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?

Given all the fuss insurance companies make when you claim, they try to wriggle out of contracts for the slightest error in applications. I would be very concerned about my request being accurately recorded. Dogs, cats and children can all be distracting.
It is not the OP's intention to get the worker sacked, she only wants the company to be more professional.

Because quite clearly a dog doesn’t need anywhere near the amount of attention a small child does??

Yes and plenty of people are dismissed, in call centres, for that reason. Once they are caught.

Let’s say someone is in the house looking after the small child. But the loud crying is still audible to the person on the phone. People would be up in arms about it.

Yes this!

Yep!

Very unprofessional

I work from home and don't think this is acceptable. In a previous job, I had to confirm I had a separate room to work in and couldn't be overheard.

I would complain and ask the company to review the tape. As PP have said, noisy dogs need to be elsewhere.

Call centre workers are paid so little and take so much abuse from customers that employers have to offer every incentive they can (bar the unthinkable of paying them a decent wage 🙄) to attract and retain them. If you don't like them working from home, go and get a job inside a call centre yourself.

Yes. God.knows who is listening.

In my office only other employees can over hear me and they are bound by the same confidentiality I am.

In any of those circumstances, they wouldn't get fired though, would they ?

I agree with the OP. If you are being paid to wfh, you need to make the arrangements for that to be done in a professional way, which does not include hearing family member , or pets, or people washing up, etc., on your call.

It could be that the person you were put through to was actually working from home. But as a dog owner myself I would find it extremely annoying to have to hold a telephone conversation with a barking dog in the background; the dog in question needs proper training.

Firstly the dog may not have belonged to the agent that you were dealing with on the phone.
Next, the agent is allowed to work remotely and probably had a window open for fresh air (which is why you kept hearing the dog barking)
Next, if you can't hear the agent due to background noise, you are allowed to say "I'm sorry, I can't hear you clearly, I'll have to phone back to see if I can speak with a different agent"
That's basically the sum of it from what I can see.

Next, if you can't hear the agent due to background noise, you are allowed to say "I'm sorry, I can't hear you clearly, I'll have to phone back to see if I can speak with a different agent"

But after going through 6 menus and having already been on hold for 20mins, I doubt if any of us would want to do that.

Urgh. And potentially getting a close to minimum wage earner bollocked or fired. Over a barking dog. Too petty for me.

I once ended up phoning HMRC in the evening and obviously answered by someone WFH as you could hear the TV in the background playing the Eastenders theme tune! She clearly wasn't concentrating on the call as I had to repeat myself several times. In the end, she didn't do what I asked for anyway, despite promising she would, so after a couple of weeks, I had to phone them again, wasting even more of my time!

I think WFH staff need far more/better supervision and management, i.e. more random reviews of phone recordings, more importance to complaints, etc. As it is, a proportion of them are taking the piss and management don't seem to care! It's ruining the whole thing for WFH staff who are diligent.

Oh get a grip.

Agreed, I don't think it's great form to have a barking dog while wfh to be honest but I couldn't imagine being so uptight and miserable to make a formal complaint.

Was it Churchills?

😂😂

Absolutely. All the OP (or similar) needs to say is ‘I’m so sorry, it’s hard to hear you over the dog - any chance you could move away / move it away’. Really straightforward solution to the issue.

Yeah complain, get your £50 compensation and make life a lot harder for that person. Call centres are notoriously noisy and even if not WFH you can have a bad line / background noise.
Also, no concerns with GDPR WFH, just as concerning in a busy noisy office- anyone could write your details down and do whatever with them.
So I would complain, I wouldn't be outraged I'd just move on ...

I'm moderately deaf and might struggle. I wouldn't find that acceptable.

Also, lots of posters have commented oh-so- wittily on the dog over-hearing. How can you be sure the call handler was not living in a flat share with other people coming and going?

Something tells me you don’t have experience of call centres. Agents are heavily monitored.

Also, a proportion of them? Based on what, one bad call to HMRC when the agent was just about to finish their shift. They won’t be doing that regularly for long and getting away with it.

Honestly, some right moaning bastards on here, it’s just a dog barking.

Actually find it worse when you can hear the other agents in the call centre speaking to other customers.

I phoned social services just after 9am to report an incident involving a vulnerable adult. I went through to a worker WFH who was obviously sleeping in bed when I rang and took a good few minutes to come round! Not a good impression.