Does anyone else find those automated ‘abuse won’t be tolerated’ phone messages incredibly irritating?

[Bottlesofrumonthewall]

You know the ones. Robotic voice before you’ve even spoken to a human.

It always makes me think if you need to say that before putting someone through maybe the issue isn’t the callers but the deliberately infuriating customer service systems. Endless menus no actual help staff with no authority then a warning not to get annoyed.

It just feels like being pre emptively told off. Surely better systems would reduce abuse more than a passive aggressive recording?

Regarding the warning signs/messages, I am a bit cynical and feel it’s often the company doing employee PR so they can claim they have tried their best to protect staff from abuse.

When often there are real tangible changes that could be made such as more staff/shorter waiting time or generally improving systems so there would be less reason for people to call with complaints and probably less abuse.

An internet/phone provider I was with had this weird system which meant I would randomly get charged more some months . No matter how much their staff tried to explain it to me I just didn’t get it but it seemed to be down to an old legacy system on this particular contract I was on. I eventually just left.

I’ve also worked in the call
centres of energy companies that had antiquated systems that caused things like billing errors which of course led to angry calls.

i mean they’ve obviously put the message there for a reason, they receive enough abusive calls where this was necessary.

I think they are sad, but obviously necessary in so many cases.

It shouldn't be necessary to point out that abuse is unacceptable, but sadly there are some very abusive (and thick) people out there.

Vets in my area have these notices up. I often wonder what happens to the abusers - are they never allowed back for their pet to be treated? I've heard that some customers take the line that, since vets are supposed to be animal lovers, they shouldn't be asking for money at all!

I feel the same. I have seen these signs a lot recently in hospitals and doctors' surgeries. It never used to be necessary.

Even worse is the ‘we are currently experiencing a high volume of calls’ - they haven’t switched that message off since the pandemic. Just hire more people!

How strange and absurd of those customers.

That’s a bit like saying if you like kids and work with them as say a children’s Occupational therapist or teacher in a private practice/school you shouldn’t charge.

Or if you are a feminist who has a strong care and concern for vulnerable women you shouldn’t charge women as a therapist or counsellor.

Some professional can and do offer some free or low cost services, but ultimately most people need to get paid!

I worked somewhere that had this on the telephone been answered. And the only people that rang us were senior medics and consultants for NHS ………

I used to supervise a call centre that mostly dealt with GPs and the verbal abuse the staff received was shocking.

This has given me flashbacks of dealing with French administration on my year abroad in the 90s. The messaging might have changed but the same attitude shines through!

On the broader discussion, obviously it is unacceptable for abuse to be hurled at people but if companies would sort out their shitty service a lot of it would be avoided. People are sent round in circles, spending hours of their time to sort out issues with companies and public services they are dealing with. No one ever seems to take responsibility and it is rare that whoever you have spent 45 minutes listening to hold Muzak to reach can actually do anything to help. It is so frustrating that it is not surprising a lot of people are on their last nerve.

I just think it's sad that it is needed. Not irritating. Irritating is cold callers selling scam products, but I have started being kind to them since finding that many of them are being abused.

Whenever I hear or see posters with these messages on, I feel really sad that they are even needed. It wouldn’t annoy me, I would get annoyed at people that think it’s acceptable to treat others poorly so that the notices are needed!

You make a good point that customers are frustrated by a system which is outrageously indifferent to their needs. But still, its not the fault of the poor sod who picks up the phone and is on minimum wage.

Aww diddums.

Can tell you've never worked in customer service lmao.

Anyone who's annoyed by those messages has never worked in any kind of customer facing role, and been on the end of a barrage of abuse. Some customers/service users are absolutely vile people.

And for everyone parroting 'maybe if you answered the phone' the person on the end of the phone is not responsible for their employers failings.

I thought many years ago that those signs should have been displayed in schools. It was made very clear to me from the outset when I moved into a different job that I'd never again be expected to put up with abuse.

It's cheaper to put up a sign or record a message than to actually sort out operational systems or staff training.

YABU.
For a company to put up this message, they must have a high number of abusive callers. It’s not to do with the people that work there, I am a manager in CS and people find it so easy to take out their life frustrations on people they don’t know. I get this face to face, and I’m sure it’s even easier over the phone when you hide behind a device. Customers get angry at policies, processes, having to wait for something. We live in a world where we have unreasonable expectations and if we don’t get our way, we throw our toys out the pram and swear / shout at the person delivering the news.

I bet the messages have no affect on the abusive callers, just annoy regular customers.

I agree, and the really sad thing is most people do actually recognise this, they know that it's companies trying to cut costs and increase profits by reducing staff and resources, so the service is poorer, it's happening everywhere, and they know the staff they are dealing with have no control over it, they can't change it - I mean who would volunteer for more work and abuse for the privilege of it if you had the power to do something about it?

But they choose to have a go at the person they're dealing with because it's easier, because it relieves frustration in the moment, people behave like the staff in these places are benefitting from the poor service - when they very likely know they're also being taken the piss out of, more so really.

But as a society we worship those making these decisions as being so hard working and having sacrificed so much to make themselves successful and anyone actually doing the work for peanuts is written off as too lazy to do anything better. And with that there's absolutely no reason to change anything is there? The companies are making their profits at the expense of the staff and customers and the customers take that out on the staff - win win situation for those making the decisions.

My hairdresser has a sign up that says ‘sexual harassment of our staff will not be tolerated’. I asked her, quite concerned, if they had experienced sexual harassment from customers, and she replied never but she had been told it was the law that they display such a sign. 🤔

I understand. It’s not unusual for firmness to be misconstrued as abusive. It’s quite often challenging to explain a complicated problem to a call centre staff member who is working from a script and getting a manager to help is nigh on impossible. That can result in assertiveness, which the staff perceive as aggression.

Exactly! It's worse ro me that adults have to be warned to treat people respectfully.

Well none of us have solid data to prove either way I guess

No, but I've never felt the need to verbally abuse staff.