been there during work hours.

Whilst I am sure the change to policy happened smoothly in the end, the dog barking makes the setup feel unprofessional. I would wonder to what kind of company I was handing over my money.

During lockdown I had a meeting with a co-worker who had her bird, (I have no idea what kind), perched on her shoulder. The bird lunged for the camera and startled the shit out of me. For a co-worker it was fine, but if I had a been a client, it would have been inappropriate. I have no idea if she kept the bird in its cage during meetings with clients.

That's me told 😂

People on here are bonkers. Of course this is not OK. This person's home is their place of work and a loud dog is NOT OK. (It's not like during COVID when we were all making WAH up as we went along.)

Do you believe they all stick to it?

Might not even be her dog... Neighbour, outside the office...

I've had a noisy demonstration with whistles and drums circle my office before now...

If they didn’t that would be a huge problem at my place and would lead to dismissal.

information security is really important. We have incredibly strict rules and so we should.

I think you’d be surprised how many companies/organisations allow wfh…
Most banks along with DWP depts for example all having access to a lot of personal info

I'm also pretty sure that some offices are close to schools/nurseries in urban areas (definitely around my work) and those are pretty noisy too!

I don’t think the dog’s going to sell her details to the highest bidder 🤣

Why is everyone sp fast to want to complain about really trivial things and risk getting employees into trouble!

I've heard barking dogs and kids playing before and a crash bang which was apparently a mischievous cat. I always reassure them it's fine as they tend to be stressed at the noise and use it to fill silences if systems are slow.

Just chill OP, some people NEED to wfh in order to work and not everyone is privileged enough to have a dedicated home office space so there may be background noise.

I don’t think the dog’s going to sell her details to the highest bidder 🤣

I bloody hate dogs and still couldn't bring myself to be arsed about this.

How is it not? I don’t mean a child talking. But a child crying vs a dog barking. Neither should be there if a person is unable to work without them being loud. Doggy daycare or nursery.