Consumers find ways to wreak revenge on call centres

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=8e1184c0802737fd&cat=c08dd24cec417021

Consumers find ways to wreak revenge on call centres

LUCY BANNERMAN March 28 2005
YOU have seen the advert – an unfortunate call centre worker rings a young lady, only to be put on hold.
His call is important to her, she says, so if he would care to wait, an operator from the household will be with him shortly.
This twisted take on customer relations might induce a smile from anyone who has been on the wrong end of the hard sell.
But, apparently, the woman in the advert is not alone. More and more of us are being tempted to wreak revenge on cold callers and automated voice messages, according to research which found that "telecustomers" are fed up trying to find the hash key, or listening to The Corrs on loop.
Beyond Philosophy, a group of customer service advisers, discovered that frustrated customers, who have suffered endless pan pipe music, or had to return to the beginning after a voice-activated system failed them, are getting their own back.
It comes after a report from the Citizens' Advice Bureau which showed that 97% of people found dealing with call centres stressful.
After noticing the increasingly wily ways customers were using to outwit the call centres, the company decided to compile the most popular methods of revenge on operators. They include pressing zero instead of listening to all the options, effectively being put straight through to the operator, or keeping the worker chatting for more than three minutes – thus meaning they miss their productivity target.
snip...
"Bad service in the early stages of a customer relationship is often just a taster of what is yet to come."
In 2003, the Communication Workers' Union warned that up to 200,000 jobs in UK call centres could be "shipped abroad" over the next five to 10 years, affecting deprived areas of the country where call centres are based.
Workers in Indian call centres were paid just 80p an hour compared with £6 an hour here – and they often had to answer the phone using English names such as Molly so they "interacted" with British callers, the CWU claimed.
more...

Some helpful hints!!!

[Warpy]

1. Telemarketers are usually poor folks with few options

and I'm invariably polite as I tell them I won't have any money to spend until Bush is gone.

Once in a while, though, I get a hard sell type who won't take no for an answer and actually redials my number when I hang up.

I have fun with those. They never call back.

[jayctravis]

7. I believe this article is talking about *inbound* call centers...

when the customer initiates a call to Customer Service.

Where I work there is a hideous voice-activated menu that's supposed to understand what you say and direct you to the appropriate queue. Each queue then forwards the calls in the order received to someone equipped to handle the customer's type of call.

If the customer hits zero they go into the "zero-out" queue. I personally handle about five types of calls, zero-out being one of them. For zero-out it's simply a matter of figuring out what the customer wants and putting them into the correct queue. Even if I do handle what the customer wants, they have to go into the right queue...therefore they are not allowed to "cut in line" by hitting zero. The phone informs me what queue I am answering on each call. So hitting zero doesn't get you faster service, it makes you wait first for someone live to do what the menu is supposed to, then you go to the end of the "line" for the correct queue.

Technically someone could get me twice. If they come in on zero-out for a catalog sale, I cannot do it there. They go to the catalog queue and could by some random freak chance get me again. It hasn't happened yet, but logistically could.

You will get faster service if you listen to the menu the first time and perhaps jot down the choices. When you call again, you usually don't have to listen to the whole menu if you know what buttons to push.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. My pet peeve is automated menus that don't even come close to

what I'm calling to ask about. I end up in loop hell.

[jayctravis]

9. People hated "Press one for billing. Press two for customer service...

So now we have "voice recognition."

"What service are you interested in?"
"Billing"
"I heard...marketing...is that right?"
"No!!!"
"Let's start over..."

[FlaGranny]

19. What about the menu

that never has the option you need? Or the menu that takes you to a dead end? Or the voice-activated menu I had to deal with the other day which, when my dog started barking, jumped through the menu to the wrong option? I absolutely LOVE a company that answers with a live person. That person doesn't even need to know anything except where to direct me after I've explained my reason for calling, and then, once I'm properly directed, I have no problem with waiting. Edit: What about the menu that asks you to enter a multitude of numbers and then says "all operators are busy, please call back later"? That's the one that really gets me PO'd.

I wonder if a company really saves anything by not having a live person answer. I never fail to compliment a company which uses a live person, and that's the company I prefer to do business with.

Many elderly simply cannot deal with the menus. They don't understand them and can't hear them. Most give up in frustration. Even some doctors' offices which deal with the elderly have them.

My car broke down recently and I called my road service. I had my suspicions before, but this call confirmed it. The road service operator was in India. Just TRY to give local directions to an Indian operator. I got myself a new road service.

[Auntie Bush]

2. You can always just put the phone down and let them keep talking

and waste their precious time. It eventually dawns on them that no one's there.

[Jim Sagle]

3. I never talk to them - I screen them with caller ID.

[Demonaut]

4. When I answer the phone they usually address me as a" Mr." but I reply

I'm Mrs.... that stops 'em cold. then I hang up.

[CoffeeCat]

5. LOL!!!! I'm trying that! (nt)

[superconnected]

13. ROFL!!!!!!!!!

Good one!

[FloridaPat]

6. My career as a telemarketer - lasted 2 days.

I can't remember the name of the company, but it was in Miami about 10 years ago. We were selling some kind of travel deal. The room was thick with cigarette smoke. Beside me were the top producers - $8-10,000 a month. They sat facing each other. The guy was about 90 pounds. The woman was about 400 pounds and as white as a sheet of paper. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be totally white in Florida? My guess is she never saw the sun.

Any, they took a break and ordered a pizza. They kept getting closer and closer. Then they started making out. Right there in the middle of the telephone room. No one said a word. That was my last night.

[neonplaque]

10. is that a 'free vacation' scam?

I love getting those calls... "you've been selected to receive a *FREE* vacation".. blah blah...

I always just say, well "wow, that's awesome... but just send me the cash value instead, thakns." and they say "um, there is no cash value it's a free vacation" -- to which I reply, "well, must not be much of a vacation if it has no value" and hang up.

[Alpharetta]

12. That's a great story

bizarre!

Sometimes when work is boring, I am jealous of people who have really weird workplaces.

[radfringe]

11. what I do

when I'm get a call from someone selling something...

them: ---- we can send this right out to you today.. we just need your credit card...

Me: Sounds great, hold on while I get my card

sets the phone down and go do something else... wait about a minute, pick the phone up

Me: still there? I thought I had it in my wallet... just hold on I really want this stuff...

sets the phone down and go do something else... wait about a minute, pick the phone up

Me: Ok I got it -- ohhh - wait a minute this is an old one, they just issued me a new card...let me find it

sets the phone down and go do something else... wait about a minute, pick the phone up

me: I think I tucked in with my bills -- hold on I'll be right back

sets the phone down and go do something else... wait about a minute, pick the phone up

repeat until THEY hang up

[anarchy1999]

14. That is incredibly mean, have some heart and just say no. Many times

on the other end is some blow joe just trying to make ends meet and thinks all of the sudden he just might have a deal. Once again, have a little more heart, just don't answer or just say no thank you and let the poor kid move on.

Professional sales person speaking out.

Be kind, it will serve you well in the end.

[Bridget Burke]

15. I prefer a friendly "no thanks" ... and a gentle hang-up.

But some people have so little to do that they invent baroque methods of tormenting the unfortunate souls who call.

If I'm in a bad mood I let voice mail take the call rather than running to the phone.

[radfringe]

17. bull...

we are on the fed and state DO NOT CALL list...

I've informed the telemarketeers of this before and have even reported them -- but I still get the phone calls

if they can waste my time with this crap -- then I can waste their time

I've tried being polite, I've tried just hanging up on them -- they keep calling back

Recently I even had one tell me he was "cut off" while talking to my husband and could I put him (my husband) back on... I DON'T HAVE A HUSBAND

so screw'em

[western mass]

24. waste their time as much as possible...

Sorry, I'm with radfringe on this one.

The only way to get at these bastards is to make what they're doing less profitable: waste their time, keep them on the line, reduce their productivity. And remember: if you can keep a scammer on the line an extra 10 minutes, that's one less defenseless senior citizen they've swindled.

Should I feel bad for being such a meanie? Well, dude, it's nothing personal, just like you calling me in the middle of dinner is nothing personal. I'm trying to hurt your boss's business, sorry you got caught in the middle.

I say this as someone who used to do phone market research (of which I am now ashamed, being older and wiser). The "just someone trying to earn a living" doesn't cut it. Pimps and the guys paid to dump toxic waste drums in the woods are trying to make a living too, so we should cut them some slack, right?

[smb]

28. No Pity

on the other end is some blow joe just trying to make ends meet

Tough. Telemarketers could always switch to more respectable professions, such as prostitution or selling crack.

[Mairead]

16. And of course don't EVER give your card number to someone

who has called YOU, since you have absolutely no clue who they really are. I almost got bagged that way by a fake Amnesty caller. It was only when I had second thoughts and said 'give me your number and I'll call back, I can't seem to find my card right now' that I got a lot of doubletalk and a hang-up.

[MADem]

20. I tell the telemarketers to have a little dignity

That the job cannot possibly pay that well, that what they are doing is wrong (especially the scam calls) and that they would feel better about themselves if they earned their money honestly. Even mopping a floor at a fast food joint is better than trying to rip off old folks and sell crap over the phone. And that they really SHOULD pay attention to the DO NOT CALL list.

Hey, they call me to try to give me a pitch, they should not be surprised if they get one in return.

[anarchy1999]

32. For heaven's sake guys, just don't answer the damned phone. Don't

you have caller ID? If you don't recognize the number don't pick it up. If they want to talk to you badly enough they'll leave a number, we delete the numbers from credit agencies harrassing still after all these years, since 2001. Can't even begin to start to count how many times our "debt" has been sold and a new company, automated dialer, computer generated voice leaves a message.

It is pretty plain and simple.

For those of you without caller ID, get a GD'd answering machine. They don't cost much and provide tremendous piece of mind every time you hit erase.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

18. My line

"I will if I can pay with a rubber check." Usually ends the call right there.

[napi21]

21. I heard, since the telemkt bus. has died, co's going back to d to d.

Yesterday, on one of those "Consumer Help" programs, they were talking aobut the telemarketing business really slowing to alost a halt, so Companies are going to go back to the door to door sales that were so popular in the 50's. I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to deal with that! I won't answer the damn door, but I have 3 little dogs who will drive me crazy, barking when the door bell rings. I've considered opening the door (while having the stormdoor locked) while I have a real looking, toy rifle at my side. I think it would work, I'm only afraid that one of those idiots would have the police here, claiming I threatened them!

[Soloflecks]

23. They're already doing it.

Maybe siding companies never stopped door-to-door. The other evening I went to the door with 5 dogs barking, and a young woman with a clipboard wanted to get all sorts of info about me. The cacophony didn't bother her at all, sigh. Told her I wasn't interested and wouldn't give her any info. The next evening I got a call from them anyway!

[CornField]

22. I just sit on the line and pretend I have a rotary dial phone

Nine times out of ten I get a human in less than 2 minutes.

The ones I really hate are the voice activated systems. They never understand me... so I just (again) sit on the line and wait for a human.

[WatchWhatISay]

25. Predatory lending practice mailings

We get constant offers from credit card companies of all types trying to suck us into their trap.

Jot down a brief statement of your opinion of their offer. Place in in the postage paid return envelope and let 'em pay to find out your opionion.

[Seabiscuit]

26. The best way to deal with obnoxious telemarketers that won't take "no"

or "I'm not interested" for an answer, and keep on talking, is to turn the tables on them - start asking them questions:

How old are you?

Are you married?

Do you have children?

Boys or girls?

How old?

What's your favorite color?

What sign are you?

What's your favorite dessert?

Do you prefer it a la mode?

etc.

Eventually they hang up on me!

[AllegroRondo]

30. Just ask them if they have accepted Jesus

that makes them hang up quick.

[Seabiscuit]

31. LOL!!! I'll have to try that one.

[freestyle]

27. Or, you can just ask to be put on their do not call list

This actually works, and fines for violations can be fairly stiff. Better yet, register for the national do not call list. You can even do it online now. Unfortunately, charities and politicians are exempt, but I really can't remember my last sales call.

[seaglass]

29. Agreed. I signed up for the DNC list and have not received

any calls from solicitors with the exception of companies I already have a relationship with.

I had one call after I first signed up from a company that has been calling me for years and I told them I was on the DNC list, they haven't called since.