The Testingtard's Lament: Boo-Hoo-in' Revolution

[Akhlut]

Man, I'm hoping one of these jobs gets back to me soon. I'm almost totally out of fucking money.

EDIT: Apparently I should bitch online more often; I just checked my email after this and might be getting an interview for a position. Sure, it's a swing-shift temporary position, but for $17/hr, I'm not going to complain too much.

[Zod]

Man, I'm hoping one of these jobs gets back to me soon. I'm almost totally out of fucking money.

I hope at least one of these jobs I applied for gets back to me, I found a few positions that look like they could be pretty sweet. Not that I'm out of work, but I really want to get the fuck out of Denver and need another job for it.

[starku]

Wow you're an asshole

[Zod]

Wow you're an asshole

Try living in this shithole and you'd feel the same way.

[Phantasee]

no you're still a huge asshole

[Akhlut]

So, I started playing SR3 at about 11PM. I did a few things, like playing a few levels of Genki's game show, a few gang control missions, some tank mayhem, shit like that. I thought that I killed 2, maybe 3 hours.

No, turns out it was about 5 hours spent on doing a lot of rather minor bullshit like buying property and doing activities. HOW DID TIME PASS SO FAST?

[RedImperator]

Operator: Thank you for calling [student loan company], how can I help you today?
Me: Hi, I'd like to change my due date. It's three days before my payday and I'm perpetually three days late.
O: Yes, I see you are currently three days delinquent. We can't change your due date while you are delenquent.
Me: Yes, I know. I just paid it online ten minutes ago. I guess it hasn't gone through yet.
O: Yes, it usually takes up to two business days to process online payments.
Me: Fine, I'll call back Tuesday, after it has been processed.
O: I must tell you, sir, that if you remain delinquent, [litany of dire consequences] may happen.
Me: Um, okay? Unless you have an address where I can physically drop off the cash, there's not much I can do about it, is there?
O: <silence for a few seconds> No, sir.
Me: Great. I'll call back Tuesday.

God I hate those fucking people.

[starku]

I bet theyre required to say that shit to anyone who isn't playing nice

I'd never work in a call centre

[RedImperator]

I'm positive he was reading from a script; occasionaly I feel bad because nearly all my conversations with [student loan company]'s operators end up with me saying something sarcastic and rude. I briefly did call center work and I know what it's like to have to say something stupid because it's in the script. I can't help it--I hate their employer too much.

[adr-admin]

you just can't win when you work in those call centers

so among the ways they rate you are:

1) did you force in specific sentences from the script (regardless of the conversation flow)?

2) did you handle calls quickly and satisfy the customer?


these two things are mutually exclusive

[RedImperator]

you just can't win when you work in those call centers

so among the ways they rate you are:

1) did you force in specific sentences from the script (regardless of the conversation flow)?

That was definitely what made me lose my cool. The transcript I posted might imply I was being curt earlier; I totally wasn't. "OK, cool, I'll call back Tuesday, when the payment is processed". Not a big deal--I understand why they wouldn't let me change while 3 days delinquent. It's right after that, when we've established I've already done my part to pay the bill, and everything is now in the hands of the bank and [student loan company]'s computers, that I'm warned of [dire consequences] if I don't pay. It was just this huge moment and I'm afraid I reacted to it the way I would if I were having a conversation with a jerk, instead of a regular person who has to stick to a script for a paycheck.

2) did you handle calls quickly and satisfy the customer?


these two things are mutually exclusive

Definitely true today.

[Dooey Jo]

man i spent a few days working out and writing a function to analytically solve a cubic equation, plus a big ol hax that's way fast, to solve the required cube root

but turns out it's a bit problematic

so in half-an-hour i wrote a function that solves it numerically instead

and it's accurate to five decimal places

and twice as fast

[adr-admin]

when i worked for one of these companies (one of the biggest names in customer service outsourcing, at the time anyway) they had these sheets to check off the things you said

sometimes they'd covertly listen in to the calls and rate them, and sometimes they'd sit right next to you and rate it


for the contract I was on, there was like 20 things they wanted to check, a few of which were conditional on the type of call, but most of them were expected to be done on every single call


some of those items:

* did you use the customer's name at least twice?

* [only for sales call] did you mention the benefits of a lifetime membership?

* did you attempt to upsell additional services? This one was required on *all* calls. Yup, someone calls you pissed off about stuff, and you don't try to sell them more, you get a bad review.

This is also the question I got wrong at a McDonald's interview when I tried that (didn't get the job btw, lol). Common sense told me that when someone's mad, you back off on the sales and try to appease them; "the customer is always right" kind of thing.

After this job though, I thought the business world didn't actually work that way, and it was expected for you to aggressively sell shit in all situations.

Not true at McDonald's. Apparently, they prefer to give their product away with a smile as a response to just about any complaint.

* did you ask "is there anything else I can do for you today?" at the end of the call? And yes, must be the end.. if you already asked and something came up, you handle it, and the customer says "great, that's all, thank you"..... you were still supposed to say this. I guess maybe it gives the customer a chance to say something they forgot, to save them from being on hold again, but it just seems so awkward to jam it in there like that.

* were your last words "thank you for calling COMPANY, have a great day"? If the customer hung up in anger, you're supposed to say this to the dead line.



ooohhhh there was more but i had this job in 2005 and i kinda ignored this shit most the time anyway. i just didn't buy into it enough to care.

got fired after 6 months. (though i was late something like 17 times over a two month period too, which surely had something to do with it!)



ironically on my last day there, i was invited to a pizza party by the head of IT for being a valuable asset to the company


i ate my pizza then turned in my badge


mang, corporate america

[Nietzslime]

edmonton is like my home city except everything is bigger and there's more of it

also it's plainly better but i'd prefer not to admit that

[Gands]

I briefly did call center work and I know what it's like to have to say something stupid because it's in the script. I can't help it--I hate their employer too much.

I did telemarketing for a few weeks.

There's nothing in the script for when someone breaks down in tears because you're the tenth person to call them today and they have no money because of assorted family illnesses.

Over two weeks I made $26 an hour in sales.

[Zod]

I briefly did call center work and I know what it's like to have to say something stupid because it's in the script. I can't help it--I hate their employer too much.

I did telemarketing for a few weeks.

There's nothing in the script for when someone breaks down in tears because you're the tenth person to call them today and they have no money because of assorted family illnesses.

Over two weeks I made $26 an hour in sales.

It's impossible for me to do telemarketing. I tried it for a week and I felt like a piece of shit every time I had to call someone up to ask them for money. I don't see how people do it.

[adr-admin]

you have to believe in the product

[starku]

everyone i know who worked that job did it to support or begin a middling drug habit or for sexual access to european backpackers

[Gands]

I needed the money.

For $20 an hour I'll call to ask for charity donations. I didn't mind the abuse from people.

Fun fact: WA has way more people with epilepsy, so they tended to give more and more often. I met my targets in Perth and NT. NSW and SA were often the angriest.

[timmy]

I did door to door sales for a week when I was 18. It's worse when they can see you and vice versa.

One old guy who sent me packing one afternoon came tearing down the street in his car and for a moment I thought he was going to run me over. Instead he got out, came over with tears in his eyes and said that he'd done it for a bit when he was younger and new how hard it was and hoped more than anything that I would find a better opportunity. I didn't go back the next day.

[starku]

man i rocked at sales

no drug habits

but troubled teenagers galore

[Phantasee]

edmonton is like my home city except everything is bigger and there's more of it

also it's plainly better but i'd prefer not to admit that

[Phantasee]

holy fuck these smiley codes are awful

do i have to go in there and fix them all?

[starku]

i dunno do you want people to make fun of you

[zhaktronz]

i work in some kind of magical fucking call centre largely immune to most of these issues lol.


Though apparently I sound arrogant on the phone.

One of the other workers is French.