Cannot believe the call handlers at the DWP .. :(

[Ryderr]

So firstly, I'd like to say that: yes, I know, noone is entitled to 'free money'....

Situation :
Daughter meets requirements for DLA.
Received her first 'annual statement' on Tuesday afternoon. Payment made Tuesday morning.
Payment didn't match what was on the letter, so I decided to ring up and ask for clarification of the letters new payment amounts (aware tax years, inflation, bank holidays, and other stuff can, and do, affect this) but wanted to clarify.
(other DWP encounters show sometimes a call is needed to make sure payments are right. Paid me over £900 quid in December when I was only entitled to a mere £4.27. So obviously I wanted to get the money to its rightful owner.)

Spend 4.5 hours on the call. Lovely music. Charged phone aswell! Nice.
Appreciate it was probably a busy day, if everyone had the same idea as me!

Call answered to a lady that sounded so fed up and tired :(
I start off nice, asking how her day had been etc. But that gets shut down.
'ref number and postcode, now' said the voice.
Call proceeded.
Get so far in to the situation and she let's out a big sigh.
Definitely not a good day to have called :(

She calls me stupid, saying how even though the payment increase happened on the Monday, the Tuesday payment was fine, and not wrong.
I then proceed to say sorry for the waste of time, thank her for the information, and wish her a good rest of the day.

I put the phone on the kitchen side , fully expecting the lady on the other end of the phone to end the call.....
NOPE.
she sits there discussing with her colleague saying how I'm 'yet another scrounging caller wanting more free money because I can't be bothered to raise my kids right'.
Meanwhile, i'm stood there, now recording her rant🤷🏻‍♀️

Few minutes pass and you can sort of hear her trailing off and then a 'ohno', and the call is abruptly disconnected.

Its now Friday.
Not sure how I feel about it all still.
No family to discuss this with.
Do I just go nurse my ego with a share bag of minstrels.?

Really?

You're telling me on a recorded call they called you stupid and then went on to slate you?
You do realise the DWP deal with benefit claims all day long so nothing about your situation would be different to the person before or after you

Ok hun

😱if this is real you need to complain

improbable.
They record their own calls so if this did happen then you should complain.

If that indeed did happen (given average call handling requirements) you need to call back and lodge a complaint. Or aak for an email address to attach a copy of the recording to.

I find it hard to believe she actually called you stupid.

Are you doing a creative writing course? I've worked as a call handler ( not for DWP but with very angry customers) and nobody behaves the way you've described - they wouldn't last a day

That did not happen now, did it? Why would you be asking about how her day is, if you had been waiting on hold for 4.5 hours. Are you bored or something?

This absolutely did not happen

Do you normally put your phone down on the side, without ending the call?

Just for being called stupid I would have complained let alone the bit after she thought the call was finished.

Who ends a call by putting the still-connected phone down on the counter and waiting for the other party to disconnect? That would be such a strange thing to do, if true.

did she? Aye 🙄
For one thing…l,they all work from home
and number 2 , the calls cut off and she would have been answering the next one straight away…..the calls are on a loop and monitored.
and 3. When you do a telephone handling job day in day out….you make double and triple sure that the call had ended before you speak about the caller
some porky pies going on here me thinks

Exactly what I was going to put. How fortuitous for op everything was so clear so will be heard by manager when the call is reviewed.

Sorry, we're all being wrong...
Right mnetters! Pitchforks at the ready!! Attttacckk the call handler!! 🤨🤨

Some call handlers at DWP can be abrupt or cold, it's true. But calling you stupid and "yet another scrounger who can't be bothered to raise her kids right". I find that incredibly hard to believe. I think all their calls are monitored and her colleagues could quite likely report her. Anyway, she was probably wfh. This didn't happen did it.

Ok so it did happen, not just here for shits and giggles?

I'm genuinely looking for a way to move on. Either with minstrels, or a complaint.
Thought this website was for helping?

When I called my phone provider to get a copy of the full recording they said they cannot provide this anymore - not sure what rules have changed since 2007 (maybe someone can help with a link, not sure where to go looking?)

I always put my phone on the side when I'm done, usually a child to pick up before they pull my pockets off. Or do I have to defend that part too? Maybe i was feeling a little bit defeated that made me not check if I'd hung up.

I always ask how someone's day is when im on the phone. Being polite costs nothing. Regardless of how my day is, call handlers most definitely get lots of shit, like I need to add to their misery.

Thanks though, this is a great start.

I've worked in telephony and I think you are guilty of embellishing, if not downright fabricating, what happened on your call to the DWP. All calls are recorded. Most calls are audited by an external auditor. No call handler would ever risk their job by discussing a client at the end of the call. Furthermore, DWP call handlers don't work in a call centre, they are at home.

Must try harder. 2/10

I don't think they all work from home. I often call and can hear other voices in an office when they are meant to have put you on hold.

They will have recorded the call at their end so no need for you to speak to your call provider lol.

Complain and let us know what happens -

There's no way this happened as you're saying. She'd have hung up before you pushed her to calling you stupid. Besides, this is what they're listening to all day every day - why would she pick you out specifically as a scrounger amongst the thousands of benefits claimants she speaks to?Do a SAR and get the call recording. Prove everyone wrong.

You should send DWP a subject access request to get access to the call recording. Then make a complaint. I don’t doubt your story. I’ve worked in a call centre and it is really common for people who work in complaints departments all the time do end up suffering with compassion fatigue / an empathy deficit and speaking about customers the way you have described.