What's wrong with call centre staff???
October 20, 2006 at 6:24 PM
by Ashleigh
Today I did something I am very ashamed of. I shouted at a call centre employee.
I wanted to get some new PS2 games for the kids. We always buy from Play.com so I searched there, reviewed the games, and finally came up with this list:
- Babe
- Franklin The Turtle: A Birthday Surprise
- Strawberry Shortcake: Adventures In The Land Of Dreams
- Lego Star Wars (Platinum)
I've had this problem before with a CD I tried to purchase from them before and what was wrong that time was that the item was incorrectly categorised in the database. Games, CDs, DVDs and books are for sale to other countries, only electronics and gadgets are not.
'No problem,' I thought, 'I'll just ring the help line at Play.com to tell them that there is an error in their database.'
So there we are talking on the phone and the man on the other end of the line asks me my name and my postcode.
I give it to him and he says 'Are you Mr M?' so I say 'No, I'm Mrs M, but I am not phoning about anything to do with my account. I want to report an error in your database.' So he says 'I can't help you unless you are Mr M'.
This went on for ages and ages and finally I completely snapped and asked to speak to his manager.
When I got through to the manager, the first thing he said was 'If you are not Mr M, I won't be able to help you.' I had a complete tantrum. I told them that they didn't need to know if I was Mr M or Mr Fecking God Knows What. All I wanted to do was report an error!
Eventually he took the details down, and apologised, but phew. He also told me that it was the other dude's first day and I was his first call! What a way to start your call centre career!
Why are call centres populated by people that are unable to listen and comprehend? Is it so hard to just listen to what someone is trying to tell you? And why on earth do people care whether or not I am Mr or Mrs M?
If I were trying to commit fraud, surely I would answer 'yes' to that question, or perhaps fraudsters are as stupid as call centre staff?
I didn't swear at them (kudos to me), but I did refer to the first person I spoke to as a 'idiot' when talking to the manager, and I did tell them that perhaps if they were hard of hearing they should look for a different job.
I also feel like I have no intention of spending the 40 odd pounds on the games now, especially after paying a fortune for an international call from my mobile, because my home phone isn't working. Something which has required me to speak to other call centre staff today, which was thankfully, a more positive experience, even though my phone still doesn't work.
Updated to add: I found out what the problem is, without any help from their staff I might add!
Apparently if you have your basket in GBP and not in Euros it won't check you out to a different country!? How odd is that? The credit card is supposed to do money changes all on it's own.
I noticed that the EUR prices are somewhat higher than the prices in GBP, so maybe their 'free' postage is not so free after all.
Comments
Hands up here also...I used to be a call centre representative and I hate to admit it is luck of the draw on who you get on the phone...
I am also a British Gal living in Holland (Amstelveen)with my dutch hubby & 2 and a half year old who demands all my energy. I used to cross stitch but with a tantruming terrible two's in the house I have recently given it up...after reading your site I might just give it a go again ;)
Have a great day
Xxx Francesca xxX
As a former call centre representative I just cringe when I hear these sorts of stories. Most people who work there have no imagination: they just follow the rules as they appear on their screen. Intelligence is not necessarily something you need to work in such a place :o)
You're a clever girl though, for figuring it out all on your own, but I wouldn't want to order any more stuff there either!
October 21, 2006 6:32 AM