Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

BigSpoonFullOfSnark OP t1_jdpb0gu wrote

Reply to comment by 4rp4n3t in LPT: If you call a company to speak to customer service but the automated menu won't let you talk to a real person, say "Upgrade my account" instead of "Refund" or "Cancel," when the automated menu asks you to state why you're calling. You will immediately be transferred to a real person by BigSpoonFullOfSnark

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.

−100

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.

71

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.

15

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.

13

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

4

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

3

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?

11

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

4

trainsaw t1_jdqfxok wrote

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

9

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.

1

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.

0

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.

−3

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.

4

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.

14