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bambino
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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\"i worked for a call centre contracted to do the retention and wasn't told that it was a sales job when i was hired...\"


Chillingly, this seems to be the norm in a number of workplaces now. Someone I know just got a job as a bank teller, which by my estimation involves taking money, giving money, and keeping records. But no, said banker must also deliver sales pitches to every account-holder, and if they don't meet a quota, they're terminated!

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AcidReign
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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.....Yeah. At my bank last time I made a paper deposit, I got a sales pitch from the teller. \"Sir, our records indicate that YOU DON'T HAVE OVERDRAFT PROTECTION! That's awful! We can help!\"

.....I told her that I had \"old-fashioned overdraft protection.\" Her eyes glazed over, and she mumbled a confused: \"what?\" I replied, \"I have $1500 in that account that I don't show on my check and deposit register.\" I thought her head was going to explode. She completely lost focus on my deposit, and asked, \"What if you write a check for over $1500?\" I answered glibly, \"If I do, you can bet it's for something really big, and I've double checked my balance, outstanding checks, and made sure to put money in to cover it!\" \"Oh.\" was her bewildered response. I had to ask for my deposit receipt.

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rubken
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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This sort of nonsense is unfortunately very common in large corporations. What generally seems to happen is that they spend truckloads of money on a consultancy process and don't talk to the staff at the coalface.

The consultancy's report and all those flowchart posters cost them thousands of pounds/dollars/yen/euros and the people who do the work make a pittance, therefore to listen to someone who could have helped you for free (or nearly free) would make you look like an idiot for spending all that money on the consultancy.

One of us is never as dumb as all of us.

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AKA
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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I, too, worked in a call center contracted by AOL, as a retention agent. I can also confirm the legitimacy of the manual, although some things have been updated in the two-and-a-half years since I left the company.

I was there when they implemented \"Member Connect\" in 2002, and if you think what you read in the manual was a steaming pile of horseshit, the original, 'we'll can your ass if you don't use it,' \"Member Connect\" greeting was \"Thank you for calling America Online. This is _______. How can I help you have an even better online experience today?\"

Once the customer stated that they wanted to cancel their account, the agent was to say, \"I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad I'm the one who got your call, because I'm going to do everything I can to help you today. Once again, my name is _______. May I have your name, please?\"

I saw many people get fired because they couldn't bring themselves to be cold and manipulative enough to maintain a 60% or better \"save rate.\"

I saw many people get fired because they refused to stick to an idiot script/callplan that was written by corporate bigwigs who probably never took a retention call in their lives.

I saw many people quit because their consciences got the better of them. Bravo to them.

I definitely feel for the customers who find it difficult to cancel their accounts, but I'd also like to point out the plight of the CSR, who, for the most part, is intimidated on a daily basis by their higher-ups to manipulate people into keeping something that, deep-down, we all know is an inferior product.

I can't tell you how many times my job was threatened because my save rate was in the 40s, or because I was caught not using the \"member connect\" callflow.

Taking AOL retention calls was one of the worst, most stressful fucking experiences I ever had to endure. Tums and I became very acquainted during my tenure with them.

I get a certain vindictive pleasure in the fact that AOL is so far in the toilet right now that its entire existence and role in the online world has had to be re-thought by the suits.

When I first started working fo the call center, the boast that AOL had 35 million members was constantly thrown around (although those numbers were certainly padded by including people who had inadvertently \"spun off\" a sub account with a deceptive AOL popup in the equation). Now they're struggling to regain any relevance they once had, and are looking to convert into an ad-supported service.

They brought it upon themselves.

Sorry. Rant over.

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