I worked in a call centre for two years, just over ten years ago. Never again, is all I will say!
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You sound like me! I left the job in September and I will NEVER go back and I’ll never go back to retail either. I’m staying unemployed (living off savings, matched betting and selling stuff on eBay) until I find a job where I have as little contact with customers as possible.
I forever have complaints for our surveyors. They never answer emails or phone calls and as we are “admin” we are expected to take the brunt of their Sh*te service. We have no idea whats happening with a case or what the last email/phone convo was with them and a customer but the customer will shout at us after being ignored for days as if its our fault. All we can do is say ill get them to call back (as we have no idea what so ever about their case or qualified to Discuss anything and also breaches government policy) and we tell them Mr A has called please call back and they go yer yer will do. Well a week later that Mr A is screaming at me like its my fault i forgot to tell anyone. Trust me we do tell seniors to call you back, its if they can be bothered plus the real kick in the teeth is they have the cheek to say they never got your message as they are too cowardly to say sorry i was lazy and forgort
I always try not to make false promises . I will say no if that is the answer (I don't believe the idea of never saying anything negative). However I will try and find/ suggest an alternative for them .
I worked in retail for 10 years in customer service roles and honestly the pay is dire, being on the shop floor in manic stores can be really exhausting and some managers expect the impossible which sometimes makes it difficult to always come across brilliantly to customers. Also many businesses are open later now, some even 24/7, and you don't even get days off around the holidays, for example I was working Christmas eve and had a man ranting at me that there were no fresh sprouts left! A lot of customets can also treat you as below them as you're "just a shop worker" or whatever.
The benefits are not as good either. A woman I worked with was on an old contract and got double pay for Sundays, they would never do that now.
I think if you feel overworked, underpaid and undervalued it can be tricky to always excel. Though I don't think this is an excuse for not even ever trying to do your job well. I know my post is from a retail perspective but I assume a lot of it could apply to other customer service roles.
The benefits are not as good either. A woman I worked with was on an old contract and got double pay for Sundays, they would never do that now.
I think if you feel overworked, underpaid and undervalued it can be tricky to always excel. Though I don't think this is an excuse for not even ever trying to do your job well. I know my post is from a retail perspective but I assume a lot of it could apply to other customer service roles.
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I hate it when I'm trying to maintain a 2 metre social distance in Tesco and Asda and staff who are picking internet shops come right up to me to just nip in to pick something 
Can't they get the staff to pick when it's quiet or closed ?
Can't they get the staff to pick when it's quiet or closed ?
Not so much a “rise of the Karen” more like a rise of people whipping out their smartphones mid-disagreement and recording one half of a two sided non-story.
Customers have always been difficult, customer service is then difficult as you have to paint on a smile no matter what youre going through.
I worked in retail for 10years, and i loved it. I did have some awful interactions (called a bleep, threatened, complaints to HO etc), but good service was important to me. As a manager, I was strict on my staff to keep that standard going. I think customers are very entitled and expectations are high. Some staff are lazy, inconsistent or poorly trained. An example; nandos offer generally great service, and Primark offer next to none. Primark offer no training or standards around customer service, its all about sales.
I now work in an office with no direct customer interaction and I'm glad of the change
I worked in retail for 10years, and i loved it. I did have some awful interactions (called a bleep, threatened, complaints to HO etc), but good service was important to me. As a manager, I was strict on my staff to keep that standard going. I think customers are very entitled and expectations are high. Some staff are lazy, inconsistent or poorly trained. An example; nandos offer generally great service, and Primark offer next to none. Primark offer no training or standards around customer service, its all about sales.
I now work in an office with no direct customer interaction and I'm glad of the change
When I worked in a call centre for a mail order company, someone ordered something, saying they needed it for a certain date and probably paying the extra amount for swift delivery. I'd answered the phone with my first name and the caller concluded that if they didn't get it by the day stipulated, 'remember, your names on it.' Errrm, yeah, I thought, I may have taken the order but I'm nothing to do with order-picking and despatch...
I remember when I used to work in a call centre and a customer would be angry over something that I couldn’t fix and they would demand, “I want to know your name” so I would give them my first name and then they’d say, “right and your second name?” To which id respond, “I don’t have to give you that information”. They would then get so angry that I wouldn’t give them my last name, as if they had some right to know that information and they’d start shouting at me down the phone demanding I tell them, it’s unbelievable how rude and entitled people are!
I started a job in a call centre this year working in travel. 80% of the people I speak to are lovely and understanding that we are currently in a pandemic with extra ordinary circumstances. And then the other 20% who just seem to want to scream and shout at someone at the end of the phone. I tend to let them not interrupt and find they usually calm down by the end of the call they just want someone to vent at. When I first started the job I loved it, lovely team and company. But it is starting to take its toll especially as someone else said they start being personal about you. I’ve had people say I’m uneducated, one step up from McDonald’s and I’m rum of the earth working for a money grabbing company. I know shouldn’t take it personally but there are days when I’ve gone home and cried and cried and started to believe it’s true. I worked for many years before as cabin crew and found it similar you had lovely passengers who are happy, polite and just looking forward to a holiday. Then you got the ones who just needed to vent/moan and as you wear the uniform you’re the one who gets it. I do find it’s easier to deal with people face to face than other the phone body language and a smile goes a long way it’s very difficult to put that across on email or phone. If it wasn’t a pandemic and with the industry being so turbulent I would probably look for a new role in another sector but I realise I’ve very lucky to have my job and a wage x
I work on a hospital switchboard and when we are fully staffed there are 4 people to answer internal and external calls for 3 hospitals. From 4:30 there is only 2. We also have people coming in who need pagers etc Now at the moment there have been periods were there has been one person to answer all those calls, this week for example there are 2 days where I will be working alone in my office. When I am on a lone shift I cant leave the office as I have to listen out for the emergency phone so I dont actually get a break. If I need to use the loo I have to rush etc.
Some people are lovely and totally understanding but then you get some who will scream and talk to you like muck because they have had to wait for a reply. People think that by shouting they will get what they want and its just not true, I cant make wards/depts answer.
It's so hard at times to remain upbeat, I do try my best with everyone and will often go out of my way to help(even beyond my role) but if you talk to me like crap you are going to get the basic things I can do and thats that. I'm never rude but the warmth goes out of my voice.
Some people are lovely and totally understanding but then you get some who will scream and talk to you like muck because they have had to wait for a reply. People think that by shouting they will get what they want and its just not true, I cant make wards/depts answer.
It's so hard at times to remain upbeat, I do try my best with everyone and will often go out of my way to help(even beyond my role) but if you talk to me like crap you are going to get the basic things I can do and thats that. I'm never rude but the warmth goes out of my voice.
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I think people are definitely think they are more entitled than they were say 20 yrs ago, this country is full of greedy nasty people,
a prime example is this last year, you could see with the holiday companies, you could tell they were trying to sort everything out with people who were travelling soonest first, the name calling the call center staff were getting was disgusting
a prime example is this last year, you could see with the holiday companies, you could tell they were trying to sort everything out with people who were travelling soonest first, the name calling the call center staff were getting was disgusting
I work in a GP practice so although not dealing with customers, I still feel my job involves some form of customer service. I aim to listen, be as helpful as I can and always remain polite however when patients are shouting at me or making insults, I continuously tell him to duck off in my head. Our job is stressful enough given the current times and people just expect the world! We are open for 9 hours a day and there is not 1 second of the day where the phones aren't ringing or people aren't moaning.
This year, I have tried to join in the supporting small businesses mantra massively. However, I have been honestly shocked and appalled by the ‘customer service’ I have received by these ‘companies’ who clearly have no customer service experience. I have been targeted personally by one company because I wrote a honest review on the experience I had with them. It actually massively upset me & I have not written a review since as I was slandered and targeted.
I've worked in retail and I know how demanding it is, you get so many people treating you disrespectfully and you're expected to take it on the chin, which can be quite draining day-in day-out. It's not an excuse for unprovoked rudeness though. I remember going somewhere and I ordered a toastie, they chatted throughout it being toasted so it ended up burnt. It was literally black so I asked for a replacement and waited at the counter for the new one, and the lady at the till threw it onto a plate and launched the plate in the opposite direction to where I was standing!
Never stop leaving honest reviews, other buyers rely on people like you giving their genuine experience
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I have been supporting small businesses too, mainly buying from Etsy. I ordered one item and it didn't show up so I messaged the seller. They ddin't reply for a few days so I messaged again saying it was a week past the expected delivery date, and if they didn't respond by the end of the day I would escalate it. They didn't respond and I escalated it and they got back to me within minutes. I think maybe some small businesses must be overwhelmed at times and do not always have the time to provide the best service, but it is an aspect of the business surely they'd expect?
Never stop leaving honest reviews, other buyers rely on people like you giving their genuine experience
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I started working in retail in 2009. I did my last retail shift in 2018. Over that time, I saw a huge increase of customers becoming more entitled and demanding. I noticed a shift where if something went wrong, more and more customers began to lose their sense of compassion and generally just loose their tit. So much for keeping your composure! But the more I reflected on this, I think a lot of it is actually due to the rise social media and online shopping. As consumers, we want things cheaper and we expect it instantly. Social media and online shopping have conditioned people to crave instant gratification (every like, heart, retweet you get gives you a little boost of dopamine), and online retailers like Amazon (who pay their staff duck all) have normalised cheap next day delivery.
I don't think customer service in general has changed that much*, I think our behaviour patterns as consumers have changed.
I hate to be known as that wacky poster who's always banging on about the evils of social media, but honestly... this is just another example of how we have become conditioned over time to be less compassionate, less patient etc.
I don't think customer service in general has changed that much*, I think our behaviour patterns as consumers have changed.
I hate to be known as that wacky poster who's always banging on about the evils of social media, but honestly... this is just another example of how we have become conditioned over time to be less compassionate, less patient etc.