Call centres! (rant)

**Bournecrazy** · 08-05-2009, 06:58 AM

I rang my car insurance up earlier to change a few details i needed to change my addres too so the guy on the other end put me on hold for someone to sort it out. I think his version of 'hold' is wait for the next person to get up out of bed and make it to work before passing me over to speak to someone. ARRR!!!

I must of spent 15 minutes on hold, which doesnt help as my call plan charges my calls between 6am-6pm and the company is only open 9-5 so i am going to get charged for it no matter what.

While i was holding i managed to make a coffee, do the washing up, clean the hob and work surfaces, drink half of the coffee and put half of the washing away.

I hate call centres!

now thats all sorted off to freeze the CC

**LeeCee** · 08-05-2009, 08:12 AM

I hate call centers.nobody ever knows what they are doing and they will never put you through to a manager.the absolute worst companies are directv and at&t.they lie to you constantly and are a nightmare.stay far away from these companies.

**Linus** · 08-05-2009, 08:18 AM

I look at call centers/support centers with two views:

1. They are a part of the business are and should be there to help individuals who call. They represent the company to individuals and sometimes forget about the customer part of the individual who calls (I recently went through 6 people with a Dell call before someone would take the call and provide me a solution -- that took 5 seconds).

2. They, the people that work there, are humans like me and are trying to earn a living. They are fallible like me and often don't see things as I see them because of where they are. I have no doubts that they are under pressure to perform and want nothing more than what most people want these days: to keep their jobs.

**Karen1** · 08-05-2009, 08:24 AM

It is funny but the few times I do call a call center, I do fine...LOL
I rarely wait for some reason. Maybe the heavens have smiled upon me, I don't know.

But I change address etc. online. Why make the call? All those simple things are so easy to do online at their website. BUT of course I know a few times that can't be done.

BUT my insurance company is USAA and they are tops. You never hold long. I don't know how they do it, but they make sure you are serviced quickly all the time.

And the few times I did have to hold, I hang up. Call back later and do it later before I get ticked off..HA HAHA

**Bournecrazy** · 08-05-2009, 09:17 AM

i wouldnt of minded but the fact that i was paying for a a call outside my call plan and risk going over the set limit for these types of calls got me annoyed, when i first rang i got thru to one person straight the way i was thinking great it wont take so long but it was the transfer between that person and the next that took so long. good job i hardly ever ring call centres. Job done wont need doing again.

Linus - i understand what you are saying but 15 minutes on hold is being silly.

**Linus** · 08-05-2009, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by Bournecrazy

i wouldnt of minded but the fact that i was paying for a a call outside my call plan and risk going over the set limit for these types of calls got me annoyed, when i first rang i got thru to one person straight the way i was thinking great it wont take so long but it was the transfer between that person and the next that took so long. good job i hardly ever ring call centres. Job done wont need doing again.

Linus - i understand what you are saying but 15 minutes on hold is being silly.

To me, 15 min on hold isn't that long. I had to call Canada Revenue's call center to arrange payment for taxes. I was on hold for two hours (since I live outside of Canada it's my only method of communication). Thankfully, I do lots of geeky things and was able to use internet phone. Calls to places like Dell earn me similar lengths.

**Bournecrazy** · 08-05-2009, 03:41 PM

2 hours i would of given up after 20 minutes.

Im English - we are all impatient. lol

**TigerGirl1226** · 08-05-2009, 04:28 PM

I went through part of the training program to work at a call center here. It was a 7 night training and I made it through night 3. There was no way that I could work there. The trainers made nice and taught the official company info, but during coffee breaks they would make it known that basically you got the customer off the phone as quickly as possible whether or not you solved their issue so you could go on because you got bonuses based on call volume.

I understand not all call centers are like this. I just couldn't in good conscience rush someone off the phone knowing that I hadn't helped them. I know if I had finished training, taken the job and actually done the job, I'd have gotten flack from my co-workers about being on calls for longer and lowering the call volume.

I don't think all of them are that bad though

**Bournecrazy** · 08-05-2009, 06:09 PM

a couple of call centres got fined over here because of the length of the holding time and how they dealt with people.

**Sassyclass** · 08-06-2009, 12:21 AM

I had an issue with Verizon about 3 years ago. Our phone line got hit by lightning.I had to use our landlords phone and here's how it went. First person-"Can you go out to the box on the line and use a screwdriver to turn?" I said"Excuse me but did you hear me say LIGHTNING?" so she sends me to someone else, he says it will be back on Friday before noon, it is Thursday night right now. Friday rolls around no phone so I call again and I'm told it will be on by Saturday, they are busy with other outages in our area, I told them there were no outages in our area, this was a lightning strike on our pole. Argued with me that hospital and police had to be taken care of first, I said funny we don't have a hospital in the whole county and the police have a backup generator and to please put your supervisor on the phone. Supervisor apologized and said I would get a $25 credit for a missed sevice agreement. I would have my phone back by Sunday since the serviceman in our area was booked. Sunday no phone. I call again and ask for a supervisor immediately. I give the name of the first supervisor and her extension, explain what is being told to me and that I don't appreciate the run around or being lied to. I ask if I'm getting another credit for a second missed service appointment and she says they can't do that. I told her fine I'm knocking off $25 anyway and I'm sending a letter explaining why with the next payment. She agreed to knock off another $25. Now Monday and still no phone so I call again and get someone from Customer Relations and in talking to her I asked why it takes 4 freaking (my exact word) days to get someone out and she started going off on me about cussing. So here goes another argument and I remind her this call may be monitored. My phone was back on an hour later, come to find out the guy who services our area is a friend of our landlord. No one called him until Monday at 2pm and he could have fixed it on the first day! I got $50 knocked of my bill.

and I was not polite when they sent me a survey and husband told them as much when they called to ask about the service.
I'm sure there is a big red flag next to my name in their computer files.

Cat
Cat

**frugalfranny** · 08-06-2009, 02:26 AM

Hey....consider yourself LUCKY that you got someone that spoke ENGLISH! I usually end up talking to someone in India or Africa......with a horrible accent!

My first question is ALWAYS.........WHERE have I called?