I'm not a person of power
but I know a person who is...

Call centres.... you know who you are....

youve spent 10 minutes pressing selection after selection on the phone trying to get through to speak to a person, when you hear the phone connect - then instantly hangup.

That, my friends, is abuse of power....
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 17:40, 15 replies)

Call centre workers don't have power.
They have shifts and targets and wait-times and scripts and policies...
The reason some call centre workers aren't that helpful is because some call centres are run by arseholes.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Mon 12 Jul 2010, 17:59, closed)

^^^This^^^
To keep their supervisors happy, and their call handling time down, many call centre workers do a few quick hang-ups a day. It used to be easier but nowadays there are stats systems that can count the number of intentional hang-ups.
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Mon 12 Jul 2010, 21:58, closed)

I take a very unhealthy attitude to
call centers and the people in them.

To avoid losing my rag, I just remind myself that I am sitting at home, sipping a banana daquari trying to install my new colour laser printer onto my home network, while the monster on the other end of the phone is sitting in a room with 1,500 other people, having his piss break timed and earning 13 grand a year for it.

It's a terrible attitude. I do the same when a bus barges out on me on a Sunday afternoon. Yes, he got in front of me, but whose the one driving a bus on a Sunday afternoon?

I am ashamed of this, yet at the same time it could be worse - I could have this shitty attitude AND be a traffic warden.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 9:13, closed)

Sales drones I hate.
I've found hekpdesk-type call centre workers are generally very poor (and not resorting to deception as telesales droids do) or want to help but are bound by scripts.
For example: I called Cable & Wireless once because ther system wouldn't allow me to activate my broadband from a Linux system. The first guy I spoke to said something like "We don't support Windows linux.". But, when I aske why he couldn't just activate me anyhow, he replied "try calling back in a little while 'our system has problems'. It took a minute to realise it -- but calling back and simply asking for activation without mentioning Linux had me up and running.
Non-sales call centre staff are usually great, as long as you listen carefully.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 19:03, closed)

^^this, 1000%
People making decisions higher up who have never actually taken a call in their lives, asking the workforce to aim towards what they want you to do while not actually understanding the ramifications of their decision.

And then when the bog standard lacky tries implementing this decision into their routine and fails, the lacky is held responcible and dished out bollockings, disciplinaries and eventually a P45.

I'm sure I've oversimplified this, but essentially this is quite an accurate and repeating occurance.
( Jeccius Steam Borderlands 2 junkie, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 17:10, closed)

Alas
I have worked in a call centre. British Gas Electric Prepayment Meter Customer services, this was exactly how it worked.

Poeple would ring up complaining - yet we would HAVE to ask them if they would like to take out GAS with us aswell.

If we didnt ask those questions, or push for a sale on each call, it was a disaplinary. Even though we werent sales. We werent paid commision.
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 17:59, closed)

You think that's bad? Try It from my end, having to explain very simple concepts to people who assume that because they can't see me they can treat me like shit, or those who think you can phone, leave your phone on hold before any ones picked up then winge that you got hung up on.

The worst are the twats who can't be bothered with a menu, so press one and just expect to be transfered. I'm not a switch board, I don't know exactly which member of staff you were talking too by thier first name and for the love of fuck, when iasi you what softwear is playing up, don't just say the company name, we have many programs, we don't just call one by the company name!
(Mong goose, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 0:17, closed)

Shush it tech-serf.
Put me through to Dave, he knows what I'm talking about.
( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Tue 13 Jul 2010, 3:34, closed)

Bollocks, they've hung up on me again.
*Redials*
( stuj (^(^;;^)^) GO TEAM SPIDERS!(^(^;;^)^), Tue 13 Jul 2010, 3:41, closed)

So lets see...
I phone your company to get support, and whilst waiting for a Gods Age for someone to answer I put my own phone on hold to get myself a drink or snack to make myself comfortable but come back to find I've been hung up on. Thanks, now I have to wait even longer all because of some "target". I eventually get through only to be treated in a patronising manner about something I have difficulty understanding. That really makes me feel good about your company, no wonder I'm royally pissed off with you, the unseen monkey at the other end.

And honestly... who DOES like those menus? Starting off with one particularly vague set of options which leads you blindly down the wrong path with no means of return except to hang up and start again blindly down another route.

Who has absolute power? The cnuts who think that call centres are good for anyone - the phone monkeys, the customers, or even for their own bottom line.
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 7:10, closed)

I like those menus because when used properly they get me through to the right person and thus reduce the time I have to spend on the phone.
You see, I'm not a cunt.
(Vlad the Inhaler forgot his password, Wed 14 Jul 2010, 19:14, closed)

Actually, no
You are.
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Wed 14 Jul 2010, 21:41, closed)

Sky had a problem recently with that
Turns out that it was when in-house transferred to outsource departments; the in-house systems crashed and hung up the phone instead of transferring.
(Iggy Pop's Teeth, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 3:12, closed)

That's because SKY are a bunch of useless cunts who deserve to be plagued by monkeys
flying AIDS monkeys
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Tue 13 Jul 2010, 15:33, closed)

They should get rid of call centres
and just have people answering telephones. All in one big room. Wait....

I don't know what the average UK citizen experiences, but personally I think that I probably only speak to someone in a call centre on average about twice a year. That being the case, it always seems strange to me that people get so heated about them when they're nothing like as pervasive in our daily lives as some other even more annoying things.

In fact, the last time I called a call centre was to set up my Virgin Media broadband in March 2009.
(Vlad the Inhaler forgot his password, Wed 14 Jul 2010, 19:15, closed)