I do customer service and it is the worst. If any of you have worked in a call center you know exactly what I am talking about. For those who don’t know, here’s why:
Because we get treated like kids in elementary school
Though we don’t have a bell ringing anymore, we have phones with wonderful little tracking devices built into them. Your life revolves around the phone. As soon as you get to work, you type your code into the phone and it begins monitoring every minute of your day. One minute late and your “stats” are affected. Stats are basically grades. While good stats do not necessarily mean success and recognition for a job well done, bad stats mean your ass is in trouble. But how could they even think about firing you? No worries – there are 50 new people starting on Monday.
Because some idiot once said that the customer is always right
And some people actually believed said idiot. Let me tell you, the customer is definitively wrong 99% of the time. And of course when you try to help the customer, they either don’t understand or they’re already past the point of wanting their problem solved. In this case, the customer is just interested in telling someone how pissed off they are. My personal favorite is the customer who has a 5 minute problem and turns it into a 30 minute detailed examination of their personal life. Surely you have someone else in the world to talk to about your problems.
Because you are one boardroom meeting away from having your job outsourced
Our jobs could so easily be transferred to a 3rd world employee who will work a week for the amount you get paid in a day. And that employee will be damn happy to have the opportunity to be exploited. Never mind that the customers can not understand what they’re saying – hey, it’s a voice on the other end of the phone line. Most of the time, all that is needed is an ear to absorb the crap coming from the other end and the ability to grunt “mmm hmm” now and then. Now that I think about it, I guess we have some serious competition. I’m gonna start looking for a new shitty job as soon as I get home(at 3am). In short, my job sucks!
I have read the headline and thought “There are joys in working in customer support?” 😀 Have been doing that myself a few years ago, learned a lot from it and will definitely never do it again!
Especially when you have to deal with whining entitled overgrown brats who don’t understand you can’t pull out a magic wand and magically fix their problem. BUTTTT MOMMIE, DEY SAIS YOU’D FIX IT! WAHHH!
And they think a piece of stale candy is going to make up for the crap we have to go through.
seriously during covid – which part of call centers are being BOMBARDED with calls right now do callers NOT understand???!!
How is it a service agent’s fault when it takes you 55 minutes to connect with someone live??
I AM grateful to have a job – It doesn’t oblige me to LIKE abuse from callers
I recently quit my job at a call center and I can honestly say it was the worst job I’ve ever had. They had a serious problem with bullying within the company and with people phoning in. Callers think it’s okay to treat you like a piece of shit, scream at you and make you want to cry. The managers don’t care about how you feel or your mental health. You’re treated like you’re a robot, not a person with emotions.