Call centre workers: spill the beans

A question about : Call centre workers: spill the beans

We want to tap past and present call centre operatives' collective knowledge and get some inside info: when's the best time to call to avoid an interminably long wait? How much authority do you have to give customers a better price? Is it really quicker to accept the callback option than hold?

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Best answers:

• Where I used to work the best time to call is as soon as the lines open or just before we close. We have to finish your call once we pick it up no matter how long.
  Also there is some degree of authority to give customers a better price, but this could be a different department so depends on how much.
  Where i worked there was no callback option but if a call dropped while the customer was talking to me I would call back straight away.....
• I used to work for TSB Trustcard - the credit card company - in their call centre for many years.
  What many people didn't know - they didn't have time to read all the info sent to them, was that they were open 24 hrs - between 3-6am it was dead.
  Before 9am a few rang - once 9am hit, all hell let loose.
  Lunch times 12-2pm longest times in waiting
  One thing I would like to say here - which infuriated me about TSB was that when they knew they'd run charging tapes twice in error and people had been charged twice for something - they wouldn't correct it! They waited for people to call in to query it and then they would refund them for the duplicate charge, those that didn't check their statements or query it were left to pay twice. A nice earner for the corrupt TSB. This was over a very long period that I worked for them and was still going on when I left over 18 years ago.
  Never trust any bank - always check your accounts online or the paper statements - they do make errors.
• I work in a call center for a car parking company. we handle calls from the car park equipment as well as customer service calls.
  The best time to ring with a query or complaint is the middle of the day when we receive fewer equipment calls.
  We don't have authority to grant refunds and such but we will take details and pass these on to the relevant person. Calls from the equipment we do have discretion to amend charges.
  If anybody wants to know more Please feel free to ask.
• Having worked in a contact centre, the golden rule is always to never have a go at the person answerign your call, 99.9% of the time, any error is nothing to do with them so shouting at them will get you NOWHERE. You catch mroe flies with honey than vinegar
• As a call handler you have to have a thick skin, certainly in the area of work I am in. The thing is not to take it personally.
• i worked for a power company only 3 years ago
  i was in prepayment debt dept where people would get into debt due to price increases and meter man couldnt get in to property to put increases onto meter etc
  trick to have some debt up to 10% written off was to complain, ask to talk to manager and they can take up to 30% off. keywords ombudsman and regulator would sometimes trigger 50% off and sometimes 100%
• I work in a bank call centre, I would urge people to call the bank's international number which is always a local number rather than the costly 08 numbers. Works just the same. I find the best time to call us is prob in the evening, def not lunchtimes.
• Busiest time to call is definitely lunch time 12-2.
  We have an automated call back system that will keep your place in the queue, it will only take a couple of calls queuing for it to be turned on so often we'll get customers saying they didn't expect us to call back so soon.
• I work in a call centre for a housing association in London - not everyone realises that it is open 8-6.30 - so make sure you read opening times carefully - however the specialist depts only work 9-5 so you might need a callback with info if it is a technical issue.
  Don't call at lunchtimes - try 11ish and 3ish
  I suggest if you want something you are nice to us - as soon as people get hostile on the phone we start to close up - our dept has a certain amount of scope to get things done - more than others - and we are more inclined to help the nice but frustrated people!!!!!
  Plus we like residents with a personality and sense of humour - have a chat with us too - we like it and are people too!
• Possibly slightly off-topic but I worked in a call centre for a power company a few years ago.
  If you have a debt to pay off and the power company takes money from your top-up key (eg, if you put Ј10 on the key, Ј2 will go towards the debt etc) make sure that you keep track of how much you have paid back. They won't automatically stop taking your money when the debt is paid!
  I got a refund of almost Ј1000 over-payment for my husband's ex-wife after she was paying back a debt of a couple of hundred quid on her key meter. If you're not sure about your balance, call them and ask! (nicely )
• I used to work in British Gas call centre and I can certainly agree that if you are rude there is no incentive for the call handler to help you. Being nice gets you much further.
  Other info that might be helpful is that every company has a 'retentions' or 'customer care' department who have much more authority than the call handlers - threaten to leave (you don't have to go through with it) but they will put you through to the goodies-giving team.
  Also when escalating your problem, if you ask to speak to a manager we were taught to fob you off with "they'll only tell you the same as me" but if you're persistant, polite and firm you will get to speak to someone who will take it more seriously.
  Also be aware that many call centres have sales targets, even on complaints lines, so make sure you ask for your marketing preference to be changed to 'opt out' next time you call, then they can't 'promote' to you all the rubbish they usually do.
  Worst job I ever had, I take my hat off to anyone who can do it, it's like being a robotic sheep!
• I used to work for Superbreak and my OH currently works for Virgin Mobile, both in call centres.
  For me, we were open 8am-11pm. The best times to ring were straight as lines opened between 8-8.30 or after 10 p.m., or Sunday after 9 p.m. We used to be so quiet we would sit reading magazines.
  We had absolutely no room to move on the prices.
  For my OH, they are open between 8a.m.-8 p.m. They are incredibly busy atm, so the best time is probably 8 a.m. He has some movement on prices, but again incredibly restricted. A lot of the time it's a case of computer says no. They are provided lists of deals they can offer in retentions for each particular customer based on different factors, Media customer, credit score grade, etc.
  He has complained a lot of the time of Virgin Mobile not keeping their offers up with other companies, so basically he'll get a customer ringing through and saying, "I saw this phone for Ј10 at X", and on his system it'll say he can offer the same phone for Ј15, and there's absolutely nothing he can do to beat the Ј10, except try and offer a different phone.
  I also can't agree more with being nice, even if you're having issues with the company. The centre agent will be so much more inclined to help you if you're polite and courteous. Your issue is not with them, they are a medium through which your complaint can be resolved. I've gone above and beyond for some people, doing things that are not in my job description, because they were so nice and I wanted to help them out.
  My OH has had so many people ringing up and shouting, abusing him down the phone, spouting off fit for purposes and trying to be a backstreet Contract Lawyer, it really puts you off wanting to solve their issue.
• I worked for an unnamed laqrge online retailer
  - Do not consider ringing up 15 minutes before the close because you are most likely going to be fobbed off. If you do then keep the call short and easy to solve. If you are ringing to make a complaint then the agent will be likely to promise you absolutely everything and will be the most agreeable person in the world - but don't necessarily expect anything to be done when you get off the phone (agents are not always that bad though).
  - If you feel you have a legitimate point but the agent is rude or you don't feel that they addressed your concerns then simply ring back. Another agent will happily help you, especially when you casually mention a colleague's name and how they didn't really help you (this can sometimes backfire though)
  - Do not be a bad crank. Period. I had some woman ring me up about a tester payment (around 1 pound) and she started screaming about how our company had stolen her money. She was almost crying. First of all, I have no control over it. Second of all, she caught me on a bad day as I had my motorbike (2k value) nicked that morning.... you can go crawl into a hole and die. That particular customer was one of the rare occasions where I've had a go back on the phone, which agents will rarely do.
  - Best time to ring up was the morning. Staff are fresh and raring to go, and the lines were not generally busy. Our busy times were generally when people get home from work. Also, anytime after 6pm was known as "Crank time" because the bad ones came out of the woodwork and you got the occasional screamers. If you are going to complain then do it in the night with everyone else because the agents are probably a little spaced out and switch off a bit (which is a good thing for customers!). If you come on screaming at 9am when the lines open then you just put the agent in a foul mood right away and that's not good for neither you or the agent.
  - People who ask "how are you" tend to put agents on the defensive. We used to think "hmm, why is this person asking how I am? I'm just here to sort out their problem so why are they trying to engage with me on a personal level?" - some of the time it is just a nicety which is fine. Much of the time the person wants a goodwill gesture or to put in a complaint and they try to make you more agreeable to this.
  - I was authorised to give up to about 10 quid as a goodwill gesture/compensation. This was only ever given in the following circumstances;
  1. When a customer was genuinely wronged
  2. To make the parties more agreeable to a resolution (rare)
  3. To get rid of people who kick off a huge fuss (an average agent used to have about 3 attempts before dishing out goodwill gestures - but some clueless idiots were just told the same thing over and over until they got bored. That was for only when they were 100% in the wrong)
  4. As a way of avoiding an alternative resolution which would have taken a lot more time to complete (rare)
  - Busy periods (such as christmas) will be a crapshoot....You might get the established agent who has been working there for years, you might even get the manager who is taking normal calls. On the flip side, you could get the 18 year old college dropout who is fresh off the dole and on the first week of their first ever proper job. And anything in between...
  - You should talk to the agent the same way you would expect them to talk to you. If you don't talk to them nicely then they will do the bare minimum (maybe not even that) for you. If you are polite and nice then most agents will go out of their way for you.
  - The phrase "I know its not your fault" should have meaning, and not just be something you mutter after a 10 minute rant which the agent likely doesn't care about/have any power in fixing.
  - If you find a problem (lets say the website says "ordre" instead of "order")then raise it up once and the agent will happily raise the issue. Just be aware that the way companies works means that this isn't going to be fixed for weeks unless you're dealing with a huge company in which case it might take a few days. No need to milk it "oh well your IT is useless" or anything like. WE KNOW, but we can't do a thing about it! If it was up to me I'd change it there and then for you, but the company is hardly going to give me access to the css stylesheet/html file for the website.
• daytona0 - that's all fascinating stuff and interesting to read the other point of view!
  I always make a point of being calm and polite when complaining to anyone (in person or on the phone) and am often amused to read the threads on here in which the OP relates how irate he/she got on the phone with the "rude, increasingly obstructive" call handler. Funnily enough, despite the OP's threats of legal action etc, the original complaint festers on and remains un-solved.
  I'm convinced that if these people behaved better to their fellow humans, their problems would be sorted far faster.
  To stereotype further, I believe the worst offenders are men over 50 who feel they are far superior to any lowly person prepared to work in a Call Centre. They adopt a loud, bullying voice.
  I've never worked in a call centre, nor have my family to my knowledge, but I empathise with all of the Posters above who obviously hate the work. Someone has to do it and so we should be NICE to the chosen ones, surely!!!??? Our "Beef" is with the wealthy COMPANY, not it's front-line Representatives...
  Sorry for interrupting off-topic!)