June 27 2008: Call Centre Workers, I Spit On You
Filed under Life
I spent half an hour on the phone to my internet provider early this morning. And yes, now that you’ve read the first sentence, you should know that it’s the precursor to an entire entry ranting about the incompetence of call centre staff. FUCK YOU if you work in a call centre. You may be a necessary evil, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you’re pure evil. (I’m kidding. I love you, really. Have a cookie that may or may not be laced with arsenic.)
The problem started late last night, at about midnight. Suddenly disconnected from the Internet, I dismissed it as a minor issue that would be sorted by unplugging my modem for a minute the following morning, and went to bed. However, attempting to connect the following morning (today!) for a quick check of my email revealed the sheer gravity of the situation. I simply was not connecting to the Internet. Having ascertained that it wasn’t:
- A short disconnection (I restarted both my laptop and the modem)
- A wireless connection issue (I stuck in the cable)
Or essentially, it was clear that there wasn’t a problem with either my laptop or the modem. It was a problem on the side of the internet company. Cue complaining phone call. Then, cue twenty minutes of an incompetent girl running me through everything I’d already done prior to calling, to ascertain that it wasn’t that it wasn’t a problem on my side. Cue her putting me on hold for ten minutes, Cue me demanding to speak to her supervisor. Cue her supervisor coming on the line, to tell me that he was going to restart the connection on their side to see if it would fix the issue. Cue the connection problems being resolved ten seconds after he restarted the connection on their side.
“So, essentially I’ve spent half an hour on the phone to your company when it was an issue on your side that took ten seconds to fix?”
“Ehehehehehehe. Yeah, when you put it like that.”
I would have laughed, because it was such a ludicrously simple fix in the end, but really, all I wanted was to rip off his balls and feed them to a stray dog. The fact that it happened to me, and that it wasn’t an anecdote about someone else’s experience means that it is automatically not funny. In fact, it’s quite firmly a disappointing reflection of the sheer incompetence of some of those employed at call centres. Anyone up for a spot of genocide?
My call to them would have been a lot more colorful. And I think those cookies that might be laced with arsenic would be a good way to proceed.. Send them to the call centre as a token of “thanks”. :P
I feel like they should just really train their staff better.. JUST RESTART THE DAMN CONNECTION DAMNIT!
Shen-Shen on June 28 2008 #
I feel your pain, I hate dealing with call centre representatives of big companies. Ages ago we had an Optus personnel come to our house to install the new modem. They left, assuring us that it would start working in half an hour, and lo and behold, it didn’t. I called the Optus people, explained to them the situation and they said they’ll have a person call back in a week to confirm for another appointment to be made by another modem installer. The problem was that the modem dude must’ve put in the modem hardware code wrong into the system. The call never came, no Optus person visited for months. Thankfully the old modem could still be used.
However, after a while my dad bugged me to try the new modem. I called again, explained the EXACT same situation, they told me to read out the code (that was on the bottom of the modem) and they reentered it RIGHT THEN, over the phone, it took like 10 seconds. And voila, the new modem worked. UGH.
Belinda on June 28 2008 #
I’ve never called them, but I have called the DMV when my driver’s license just wasn’t being mailed to me. I was put on hold for 20 min and then was dropped and then called again and something similar happened. I finally got a person on the line and he was actually very, very helpful. Worked with me to figure out wth the problem was and even offered to call me back so I don’t stay on the line too long while he was trying to fix it. If it wasn’t for him I would hate the DMV very much (like everyone else).
marilyn on June 28 2008 #
On the plus side, they spoke English! When phoning call centres (or having them call me…), I normally get the poor sod who can’t understand what I’m saying.
I’d like to start a genocide with you! But where would we start? :P (Vodafone - please!)
Li on June 28 2008 #
Dude! I never pictured you as the kind of person to get angry at call centre workers!
The last time I called my ISP, I was SO angry that once I finally got through I said ‘I’m about to get really angry, so you might as well pass me on to your supervisor before I let rip.’
The supervisor didn’t help me either, though. So I was still angry when I hung up. :(
Reply: Oh, I’m not normally, but seriously, half an hour for a ten second issue? Major ph4il!
Nellie on June 28 2008 #
I remember this one time where we called someone to help fix our internet connection at our house. (they kept assuming that the problem was with us, since my dad didn’t know what to do and even I couldn’t figure it out)
Half an hour into it, not even fixing the problem, and the guy still demanded we pay him for his job. I know that we asked him to come over, but c’mon! If you’re not going to finish the job, what’s the point of paying?
Merinn on June 28 2008 #
My aunt and several friend of mine work at a call centre. It’s not really their fault, you know - they aren’t trained enough.
Nano on June 28 2008 #
It’s probably not always their fault but I know what you mean!
The last time I talked to a representative about our internet, I was SO enraged by the incompetence of the 2 people I had to talk to AND the ridiculous amount of time I had to spend on hold. And it was a situation just like yours. It could have been resolved within a minute if they weren’t so hellbent on making everything seem like it could be blamed on me. Towards the end, they realized I had done everything I could (before I even called them) and the problem was in THEIR system.
Felisa on June 29 2008 #