ORBITZ (in clipped, offshore-outsourced call-center perfect English diction): Mr. Popken, is this a business trip?
BEN: Yes.
ORBITZ: What business are you in, Mr. Popken?
BEN: I'm a blogger.
ORBITZ: What is a "blogger?"
BEN: Someone who blogs. Heh. It's a special kind of website with lots of posts arranged in reverse chronological order.
ORBITZ: I see.
Long silence.
ORBITZ: So you are like Perez Hilton?

BEN: Sure, we're both bloggers. But we write about different subjects.
ORBITZ: Do you write about celebrities?
BEN: Ah, no, I write about customer service and consumer affairs. So watch out!
ORBITZ: I always deliver an excellent customer service experience every time so I have nothing to fear from any blogger.
BEN: That's excellent.
ORBITZ: How am I doing so far?
BEN: Great, you're doing a great job.
ORBITZ: Thank you for that compliment, Mr. Popken.
BEN: Anytime.

(Photo: Getty)

The Americans would beg and plead with the Filipinos to not unblock the account, and over and over again they would. Says our insider, "if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime." It's not the outsourced place's fault, though. They're just following orders. It's whoever designed the laminated binder they were blindly following that should really be held accountable. Read the whole messed-up story below.

Our insider writes:

A guy calls up on the direct number, his voice is distinctive: deep, but nasal, like he has a cold. I ask for his name and account number. He tells me his name but says he doesn't have his card with him. Step two: I ask for his social security number. He "ums" and "uhs" for a second and I'm certain I hear a faint rustling of papers in the background. The number he gives me isn't linked to any account on file. As soon as I tell him this, he hangs up. It was odd, but I wrote it off. Calls came at a snails pace and it wasn't unusual to have 20 minutes in between them. So when a couple of minutes later I got another one, it was strange. Once again it was a call from the direct number. I ask for name and number and the voice is strikingly similar. The name he gives is different but again he has no number. I ask for the SSN and again I can hear papers rustling while he stalls. This time an account pops up. He fails verification of the mother's maiden name and immediately hangs up. By this point I'm laughing about it with my co-workers because he seems such an inept thief. As the nights go on, we start to get more calls from him. I say "we" because this was the only call center that the phone number goes to and there were only about 15 of us on staff at any given time. He had the same mannerisms for every interaction and it became such that as soon as any of us got one of these calls we immediately put him on hold (usually making up some innocent sounding excuse) and tried to put him through to security. The problem with the Philippine security department quickly became apparent.

The US security department had access to LexisNexis. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a encyclopedia of everybody's life. Previous addresses, family member's names, jobs, schools, anything and everything that could be linked to your name and/or social security number. As an example of how incredibly (and frighteningly) thorough it is, when my now 30 year old brother was a tot, he liked to respond to junk mail with a fake name; this fake name came up as a former occupant of my parent's address when I got a chance once to do a search on myself (we had it in collections). Chase didn't trust the Philippine department to have it though. In fact, the only information they had the ability to verify was what was on the account: name, social security number, mother's maiden name, and recent purchases if they felt like being that diligent.

Here's the part of the story where some poor guy's account get's completely f-ed. This thief had been bounced to the out-sourced to security so often that he must have made a check list of any possible questions they would ask him. Through whatever means, he managed to get the answers to these questions. Now when he called, he could give us the information we were asking for, but by this point we knew his voice so well that we still tried to get him to security. It worked like this: We put him on hold and dial the extension for security. We get a security rep and start to explain the situation; we tell them he was able to give the right information, but that we know is the same guy that's been calling for weeks and we are certain he is not the account holder. They begrudgingly take the call. Minutes later another one of us gets a call from a security rep saying they are giving us a customer who has been cleared by them. And here the thief was back in our department. For those of us who had come to know him, the fight waged on night after night.

Chase is a revolving door. If you work there longer than a year, you're considered to have seniority. The few of us who knew this account was being raped could do nothing to protect it. Some newbie wouldn't know about the situation and would let the thief have his way with the account. The US security department became aware of the issue and put blocks on the account as well as incredibly long notes that explicitly said to not remove the block for any reason at any time. But sure enough, over and over, the guy would call in overnight, talk to the out-sourced security, and the block would be removed. Again, they were only able to verify with him with information that he was already known to have, yet that never seemed to deter them from clearing him.

Things got quiet for a while, and we thought maybe he'd finally been stopped from unblocking the account. Turns out that he'd actually been caught, but only after more than $40,000 in fraudulent charges on this one account. I cannot stress enough that if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime.

I wish I could this was the only time I saw the security department failing at securing an account. There was a consistent problem with the overt cultural difference. A man calls in and says he's the cardholder "Angela" and you find yourself trying to explain to security that Angela isn't a man's name and the odds of it really being his name are slim. And they just see it as cut and dry: He says he's Angela, so he must be.

To be fairer than Chase deserves, I'll note that I've been out of there for almost two years, so it's quite possible that it's all ponies and rainbows now. I'm gonna go ahead and assume though that it's run as poorly as ever.

(Photo: brycej)

The article says,

McDonald's began trying the idea four years ago in Illinois and Missouri. Out-sourcing drive-through order workers began in Hawaii two years ago. Recently it has expanded.

KITV went to one drive-through Wednesday and found the company is still working out the kinks. At the Keeaumoku Street McDonald's, the people taking drive-through orders were in another time zone. "I am currently talking to you from El Paso, Texas, sir," the drive-through operator said.

KITV asked the Texas call-takers if they are having a difficult time understanding people from Hawaii. "We've been out here for about seven months, so it kind of takes me a while just to understand," the worker said.

The long-distance call-takers send back the orders to the restaurant via the Internet. There the restaurant employees take the cash and hand over the food.

We suppose that fast food is meant to be fast, so if the system works then why not? Who hasn't been to a drive-thru that could have benefited from a little more speed and accuracy?

McDonald's Using Out-Of-State Workers For Drive-Through [KITV] (Thanks to Gregg!)
Many Hawaii McDonald's Drive-Throughs Use Workers In Texas [KITV]
(Photo: Getty)

Loathe the outsourced customer service reps on the Washington Mutual phone lines? Just ask for a US-banker, says one WaMu insider:

Everyone here at customer service I know where I work HATES the outsourced bankers.. not only are they stealing our jobs, they cannot think outside the box, sometimes they cant even speak properly, and they CONSTANTLY fudge up peoples accounts, but management seems to keep hiring more! Cheap crap labor. We in the supervisor teams are always having to clean up after their mistakes, and sometimes there isn't anything we can do, such as reopen a debit card they accidentally closed as being lost or stolen, and the customer gets the full force of their incompetence. The only time I see that coming from US bankers is when they are in training and that's it. And of course the customers hate them too.

Always ask for a US banker if you get through to customer service. When a Philippines banker is asked to transfer to a US banker it goes to a supervisor and it costs more to hire more supervisors, so if more people do that... imagine the message management will get.

Cool. I didn't even know you could ask for a US-banker. As a Washington Mutual customer, this is definitely a tip I will be using in the future. Probably works for other banks, too.

(Photo: Maulleigh)

How long can a company continue to "investigate" what's obviously a failed download before they credit your account? For Xbox Live Marketplace, the answer is 2 months, 2 weeks, and counting. Every attempt Joe makes at resolving the issue lands him in a customer service purgatory from which no solution can ever escape. Joe writes, "The problem is that there is no recourse for the customer in a situation where this actually does happen. Microsoft took my money before my product was transferred to me. The transfer then failed to take place. It is no fault of my own and there is nothing I can do about it." Read Joe's full account below.

I recently attempted to purchase Ninja Gaiden Black from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Recently is used loosely here, as the original “purchase” took place on February 23th 2008.  After forking over $15 in Microsoft points, I sat and waited for my download to reach completion. This never happened. Progress reached 7% then the download disappeared from my queue without manifesting an error message.  A second attempt gave me the same result. This was a job for Xbox Live Customer Support. Here is a recap of my experience with those wonders of the customer service industry…
   
2/23 I pay money for Ninja Gaiden Black. My download fails at 7% on multiple attempts. Xbox Live Customer Support is emailed, as it is too late to contact the call center.

2/24: I call Xbox Live Support. We attempt troubleshooting. Nothing works. Later in the day I receive a reply from Support via email. An excerpt: This is a known issue that occurs with certain ISPs that perform specific types of network optimizations. Some network optimization processes can cause certain larger Marketplace files not to download. Examples of large files may also extend to content that is found in the Video Marketplace area.  (full email is attached)

2/25: I called Xbox Live Support. More troubleshooting is attempted none of which remedies the situation. I am told I will receive a callback in approximately one week, after they‘ve looked into the problem on their end. After we discuss the email I received from Xbox, I am also told to contact my ISP(Comcast) to see if the problem is originating from their end.

—Every call from here on out is escalated to a manager at some point—
—Also, in this time period, I contact Comcast. They monitor my connection for any abnormality that may cause this download to fail. None are found and I am assured that they aren’t actively doing anything that would interfere with it—

3/9: Never received a callback, so I contacted Xbox. I was told that there was no callback scheduled for my issue. More troubleshooting; no success. I am again told I will receive a callback.

3/23: Again, I did not receive a callback. I am told that the issue is “under investigation”.  I refuse any troubleshooting attempt, as I have already spent approximately 4 hours on the phone at this point. I believe this is the first time I mention wanting a refund. I am told the issue is now “under investigation with upper management”. I am told I will receive a callback in three days or less.

3/28: I did not receive a callback. I contact support and tell them I want a refund of my Xbox points. Not a credit to my credit card, just a refund of the points which are only valid currency on Xbox Live. The idea isn’t completely dismissed given the circumstances, but first the results of their investigation must be known. I am told that upper management is still investigating and I should try back in the near future to check.

4/7: I call Xbox Live Customer support. There is no further information available. I tell them that at this point, I really just want the points back. After going back and forth with management for some time I am told that the support call center does not have the ability to refund my points, but they have forwarded it to their tech department, who actually can do that. I am told to keep an eye on my points because a refund is on the way.(success!!!)

4/19: No refund is ever made. I call Xbox Live Customer support. They don’t acknowledge that I was promised a refund of my points. I get heated, but am still somehow under control. I am told there is no further information available and it is still under investigation. I tell the manager that I feel completely helpless and that this is an indictment of the reliability of the Xbox Live marketplace at large. I tell him I am emailing The Consumerist. However, I am too lazy to do so.

5/9: I directly call the Xbox Escalation Support line. The initial call center worker sounds very helpful. He seems to actually be concerned about the terrible service I have received and seems to be working for a resolution to come about today.  I am put on hold while he talks with management. He tells me he is going to transfer me to an upper level department that can help me. I am put on hold while he explains the situation to this mysterious high-level department within Microsoft. He then gets on the phone and transfers me to…..THE CALL CENTER IN INDIA. The very same place I have called SEVEN times previously and who’ve told me the same thing for the past two months. To her credit, this particular call center worker did have some skills. She danced around for a few minutes before finally giving me the same line I’ve heard so many times before: “I’m sorry, this is under investigation with upper management. I have no further information at this time.” Eventually, I am transferred to her manager, which is one of the managers I spoke with a few weeks ago.  After some futile discussion, I am told that the issue is being investigated and I will receive a callback. He couldn’t give me any type of timeframe for when I should expect my call. I actually email The consumerist.

Some Notes:
It is noteworthy that at the bottom of the description for Ninja Gaiden Black, it states “THERE ARE NO REFUNDS FOR THIS PRODUCT”.  The thing is, I did not receive a product for which a refund could be given. This is the equivalent of me walking into Bestbuy, picking up a copy of Ninja Gaiden, paying for it at the register, then the cashier refusing to give me the game and refusing to give me a refund.

The size of the file has come up as a possible problem. It’s 5.9GB, pretty big for Live. I’ve made it a point to download several large Demos and also rented a movie to test out my ability to receive products via Live. Several of these downloads were near 2GB and they all came through without incident.

The email I received stated that this is a known issue, but no one I’ve spoken to at customer support seems to be aware of any pattern of cases similar to this one.

In the earlier calls to customer support, they acknowledged that they could see on their end that the download did not complete. They haven’t done that in the last few and it came up today that, more than likely, what is actually under investigation is whether or not I somehow got the game and am now trying to claim that I didn’t.

I have spent in excess of  6 hours on the phone over this. (It’s not the money. I am a man of principle and I am not giving a massive corporation like Microsoft money for nothing.)

I have checked several message boards to see if this has happened to anyone else and I can’t find anything. It seems to be exceptionally rare.

The problem is that there is no recourse for the customer in a situation where this actually does happen. Microsoft took my money before my product was transferred to me. The transfer then failed to take place. It is no fault of my own and there is nothing I can do about it.

That’s why I’m writing this. The ability to purchase games and videos directly through Xbox Live seems like a great idea on the surface and when it works it is very convenient. However, this is a relatively new form of commerce. When you make a purchase on Live, beware of the fact that if something goes wrong with your download and troubleshooting doesn’t help; there is no effective protocol in place for them to resolve the issue. Xbox already has your money and as far as they are concerned that means the transaction is complete.

Oh yeah, and if you want to play GTA IV on Tuesday when I’m scheduled to get my system back from the repair center, my Gamertag is Tackleberrie. Be gentle though. My ‘box broke 4 days before GTA came out so, I don’t know the ropes yet.

Thank you for your time.  

By contrast, when we rented a movie through our Tivo using Amazon's Unbox download service and it failed to arrive in one piece, Amazon investigated and resolved the issue in less than 48 hours, and that was over a weekend. They looked at our account, confirmed we weren't able to download the file, and adjusted the account accordingly. Joe isn't asking for special treatment—he just wants to either have his points to spend, or have a product in exchange for points. Please, Microsoft, finish your "investigation" and quit jerking Joe around.

(Photo: Getty Images)

KarmaChameleon wrote:

The way most systems in call centers are set up, you can't have multiple screens open to view info, so writing things down is a necessity if you don't want to have to keep clicking back and forth between workflows. I can't imagine the nightmare it would have been working at Chase and not being able to write things down when working accounts.

PREVIOUSLY: Tmobile Forbids Use Of Paper and Pens In Call Center
(Photo: Getty)

An insider reports that a Tmobile call center has outlawed customer service reps having pens and paper out in the open. According to our source, the outsourced Business Care facility in Sarnia, Ontario is concerned about reps making off with data. Pens, paper, pencils are not to be left out on the work areas. If they are used, they must be put back inside the desk and locked after use. This has "made life considerably less pleasant for them...There are a number of reps who write faster than they type, so they use a notepad as a sort of buffer." Even photographs and other paper items on cubicle walls will have to be laminated to insure they're not used as illegal writing surfaces. The tipster says Startek-run call center is conducting an audit today to insure compliance with all of its new, policies. It's a good thing that no one working at Tmobile might have access to a small electronic device capable of data input and transmission.

I've heard anecdotal evidence of increased numbers of heart attacks at call centers due to stress, but here's a local new story from WYFF so now you know it's true:

"She was sitting at her desk and all of a sudden, 'bam,' her head hit the keyboard on the computer and she was gone," another former co-worker said. Young's daughters said they believe job stress caused their mother to have a fatal heart attack at the call center last year. "She said every day, that she was going to drop dead at her desk, it was so stressful," Beth Young said. "She did. That's exactly what happened."

EMS has been called to this Verizon call center six times in three months, with chest pains being the most frequent reason. So the lesson here is to be nice to you customer service rep. They'll probably help you out more, anyway.

Sometimes, Good Jobs Can Have Dangerous Effects [WYFF] (Thanks to Christy!)

(Photo: Getty)

"I am a tech support supervisor for a very well known computer company. (If you must know, this company is notoriously secretive. I think that's a big enough clue.) I felt the need to respond to the "7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep" article you ran with some insights of my own.

I also started near the beginning of a new call center that was supporting three different product lines for said computer company. Customer service was stressed over and over and over again. I've been with the call center for about 5 months, but I've worked in other non-call center positions with the company since 2002. I thought someone needed to shed light on the fact that the seven confessions are not the exception to the rule — they ARE the rule in most cases when it comes to tech support call centers.

This particular call center is all "Tier" (or Level) one support. Within this center, we have Quality Assurance to monitor the agent calls in-house. If necessary, these Tier 1 agents escalate difficult calls to Tier 2 — which can be anywhere in the world. It will almost never be the same person twice.

You're not going to speak to someone's actual supervisor
There is a specific, direct queue line to "Supervisor Requests" for our agents. I don't know why most people think they will actually speak to the support agent's actual supervisor. We're too busy answering technical questions for the agents (regardless of the fact that they have many more resources to find these answers than we do), sitting in worthless status meetings, and reporting to corporate and/or operations about the metrics of our agents. These supervisor requests go to specifically trained Tier 2 agents who spend 90% of their time calming down irritated customers. It is a great perk as a supervisor to know that there are specifically trained agents out there to take the "angry customer" calls so I can actually get work done.

Metrics Rule EVERYTHING
We have very specific goals that we have to enforce as supervisors. 99% of our job (and job security) relies on our ability to keep our statistics within specifications. Handle time is 15 minutes or below at our call center as well, but with a hitch — if it is TOO far below 15 minutes, we also need to be able to reason with our supervisor why we know *for sure* that the agent is not just dropping the calls to keep handle time low. It's a delicate balance, as I'm sure you can imagine. It's the same with after call work — it needs to be below 1.5 minutes.. but if it's TOO low, then we have to be able to answer the questions that arise from that. Moral of the story? Don't over-perform, and don't under-perform and your supervisor will love you — because he/she will not have to answer to his/her supervisor. Quality Assurance AND supervisors are required to monitor calls — supervisors must listen to calls twice per shift (which is nearly impossible). Yes, agents hate this, but wouldn't if they would just do their jobs.

You're on hold so long because agents are ducking their work
To make metrics (and schedule adherence) agents do terrible things, like dropping calls, and something we refer to as AUX-hopping. This means that agents switch between various auxiliary codes (break, after call work, etc.) to not have to take as many calls. What does this mean to the customer in the queue waiting? You now have to wait longer because some nineteen year old punk doesn't feel like taking as many calls as the guy next to him. Now everyone else in all the call centers worldwide for this product have reduced time between calls, and calls in the queue back up even further. It's irritating for everyone involved.

Customer service skills are more important than tech skills, here's why
The tech support agent was correct. In management, we believe it is easier to teach anyone technical support than it is to teach common courtesy. Sure, we could hire only applicants with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from an Ivy League school, but call centers typically employ college students, retirees, and those with a less-than-stellar academic background. Bottom line is, it doesn't matter how well educated you are; we're going to pay you x amount. "But I have a BS in CS from (enter university here)!" That's fine, you can take the x amount or find another job. Our agents do not use scripts — we give them between two to three weeks of training (depending on the product) and then they take it from there. The bottom line is that "techie" people do not want to work for so little — so we hire people who will and make do with what we have. Even the "techie" agents can be some of the rudest, or most lacking in common sense (ie: don't scream at the customer).

Our QA department does not seem as bad as Verizon's. Mostly, they coach agents on ways to show empathy with the customer, how to obtain information without violating privacy policies, etc. Not one agent here has been let go because they did not use the right "buzzword." I guess that's the difference between call centers who use a script, and those who don't.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Are GOSPEL
This is the number one way that management can evaluate an agent's performance. While our agents are not required to use a certain phrase, or even mention the customer survey, each customer receives one via email after a case is completed for them. They are rated from "Very Dissatisfied" to "Very Satisfied," and as a manager — nothing makes my job easier than telling my boss that all my agents have "Very Satisfied" on all their surveys. I know it is not the usual to fill out the survey or ask the agent to talk to a supervisor when you have received excellent service, but in our call center — that's our bread and butter. Those surveys help to determine who gets promoted, who gets fired, and who gets special perks (best shifts, days off, etc.).

The Verizon agent was also correct in saying that polite customers, even if upset, are more likely to get helped. Those customers are even more likely to get the above-and-beyond service, so please keep that in mind.

-Anonymous"

RELATED: 7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

(Photo: hanapbuhay)

"Dear Consumerist,

I started near the beginning of a new center that was taking care of business DSL Technical Support and when the job started it was a great job. We were greatly encouraged to take care of our customers and technical knowledge was second to none. I spent around 2 years working for the company and multiple help positions.

The center was made up of several different departments. These included Level 2 Technical Support, Level 3 Technical Support, Business Intelligence, Quality and Management. Furthermore Level 3 Technical support was further divided into Business Order Status, Supervisor Take Over, Ticket Management, Outage and Presidential Appeals. Additionally Level 2 Technical Support also had a separate division for "High Care" customers, and eventually Premium Technical Support would join the team. The hierarchy of people that the customer will ever deal with is only two tiers. You call in and talk to a Level 2 agent, however if there is a requirement you may eventually speak to a Level 3 and if you are really persistent you may get the privilege of speaking to an actual supervisor.

7. The Supervisor You're Talking To Is Not Actually A Supervisor
My first confession on the list is about the Escalations department, which never used to exist. When the center first opened and a customer would demand to talk to a supervisor, they would actually end up talking to a supervisor. This created problems however ranging from supervisors who would dodge taking calls from customers to supervisors who were overwhelmed with customers and could not do any of their actual work. The solution was to create a department of agents to handle the issue, and this is not all bad. One of the major problems when supervisors would take over calls is that almost none of the supervisors had any technical knowledge and were virtually unable to assist the customer in any way unless the customer was only looking to vent about their experience or in some cases give kudos to outstanding service. There are approximately 10-15 "supervisors" for each center to handle the escalation calls now. Each of these agents has their own direct phone number which they can give out to the customer. There is a standard external number that the customer must call, then they are prompted for a password (4-6 digits long and changes monthly) then they are asked to enter the extension of the supervisor, or they may press 0 to get the first available supervisor. When the team first started they were allowed to a lot to help the customer, sadly their privilege to help with stuck orders or technicians who didn't show up were eventually removed. Things may change in the future but unfortunately the supervisors are bound to the same support boundaries as the normal Level 2 Technical Support Agents, and in most cases are unable to assist the customer any further.

6. The Metrics That Rule Our Lives

• Handle Time (15 min): During an 8 hour shift, the agent must achieve an average handle time of 15 minutes. This timer starts from the time the agent hears a beep in their headphone to notify them that the call has started to the time they set themselves as ready to take another call. When I worked there we had a lot of calls where the customer simply got to the wrong department so this was normally an easy metric to meet.


• Hold Time (2-3 min): If for any time the agent puts you on hold, they are supposed to only leave you on hold for no longer than 2 minutes (it used to be 3 min). After that time they are supposed to pick up the phone again and refresh you as to what is going on. Also a note here is the customer is supposed to put you on hold and not simply mute their phone. This was a common tactic used by agents to dodge the hold timer. If you're speaking to an agent and they put you on hold and you hear silence and no music. They likely have you on mute and not hold, and additionally they can hear everything your saying at that time, when you're on hold they cannot hear you.


• Quality (88%): Every Agent is supposed to be graded approximately 2x a week on their calls. This is the metric that most agents hate the most and I will touch more on this later.

5. In order to meet their 15 min handle time, agents have simply transferred the customer back into the queue to talk to another agent and tried to make it look like it was a phone problem.
Agents have just hung up on customer/disconnected their phone, or told the customer that they need to go to another department and then transfer the customer there. It is sad that this happens but unfortunately if you cannot meet your metrics then you will do this.

4. Customer Service Is More Important Than Technical Ability
I was told by someone in management that the mentality was it was far easier to train someone in technical support than customer service. Now my personal view on this is that it is just cheaper/easier for them to hire anyone off the street and give them a month of training on how to follow a script to fix a customer's problem than hire people with actual technical background. The problem this creates is a barrage of customers whom are fed up with the lack of technical knowledge the support staff has. Verizon did however introduce a solution to this problem; Premium Technical Support.

3. "Premium" Technical Support Means They Had 1 More Week Of Training
Now first off I want to say, Premium Technical Support is an awesome service in the fact that they are not under the same pressure as the normal Level 2 Agents. They do have more technical ability then the level 2 agents; however there are no real requirement for certification to get the position and the training is only a week above the normal technical support.

2. "Quality," The Department Everyone Hates
The sad fact is, even if you go above and beyond, assist the customer in every way and have an amazing rapport with the customer you can still utterly fail your quality which means you can in turn lose your job if you keep failing. Some of the fun tidbits from quality include the agent must say the customer's name three times throughout the call. They must review what they have done with the customer, use the "outstanding" verbiage, brand Verizon and they can also ding you for little things like saying "tech" instead of "technical" here. This sadly is where a vast amount of talented technical support agents were lost. They worked great with customers, got issues solved but didn't do the little things and it ultimately ended their careers working for Verizon.

1. We Must Implant The Word Outstanding In Customer Brain's To Score Higher On Satisfaction Surveys
This is something I always found hilarious, and I am not even entirely sure if they still do it, but agents are required to mention at the end of the call something along the lines of "I hope I've provided you with outstanding service today", the stress always being on the word Outstanding. Now why is this you ask? Well Verizon contracts out a company to call back customers who have recently called into Technical Support and perform a survey about the service they received. The customer is supposed to rate the service from "poor" to "outstanding". So basically they want to embed that word in your mind so that you rate them higher.

Tips/Funny/Random Thoughts:


• A repair ticket that was dispatched out to the customers location was closed with the notes left "Technician had a gun pulled on him area is unsafe closing ticket"


• 1-888-427-1405 (Business Customers Only) - This is the phone number that we would use to call internal departments. The only real difference from this number and the one provided to the customer is instead of having to talk to the IVR and have it ultimately mess up where you want to go, you are given simple number prompts for where you want to go.
  o 1 - Technical Support
  o 2 - Billing
  o 3 - Used to be sales
  o 4- Cancellations/Retention


• The most angry and vulgar customers are the least likely to get helped. When dealing with customer support please try to explain your frustration in a civilized manner, and be persistent if you need to. Just remember swearing and insulting us only gets you put on the back burner.


• Technical Support is open 24/7/365, and they are the only department that is.

This is all my personal opinion on my time I spent at Verizon and I hope that it has given you some insight as to what it is like to be on the other side of the phone.

-Anonymous"

(Photo: Getty)

If you don't use your Juniper iTunes Rewards VISA (issued by Barclay's) for an entire year, they close the card and report to the credit agencies that you requested to close it. I've learned that when I called to inquire about a lower rate on 2/26, the agent canceled my account.

I called the main 800 back and was told that I had indeed requested the account be closed when a lower APR was not available. I firmly but politely insisted that I did not request to close my credit card. The CSR then told me that if I used "that kind of language" she would have to disconnect me. I then asked her what we could do to fix the situation. She placed me on hold and I was disconnected.

I called back and after explaining the situation to the 2nd CSR, she became very curt and informed me that the notes on my account said that "words had been exchanged." —--? I apologized and asked if I could reactive my account without a hit on my credit. I was placed on hold and disconnected.

After calling back a third time, I was told that my account was active and the CSR had no record of it being deactivated.

I faxed a complaint to BBB of Delaware, the state agency that regulates banks in Delaware, and a couple fax numbers I found on Google.

Convergys chief executive David Doughtery told analysts "most notably we're being hurt today in Canada and we are taking action to close centres there and move work to other geographies." Many of the Canadian jobs will likely go to the Philippines and possibly India..

Execs share scary thoughts for scary times [The Ottawa Citizen via ConvergysSucks]

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your reply.

I apologize for the inconvenience that you have faced due to discount on the sero plan.

The provided information in the previous interaction is correct that sero is already a discounted plan so, no discount can be added with this plan.

However I have forwarded your concern to the concerned department. If some resolution will be there then we will be happy to inform you.

Vicky R.
E-Care
Sprint

Mr. Operations Manager with last name Changco ( previous from Sykes! Anybody know him? ) is always in the habit of sleeping on the floor during work time and could care less if others, especially his agents, see him on the floor dozing off to Lala-land. My friend says he also has a penchant of passing his deliverables to his subordinates while he comfortably takes his shut-eye. He also reminds the poor agents to submit the reports to him instead of his boss supposedly so he can take credit for the agents' work! Ang sabi pa "Ang dali lang pala nito!" Nyahaha!

Verizon OM Caught Sleeping On The Floor! [The Call Center Blogger]

Lona writes:

"Keep in mind, please, that these rules require that you keep a calm, even head, or at least the appearance and sound of one, and you must have the audacity not to ASK for anything. You will be rude, and you will seem to have entitlement issues. But you will get the job done.

Here are the basic guidelines. The longer and more often you end up doing this, you will find yourself using your own language and tricks. Eventually, you will be able to determine within a few seconds whether the person you have on the phone is the correct person to speak to.

If all of this fails and you happen to be female, try asking a male relative or friend to do it, following the same steps. It sounds wrong, but people respond to voices, and in today's society, a male voice will sometimes go farther. I am female, however, and if you have a strong enough tone and voice, in most cases, you won't need to resort to that.

1. Always maintain a calm, collected tone
Keep your voice even, keep your tone low, and do not lose your temper. If you find yourself getting upset, place the person on hold for a moment, take a slow, deep breath, and pick the phone back up. If they have hung up on you, mention it when you call back.

2 . Before you call, outline the situation for yourself, and decide how you want it solved
Write down several options you would be willing to accept, and keep the page in front of you when you call.

3. Always get the name of the person who answered the phone, even if you speak to them for only a moment
Write the name down, as well as any other person you connect to. Keep notes of who said what.

4. When you get a CSR on the phone, immediately ask to speak to a supervisor
When/if they insist that they can help you, keeping your tone low and even, state again that you need to speak to a supervisor. Not want, need. If they again insist, state in a clear and calm, low tone, that they WILL connect you to a supervisor, now. Do not yell, shout, or raise your voice or tone. "No. You are going to get a supervisor for me. Thank you. I'll wait." Say "thank you" immediately. Do not wait for them to answer your request first. If they again insist, hang up immediately. Call back. If you get the same person, make the request again, and if they again refuse, hang up, wait one hour for a shift change, and then call back. Do not give the initial person your name. They do not need it.

5. Once you are connected with a supervisor, introduce yourself, and then inform the person that you have a situation that they are going to fix
Do not say "that you need to fix" or "that I want fixed" or "that I need fixed." You know they will fix it. "I have a situation that you are going to fix for me today. I appreciate your patience." If they say they will try, state again that you're sure they will fix it for you. "No, you'll fix it. Don't worry." Reassure THEM. It will confuse them enough that they will allow you to explain your situation.

6. Explain your situation in a calm, even tone. Do not pause for them to respond until the entire situation/story has been told
Simply tell it as if you are dictating a letter. Once the entire situation has been explained, do not pause. Immediately give them the first option of how it should be fixed, in a simple, declarative sentence. "...this is the situation as it stands at this moment, and the reason I am calling. So what you will be doing for me today is..." or "..so what we need to do today is..."

7. If the supervisor insists that your solution is outside of policy, ask for the full policy
Do not accept "It's just not policy to do this." You want a full description of the policy. This does not mean twenty pages, faxed. A simple description of the section they feel affects your situation is what you need from them. IF they again simply say "It isn't policy to __", you say "That isn't a policy. What, exactly, is your policy in this situation?" If they refuse to give you the policy, ask for their supervisor, or a corporate number - if you choose to or must call corporate, refer to *A - however, this will most likely not be necessary. If they give you the policy, continue to step 8.

8. Listen carefully to the policy, then scan your list for solutions that fall within it
If none of your solutions fall within their policy, inform them of your viable choices, and ask them how they are going to solve your problem. Do not ask if they will. Ask how. "So, how are we going to resolve this issue?" not "Isn't there anything you can do?" or "there must be something you can do." There is always something they can do. Do not ask. It is fact. If they inform you that there is nothing they can do, again ask for their supervisor or a corporate number.

9. At this point the person should be working with you for a solution. Continue to keep a calm tone until you reach an acceptable solution
Be sure to refer to the person by name at least twice, to make sure they know you remember it. If they say they will call back, ask for their direct line. If they do not have one, again ask for their supervisor or a corporate number.

10. You SHOULD now have a solution
Write down the details, making sure to read it back to the person on the other end of the line, and make sure to repeat their name, as well as writing it next to the solution that has been reached. If it is not an immediately solvable problem (returns, or delivery, etc) get a time estimate. "And this will be here by....". You can, at this point as well, ask for a direct line, in case you have issues and need to speak to them again. Then thank them for their time and hang up.

11. If longer than the specified time goes past and the solution has not gone into effect, call the same number and ask for the person by name
If this person is unavailable or does not exist (there is always the chance) go back through your notes and ask for the person you spoke to immediately previous. Throughout this conversation remember to keep your tone calm and even. If the person you spoke to is unreachable, again, ask for a supervisor, and then immediately ask that supervisor for a corporate number. If the supervisor offers to help you, you may either attempt to work with this person, or simply call corporate.

*A - Calling Corporate

12. Keep your tone even. Introduce yourself immediately and ask to speak to a person who can solve your problem
Use those words. "Hello, my name is ___. I have an issue. Please connect me to someone who can solve it today."

13. When you are connected, introduce yourself again. Repeat step 6
More than likely, the person you are speaking to will either do what you've suggested, or will offer an alternative. At this point, if you continue to follow these basic guides, you should reach a solution fairly quickly. Remember to continue to escalate until you reach someone who will solve your problem.

This works even if the problem is not your own. This works even if the problem is not your own, and you are dealing with the infamous Best Buy. I have a success story to share now.

Currently living with me is my sister-in-law. She moved from Texas. A year or so before she moved to California, there was an issue with her computer. Her parents are fairly computer illiterate, but had purchased the PC as a gift for her, and therefore did it on their own. They purchased a floor model, and were not informed, and did not know to ask, that the OS disk was not included. They were not informed that they would need to make a boot disk themselves, and neither was my sister.

Six months later, my sister's computer ran out of space, and she followed the on-screen instructions to free some up, running Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup removed essential files from the OS, causing the computer to brick. A full re-install was necessary. She called Best Buy and they told her it would cost over $100 to reload the computer. She called me in a panic, as she and her parents were living off her father's Army pension at the time and could not afford the fee.

I called the Best Buy store's direct number, and asked to speak to a manager. I was told none was there. I waited one hour, and called back. This time I got Jose. I introduced myself and let him know that I was calling on behalf of a friend that was having an issue, and thanked him for solving it for me today. I then explained to him that my friend had been given a computer without an OS disk, and now needed to reload the computer, but had been told it would cost quite a bit of money. He informed me that she was told when the computer was purchased that she needed to create a boot disk. I informed him that she was not, and that he would need to reload the computer without charge. He said he could not do that. I calmly pointed out that it is very bad policy to charge a customer for something he should never have done in the first place, and that the operating system was sold with the computer, and since the disk was not included, we basically had two options available to us - he could either issue her a free copy of Windows XP, or reload the computer free of charge. I asked him which solution he felt would be best for her. He told me that they could do neither, and I asked him how he would be solving it. He asked me to hold for a moment, then came back on the line, and told me to have her come in, and he would take care of it.

I called my sister and gave her Jose's name and told her to ask for him directly once in the store, because he would be taking care of her problem. She and her mother went, and he met them. Again, they were informed that it would cost to reload the computer. The exact charge came to $97.53 with taxes. In a panic, my sister called me, and I told her that he was not going to charge her. She said he was. I asked her to put him on the phone.

Here's the clincher - when faced with having to speak to me again, he quickly changed his mind and offered an acceptable solution to the problem: he would issue them a gift card for the exact amount, and they would use that to pay for the service. We all agreed to the terms, and he came back exactly two minutes later with a gift card for the exact charge, and handed it to the cashier.

At no point did I yell, or in any way raise my voice. I did not threaten him, or mention lawyers or the business bureau. I simply informed him of what he would be doing, and he did it. While it took a bit of reinforcement, eventually he did come up with a solution that was both within his policy, and right by the consumer. This is not a 'talent', it is a skill, and by following these steps you can usually avoid the horrific experiences many consumers have.

Not to mention gain a wonderful story. My sister tells it to anyone we meet who is having consumer issues similar to hers.

I hope this helps at least one person. You will really be amazed just how effective these methods can be.

- Lona"

When I called the main number,I was asked by the computer what product I was called about (Printers), then department (support), and asked the type of printer (pixma).  They said "You are now being transfered to our Virginia based customer service center."

...after a minute, they offered to call *me* back after 3-5 minutes when a agent was available.  Wow.  No listening to hold music.  I can dig that. Three minutes later the phone rang, connected me immediately and a friendly southern gentlemen (perhaps on the veranda with a mint julep) answered and I asked him to describe the markings of the power cable that went in the back of the printer.  He said he wasn't sure, but parts should know. I was transferred to parts and the guy was looking the info up, but coming up short on what the cable would look like.

I figured this could be a lost cause, so I asked how much it was (figuring $10-$15 and getting it resolved quickly).  The guy said "Since we should be able to tell you something simple like that, and we can't, I'll send the cord no charge."

(thanks to Dave!)

All,
You may get customers who are contacting us with regard to several articles which were published recently, accusing Comcast of blocking or otherwise filtering customers' Internet traffic. An in-depth AP story suggests Comcast is hindering our customers' ability to use BitTorrent, a peer to peer file sharing program. If a customer contacts us to inquire about this, please use the following talking points.

Comcast does not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent

We respect our customers' privacy and we don't monitor specific customer activities on the Internet or track individual online behavior, such as which websites they visit. Therefore, we do not know whether any individual user is visiting BitTorrent or any other site...

We have a responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good experience online and we use the latest technologies to manage our network. This is standard practice for ISPs and network operators all over the world.

We rarely disclose our vendors or our processes for operating our network both for competitive reasons and to protect against network abuse.

If a customer asks:
I read that Comcast is limiting customer access to BitTorrent. Is this true?

Respond:
No. We do not block access to any applications, including BitTorrent. We also respect our customers' privacy and don't monitor specific customer activities on the Internet or track individual online behavior, such as which websites they visit. Therefore, we do not know whether any individual user is visiting BitTorrent or any other site.

We have a responsibility to provide all of our customers with a good experience online and we use the latest technologies to manage our network. This is standard practice for ISPs and network operators all over the world.

Are you working with Sandvine as these reports claim?

Respond:
We rarely disclose our vendors or our processes for operating our network both for competitive reasons and to protect against network abuse.

Please do not deviate from the responses above. If you have any questions about this issue, please reach out to Brian Becker, Gene Bridges or myself.

Thanx...
________________________________________
Michael S. Groman
Manager / IP Support
MD-DE-RCH Region

The insider tells us that employees were told not to say a word outside the pre-ordained script. Management said that anyone who otherwise discussed the issue would be terminated. A meeting was held last week to cover the issue as well.

Our source says, "It is definitely being covered under tight wraps. Why else would they go through with all this if they didn't have anything to hide?"

UPDATE: Insider Tells Us There's Proof Comcast Contracts BitTorrent Throttling To Sandvine

(Photo: cmorran123)

5. SUPERVISORS WILL ONLY STEP IN IF YOU REFUSE TO BE MOLLIFIED

Ever wonder why anytime you request a supervisor that the CAE tells you that we will need to get your information and have one call you back, or we ask if you allow us the opportunity to assist yo.? The reason for this is that we have escalation measures set in that a customer cannot speak to a supervisor unless the supervisor feels that he or she must take the call. Beyond that, it's the CAE's problem to calm down and take care of the customer. Usually the call may be taken away if the supervisor is listening to the CAE's phone call and see how irate the customer is, and that no matter what the CAE says a customer refuses to get off the phone unless they speak to a supervisor. So if anyone was wondering why they can't just request a supervisor...then there is your reason. I actually think this is horrible and deplorable. If a customer wants to speak to a supervisor then they should do so...but only having one supervisor maybe a problem as well.

4. CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS NO IDEA WHEN A TECH WILL SHOW UP

You guys ever wonder why the person you speak to about your tech's expected time arrival is a mystery most of the time? That's because to the customer service rep at Comcast, it is. Only dispatch knows where a tech is and when a technician is on its way. Thanks to the bureaucratic way Comcast works, your CAE that you are screaming at must send an email to dispatch and wait for dispatch to send a reply, which can take about a minute to nearly thirty minutes. Now, they will always tell you that dispatch or the tech will call you back. More than likely, they will not. There is a chance that they may do it, but chances are pretty slim. So next time you call and ask where is your tech and when is he coming to fix your problem or do your installation, just relax and know that since there are so many customers and so few dispatch people capable of answering phones you will not get any good answer off the bat. Just be nice and ask them to fill out a resolve form and give you a reference number for later. It will make everyone's job easier.

[ed. Here are the numbers for dispatch so you can call directly, even if your Comcast rep can't.]

3. IF YOU DON'T PICK UP THE PHONE WHEN THEY "CALL', YOUR APPOINTMENT IS CANCELED, EVEN IF THEY NEVER ACTUALLY CALLED

Let's also stay on the subject of dispatch and phone calls. I know that many of you notice that when you wonder why your tech isn't showing up and you find out your appointment was canceled. They consider that if you don't pick up your phone...even if they never called you...you are not home verified. That means the tech does not have to go to your house because your appointment was canceled. Please don't ask your CAE about these calls... the CAEs don't make them, dispatch does. No matter what you tell your CAE, the chances of a technician going to your home after your appointment was canceled and you were not home verified is slim to none and you WILL have to reschedule. Issues like these creates arguments with my supervisor in ways you can never believe. When your appointment gets canceled and your CAE says your appointment was cancelled with a claim that dispatch called you and they didn't just stop, breathe, and count to three and ask to reschedule. That's really all that can be done. I am sorry, guys.

2. DON'T GET COMCAST PHONE IF YOUR AREA HAS LOTS OF CABLE OUTAGES

The next thing I want to cover is your services. Due to the monopolistic ways of cable companies I cannot say if a problem like this plagues other cable companies but beware of their phone service. Not that it's a bad product mind you but there are some caveats that will not be explained to you, until its too late. First thing you must ask yourself...does Comcast in my area suffer from lots of outages.? If your area does, then stay clear of it. When there's a cable outage, you will not have a phone. Also, I must mention that with the phone service, do not be delinquent with your payments. If you get to the point that they will disrupt your services (phone, cable box, and modem is deactivated) you will have to pay for your phone to be activated again. Hope they change that one.

1. COMCAST IS A GIANT, UNCARING MACHINE

I don't want to say much else but just know there's a very important thing I want to impart to the readers is that a business is only around to make money and charge you for the services they contain. When a business gets large enough it turns into a machine and the only thing that makes it seem human is the people they hire. Unless you really can't control yourself, keep your anger in check. For Comcast, your screams and your cries are not heard anymore. There are so many people screaming that Comcast has become tone deaf. They will start listening again soon when the money stops rolling in. That's how you put a company in check. You leave them and make them lose money in any way possible. Comcast needs a wake up call and the consumer needs to give it to them.

UPDATE: Another Comcast insider writes:

The REAL tips here? ALWAYS ask the rep where they are located geographically. If it's not your local office you're talking to, then it's most likely a craptastic 3rd party center you're talking to. Ask to be transfered to your local office. Also, be nice. If you call up screaming at me and calling me names, I'll do my job, but only what I'm REQUIRED to do. Most reps I know are this way, be it at Comcast or anywhere else. If you're patient and nice to me in spite of your frustration, I will go to the wall for you, and call in every resource and asset at my disposal.

RELATED:
Comcast Customer Service Agents Get Answers To Certification Tests Right Before The Tests
Convergys Call Center Sucks Because Agents Are Stabbing Each Other And Making Out In The Halls

(Photo: SpooSpa)

PREVIOUSLY:
Comcast's Official Make A New Pot Of Coffee Policy
Comcast's Official Water Jug Changing Policy

"I didn't think about the fact that it could be someone that was needing help right then and there, that their daughter may have just got in an accident and was in the hospital and they were needing help," testified Lindsay Gillum. "I wasn't really thinking about the customer. I was thinking about myself and my stats."

"There were other people who were doing the same things who are still working there and still hanging up on people," Jordan Doyle testified. "There were five of us, all together, that were fired. Three of us were pregnant, about a month away from our due date. One of the girls that was fired, (it was known that) she was trying to get pregnant. And the fifth girl was taking short-term disability."

Doyle contends that the practice of hanging up on customers is still systemic. "Like, 90 percent of the people who work in that call center do that," she said.

Jordan Doyle was accused of hanging up on 34% of her callers in a two-week period; Lindsay Gillum, 8%; Amy Halupka, 50%. The customers calling in were trying to file claims after fires, traffic accidents, and other insurance covered incidents.

Nationwide sell its insurance through affiliates like ALLIED Group, Farmland Insurance, GatesMcDonald, and Scottsdale Insurance. If you get hung up on when calling any of those companies, don't feel bad, you're just doing your part to help an agent make quota.

Workers fired after hang-up calls [Des Moines Register] (Thanks to Stefanie!)
(Photo: Getty)

There need to be documents employees can refer to, pantra-laterally, to help steer their decisions through times of uncertainty and deal with rapidly fluxing global business enterprise environment.

Like when you need to change the water jug.

Inside, Comcast's official water jug changing policy and instruction manual...

When you notice there is no coffee left, and/or you have used the remainder of the water, please follow these steps to replace the empty water jug with a full one.

1) Locate a full water jug from the stack and place it on the floor.

2) Take the empty jug from the cooler and place it in the full jug's previous location.

3) There are 2 options to prepare the jug to be placed on the cooler:

a. Less water will come out from the opening:
(Recommended for less spilling)
i. Peel back the plastic tag
ii. Poke the stopper down into the water

Or use the other option:

b. More water will come out from the opening:
i. Remove the entire lid by peeling the blue portion hanging from the lid.

4) Lift the jug. (Use your legs, not your back).

5) Aim the jug opening towards the center of the water cooler opening.

6) Gently place the water cooler to fit into the large opening.

The water has now been replaced.

From Fortune:

The phenomenon has a name: "insourcing," the term experts are starting to use when foreign multinationals open offices on U.S. soil and hire Americans, at a higher price, to do the very jobs they once lured overseas. In this case the center in Reno is targeted toward companies willing to pay a premium - its workers there cost up to 40 percent more than their counterparts in India - to give their U.S. customers a more culturally fluent, less frustrating 1-800 experience. (No more hearing someone read from a script ten time zones away.)

Tata, which is based in Mumbai, established its Reno roots last year when its business services unit, SerWizSol, bought the call-center business of travel-processing firm TRX; the deal also gave it a call center in Milton, Fla. "We want to be able to say to a client, If there's a piece [of call-center operations] you want to keep in America, we can do that for you," says Ricardo Layun, head of U.S. operations for SerWizSol.

Indian call center lands in Ohio [Fortune] (Thanks, Krystle!)

As you read the letter, you may think, oh, he's whiny because he wants his special disabled person's monitor and keyboard rest. Then you get to the part where you find out the disability came from getting hit on his way to work by a Mack Truck, in icy conditions, potentially because the call center would never close even when the roads were dangerous. Then you go "ohhh" and everything you read up until that point starts to crystallize...

UPDATE: We should mention this letter was accompanied by other resignation letters, which were spell-checked and grammatically correct, which corroborated this letter's contents, but were not made available for release.

from: [redacted] Subject: call center from hell To: clint.streit@convergys.com, john.pratt@convergys.com Mr. Streit please let me introduce myself. My name is [redacted] and I am an agent in the Hazelwood, MO call center where I have been employed for approx four months. I am writing to inform you that the experience leaves me without words. And most of the time this is a difficult task not just because I have been described as having the gift of gab, but I am capable of translating five languages. You probably are asking what is it about your call center that that leaves me confounded, well let me count the ways:

1. the dress code which ranges from ghetto ridiculous (for the men), to street walker chic (for the women). Women have their breast almost totally exposed, and let's not forget the other end in short dresses. This is true of our acting assistant OM. When I ask why the dress code is not enforced they state they are worried that they will be charged with sexual harassment. This is not true - we have a dress code and it needs to be enforced. I don't wish to see it. The men need to pull up their jeans - they are out of high school and need to dress for work. Then there are the dirty / ripped / stained clothes. Please help us

2. the amount of violence that takes place there on a regular basis, and I do mean literal fist fights both on the work floor and out in front of the building, (one simply needs to contact Hazelwood Police department for that numbers of arrests taken place this year). A few weeks back I had the experience of being in a hall with about 30 people coming towards me and 2 men fighting. I also heard one threaten the other with stabbing. He was one of our floor roamers / acting supervisors. He is no longer there. I am hoping it is because I did report it to Vanessa in HR. The women are just as bad. I have just missed being hit because of a fight in the woman's room.

3. the perpetual booty call, this for the unlearned is the constant picking up, making out which has obviously taken precedence over call handling ( this practice is not left to the agents it seems to be a normal practice among a lot of your team leaders as well). I have personally reported the making out in the hallways to HR and was told to say something to the participants. I think not. Yes I am on a team leader's team - and I have requested to be moved since they put me on his team. I asked because I am also disabled and need a Team Leader to do this job and know what a reasonable accommodation is. He is the joke on the floor - the whole day he spends going from sweet young girl after girl flirting. Everyone knows he doesn't do his job yet he is allowed to continue on. This would be Corey Cambell. I am very upset that no one will help me so I suffer. Today I had to leave because the stress this puts on me cause me to start throwing up, I also have been unable to eat this week. Vanessa keeps putting me off. This is over a month.
Issues:
1 I need to have the raise I was to get in Oct given to me and the back pay.
2 I was suppose to have a special keyboard because of surgery I had on my hands and a riser for a monitor that went missing when SBC left and we went to Comcast project. That was 2 years ago.
3 This center is open regardless of the weather. Last week they were open when we had an ice storm followed by a foot of snow. We still have people without power. The have no concern for the employees and their health or their life. Beside which the lot was still ice when I came to work Monday and this includes the handicapped spaces. Trust me you do not want a disabled person falling because Convergys refuses to do reasonable accommodation.
4 And while were on it what about religious accommodation? You know they don't bother.
5 yes we have UTO's and PTO's but try to use them. You have to request those 3 or greater weeks in advance and even then you can't use them most the time. The block they use or if you sick and when you call the automated system it won't allow the use. No exceptions for doctor visits either other than they will give you 1 infraction as apposed to several. But if you're iced in for days then they won't work with you; the exception to this is those who do not call in and their tl fixes the problem. So unfair.
6 Fix my schedule - 8 am to 4:30 and lunch at 11:30 which was approve ages ago.There are more problems with my tl that Vanessa has been looking into for over a month - unresolved.
4. Team lead seems to imply the leading of a team. Not here it most often means picking the least trained and most irresponsible agents and setting them lose on the floor to assists those agent who need assistance with problems, irate customers, and to handle request from customers to speak to a supervisor. I find this really amusing since quite a lot of these mental midgets come over to the commercial/floor support team I work on and ask for help. lol

All I can say here is OH MY GOD. Training consists of web surfing and breaks - long breaks. I have been thru more training classes than I care to say. They test you but trainers give the answers to the test and people who I know still didn't pass the tests and went on and working. Check employee over turn. It's sad to see. And some many people - good people fired for fabricated reasons while others who are just ignored for their infractions. team leaders refuse to take any sup calls because we have no way of helping these customers anyway. So now anyone who came out of training can roam and act as supervisors. This is ridicules and shame on them.

Yesterday I roamed because floor support begged me to and no one knows how to use tools. Agents allowed to roam have no knowledge themselves of how to do simple tasks. Let alone procedures and policies.
5. When one walks the floor you can always find a group of residential agents without their headphones either standing around like they are back on the block or kicked backed in their chairs like they are lounging on the front porch on a nice summer's eve without concern. Oh yeah one cannot omit sing-a-longs and rap-a-thons.

Yesterday when I was roaming a girl answered her cell and put her phone in aux then left the quad to continue her conversation. We are not allowed to have cell phones on when on the floor or to use aux for that reason. You've got gay and straights making out in the halls.

Let's talk food - we're not allowed to eat food on the floor but yet we find spoiled half eaten food in drawers or on the desks/ I spend most mornings cleaning my station and that is not my job. We lost pre-shift which means we must either arrive extra early and work while not being paid. Make-shifts was to allow us time to get all the tools opened and ready to handle calls. I believe that is illegal.

6 A certain TL sitting at his desk while one of the agents is photographing him while he is entertaining another female agent (the infamous booty call) yes - and so many other things - like they eat at their desks.

I had a bad experience with a different team leader, who had the nerve to ask me if I was on drugs. This was in SEC days. I could go on for ages about the team leader but I won't.

7. HR employees who attempt to interfere with law enforcement officers serving summons upon one employee (mashona jankins) by only telling the officer that he does not work there anymore, but also going as far as to making this statement in writing on the summons (2) themselves, which are now in custody of the judge. However, this employee failed to interfere with the Hazelwood police when they served him the third time, when they identified his car was parked in the company parking lot while he was at work . This situation is really deplorable on several levels (a) he was being summoned to court so a young lady who was once an employee at convergys could get an order of protection against him... (his crime you ask...assault and attempted rape! (b)since the HR employee represents Convergys and the Client Walmart.com they both could be held liable for the behavior of this violent man.. But I, guess that's a situation for legal minds to work out.

8. the level of cleanliness is abhorrent, when you go into the men's room and you see that the floor is used as often as the commode