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4rp4n3t t1_jdp6uxl wrote

> You will immediately be transferred to a real person

And that person will be a sales person, and nine times out of 10, as soon as they discover you're not trying to buy anything, they'll just loop you back in to the original queue.

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era721 t1_jdq9com wrote

They're actually more likely to be pissed at you. Most companies have metrics in each department that result in bonuses based on certain scores. One score is conversion or sale %. So if you connect with them and have no intention to upgrade service, you'll just bring their metrics down.

If anything, you should say " cancel service". It will transfer you ro retention. And if you tell them you're not looking to cancel, the rep will be happy to help you because as long as you're not canceling it reflects positively on them. They might even give you additional discounts and promotions.

Or just say " representative" and you usually get customer service

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chaot1c-n3utral t1_jdqtzf1 wrote

Not only that I don't give a shit if I'll bring their metrics down, but now that I know of it, I'll be looking forward to do it even more! I fuckin hate sales and marketing.

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Yeas76 t1_jdsqezk wrote

You're calling them, at an inbound call center. You may not like them but you'd be legitimately causing grief to them without any provocation on their part.

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ginkner t1_jdsseg8 wrote

Their companies policies regarding the customer service they're selling is the provocation.

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Yeas76 t1_jdssmuh wrote

These are front line workers you're harassing with misplaced justice. They have no control over anything you're associating to them.

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ginkner t1_jdstgfl wrote

Harrasing is not what I'm advocating for, but overall, if the company loses money if they're sales reps are busy dealing with customer service calls, that directly puts pressure on them to improve the customer service lines.

If customer service requests are clogging up the lines to the point where someone isn't meeting their quota, that's something that the sales reps are going to report to their management. The only problem I have is if the caller is actually being abusive towards the rep, not the mere act of trying to get someone real to talk to.

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era721 t1_jdtizfy wrote

Do you also give a crappy tip to your server when the food didn't taste good? Do you yell at the cleaning crew in a hotel because the hotel didn't let you do a late check out? Do you give a customer service rep who assisted you and answered all your questions a bad score because a sales rep gave you inaccurate information? Don't ruin another person's day just because you're having a bad day. People are just trying to do their job so they can pay their bills. If you are really not happy with the company just leave the company and take your negativity elsewhere. Or better yet, just save everyone the headache and don't purchase service with any company. Since you hate sales and marketing so much, that will show them!

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Insydedan t1_jduhe7h wrote

You may be right, but I don't give a crap. Make it easier to get a human then.

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MoreLikeZelDUH t1_jdso69u wrote

Back into the original queue, but at the end of the line. Worst LPT ever.

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smellygooch18 t1_jdt0udp wrote

This is what I used to do when I worked phone sales for a larger company. I couldn’t help you if I wanted to.

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BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdpb0gu wrote

If there is a person they can transfer you to, they usually will. Be polite and explain you're getting nowhere with the automated system.

They have no incentive to interrogate you. It's in their best interest to transfer you as quickly as possible and not waste time.

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BrightNooblar t1_jdpunqc wrote

Call center manager here. Under no circumstances do my agents transfer you to a specific person, even if that person is free. You go to the proper transfer queue. That how our call routing works, that how our metrics work.

And most of all, we don't you screwing with Our metrics by incentivizing this approach. The system sees my agent got an 'Upgrade' call. Conversion on people calling to upgrade should be like 90% of them get an upgrade. You just made the agent miss an upgrade, so their best approach is to dump you into queue RIGHT NOW and bank the very fast call for their metrics. Hunting down a real person isn't just against policy, and its not just being extra nice for someone screwing our metrics, its also more time consuming than just yeeting you into the proper line.

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Nexlore t1_jdqj5z2 wrote

Cool, make it easier for us to get to who we need to speak to then. If we could get where we wanted originally, this wouldn't be an issue.

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cheap_walmart_art t1_jdqehi3 wrote

Yup, and as a former call center employee if I have a CS team at a company jerking me around I will sit there all day and wreck your teams AHT out of spite.

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Johnny_Palmer t1_jdqfpwp wrote

And then I get a ticket to tweak the metrics a bit! I’ve implemented rules at 2 call centers now that basically identify these kind of access patterns as “problematic”. The entire master call is removed from all metrics and placed in a bucket for someone to review manually, and I guarantee the 2nd part never happens lol

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axesOfFutility t1_jdqi0uo wrote

Hahaha yes, identify and isolate outliers. Or report the metric with and without them. Or add a small footnote to the metric that outliers were removed and were only 0.1% of total call volume

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Pawn_of_the_Void t1_jdqbplw wrote

Like honestly tho, idt people are gonna care about the metrics from a service that is hostile to them. If someone is getting jerked around when trying to cancel why would they be considerate?

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Striky_ t1_jdqajsv wrote

Well than please don't have people sitting there twirling their thumbs as an upgrade agent all day in case someone wants to upgrade. It is somewhere between outrages and illegal to make ppl wait 2h+ to cancel their contract, while other team members are obviously available.

Sorry but this entire business sector is beyond shady at best

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trainsaw t1_jdqfxok wrote

I don’t think you understand how that type of job works

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pyro314 t1_jdqp1t9 wrote

Yeah fuck call centers and their employees and managers... love this tip, and fuck your metrics I don't give a damn, I don't want to be with your company anymore.

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BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdr9l0t wrote

>And most of all, we don't you screwing with Our metrics by incentivizing this approach.

Exactly why I shared this tip. These automated systems are designed to benefit the company at the costumer's. Your boss's numbers look better if you can prevent people from cancelling or receiving refunds/credits when their service is disrupted.

But if you're a person who needs a refund but you're got screwed, it's in your best interest to talk to a human being, not a chatbot.

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chaot1c-n3utral t1_jdqu904 wrote

Now that I know of this I'll intentionally try to ruin them sales agents metrics. I fuckin hate sales and marketing people.

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BrightNooblar t1_jdrbiyv wrote

You know its not really sales or marketing, its just data entry, right? They aren't calling you, you are calling THEM saying you want to buy something. They know whatever their product line is, they will try to suggest some bonus package, and thats about it. Its the same shit as anyone working the register at best buy offering you a warranty on your USB drive.

Outbound call centers are incredibly rare these days.

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grumblyoldman t1_jdqlr3r wrote

"Transferring you" === "dump you back into the same automated system you were just in."

Or possibly "Put you in the same queue you would've gone into if you had just said 'cancel' in the first place."

The only thing you've actually accomplished is wasting your own time and theirs.

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