» Call Centres

I work in one.
Yeah, boo, hiss.
And apologies for forgetting who this was, but massive kudos to whoever said to just take a minute to think about the person on the other side for a minute.
Once you've been inconvenienced by this guy/gal and hung up after whatever period of time (I usually find people get bored/pressured after roughly 53 seconds), just remember that this person will now be reeling from yet another rejection, and is now starting the whole process again, sounding as cheerful as if someone had poured a glass of happy into their pants.
It gets better.
I work in officially the worst type of call centre.
Lies to get names.
Follow-up calls.
Cold calls.
Selling to people who have never even heard of your company, let alone deal with it before.
Now, don't get me wrong, I believe in our product, if I didn't then I would consider it the final straw and be out of there faster than OJ, but this in itself is a double-edged sword, as finding myself consistently lying about it, giving people limited info on the same script many times an hour, then expect them to spend X amount of money on it is just utter crap.
I dealt with a woman on Friday, lovely sounding, thick Indian accent, sounded interested in what I had to say, got all the way through my pitch (in half the speed, admittedly, understanding English was not one of her strong points - a little bit of a stumbling point for a customer services and purchasing manager, but I digress) as far as agreeing a sale, giving her the product reference numbers, dates of delivery etc, when she says 'hold on, I'm not buying anything am I?' - to which I remain as calm as possible, but find myself going on an inner tirade for the next 5 minutes which the BNP would be proud of.
Yes, that's right, my job has made me about 10% more racist.
Then I had to pick up the phone and do it all over again.
FML.
I have sold.
It's good commission.
But it is just utter horseshit.
Save me please.
(Mon 7th Sep 2009, 5:59, More)

» Rubbish Towns

*clears throat*
Margate.
Home town, every now and again there's a shabby attempt to capture its former glory as a seaside town.
Ignoring the fact that it's a scum-infested shithole with less character than a Tesco Value ready meal.

West Bromwich.
*shudder*

Borth.
West Bromwich-on-sea, or more clearly, caravan park in a swamp.

Coventry.
Hint: never go there thinking 'well surely it can't be THAT bad.'

Hook.
Yet to discover the point of this place.

Newcastle.
Not a bad place in itself, just totally wasted on the Geordies.

Having been to all of these places in my young life, I'm glad I can still recognize there is some beauty in the UK.

Just surrounded by utter toss.
(Mon 2nd Nov 2009, 12:48, More)