Call centres make my blood boil

[compo]

London Female,
In my experience it is extremely rare for the router/modem to completely "die" or have no lights on it when it is switched on.
I am sure you are very good at technology etc but may I kindly suggest that you check that it is actually connected to a working power source.
One way is taking out and connecting it to a working plug point.

You should have heard what she just called you

 

[Scoosh]

You should have heard what she just called you

We all did !!!

 

[RedRider]

I worked a short stint in Sky's Livingston customer service call centre more than 20 years ago.
There was a troubleshooting protocol we went through, the same questions each time someone called with a technical problem and we were encouraged not to deviate.
I took a call from an elderly-sounding woman one evening and went through the questions and instructions to no avail, still no picture. Flummoxed, I went off script. 'O yes, I do have a dish,' she replied. 'It's in the cupboard with the plates and bowls.'

 

[midliferider]

You should have heard what she just called you

Will she come and tell us the outcome?

 

[midliferider]

I have seen in my own eyes people complaining that PC is not working when it is not plugged in.
Did I hear someone shout again?

 

[London Female]

Same here. Whenever I am tempted to let rip, I try to reflect that in a different world it might be me on the other end of the phone.

I didn't say I lost my temper with the call centre staff. I said I put the phone down and swore not that I swore and put the phone down.

Empathy goes a very long way but it needs to be on both sides.

 

[Scoosh]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Well Done, LF - but keep your voice down a bit, please ...

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I've phoned HMRC from time to time over the past 10 years, and have always found them helpful. They are hardly piloting being helpful over the phone...
i.e. HMRC clearly do not use the Indian style of call centre!

A tad unfair there, I have used the 3 mobile call centre on numerous occasions, very definitely Indian but every time I've called & the numerous people I've spoken to have been absolutely superb. I've no complaints at all.

Unlike the professionally Yorkshire Plusnet one.

 

[Spinney]

Perhaps a tad unfair on the Indians - it rather depends on how much of a 'script' they have to follow! My most recent Indian encounters have been with those folks who know your computer has problems, and are very keen to help you to sort them out.

The most irate I got was trying to get an insurance quote from MoreThan (quite a few years ago now). After 5 minutes and the woman on the other end had not got further than my post code, and was still misunderstanding what I was saying, I gave up.

 

[London Female]

London Female,
In my experience it is extremely rare for the router/modem to completely "die" or have no lights on it when it is switched on.
I am sure you are very good at technology etc but may I kindly suggest that you check that it is actually connected to a working power source.
One way is taking out and connecting it to a working plug point.

London Female,
In my experience it is extremely rare for the router/modem to completely "die" or have no lights on it when it is switched on.
I am sure you are very good at technology etc but may I kindly suggest that you check that it is actually connected to a working power source.
One way is taking out and connecting it to a working plug point.

Yes sorry when I say no lights I meant no other lights but the power light, there should be at least two other light lit up apparently, well according to the women I was speaking to anyway and as I know nothing about technology I had no choice but to follow her endless request to keep switching off on and off. Fortunately when I called back today I got someone who actually knew what to do and I wasn't asked once to switch it off and on again.

 

[midliferider]

Yes sorry when I say no lights I meant no other lights but the power light, there should be at least two other light lit up apparently, well according to the women I was speaking to anyway and as I know nothing about technology I had no choice but to follow her endless request to keep switching off on and off. Fortunately when I called back today I got someone who actually knew what to do and I wasn't asked once to switch it off and on again.

So it is working now?

 

[MontyVeda]

I really don't like some from the call centre asking my how my day is or how I am. I appreciate that they are trying to be polite and possibly build rapport, but they really couldn't care less and I find it rather insincere. For me it has the opposite effect.

wait 'til you realise that most of your friends and acquaintances couldn't care less either when they ask the same thing... honestly, they couldn't give a toss. Try it. Next time someone asks you how you are, tell them the truth, and in great detail... every ache, pain, sniffle, how your job isn't as satisfying as it could be, how the weather could be better, the bills you're struggling to pay, youngsters don't give you the respect you deserve, and on top of all that, you've recently been annoyed by a person in a call centre for simply asking how you are or how your day is... the look on their face should say it all.

 

[marknotgeorge]

The odd thing about call centres is that it's usually the tech support that's outsourced to far-flung areas of the globe, whereas accounts tends to stay in the UK. I would have thought that tech support would have needed a better standard of English - you might have to find two or three different ways of explaining something to someone who may well not be tech savvy, whereas accounts mainly needs someone to understand how to take card payments.

My mate's recently got a job in the Sky call centre here in Derby. He's a laidback sort of chap usually, so I think he'll be okay...

 

[compo]

wait 'til you realise that most of your friends and acquaintances couldn't care less either when they ask the same thing... honestly, they couldn't give a toss. Try it. Next time someone asks you how you are, tell them the truth, and in great detail... every ache, pain, sniffle, how your job isn't as satisfying as it could be, how the weather could be better, the bills you're struggling to pay, youngsters don't give you the respect you deserve, and on top of all that, you've recently been annoyed by a person in a call centre for simply asking how you are or how your day is... the look on their face should say it all.

At last. I thought I would never meet anyone who understood how I am struggling through life, or whatever they call it.

 

[jazzkat]

I have had no internet at home for three days now. I made a call to Virgin which went to a call centre.

I get the usual instruction to swith the modem off and back on. After being asked to swith it off and back on for the fouth time, I refused.

Me: there are no lights on my modem it is clearly not working, just send me a new one
Call centre: please swith it off again
Me: no I have already done this four times
Call centre: unplug everything including your computer
Me: no, put me through to someone who can help
Call centre: you are not letting me help you now unplug your computer
Me: it isn't plugged in to anything
Call centre: you can not have a computer that is not plugged in to something

I put the phone down and swore, I think my son may have heard me, in fact the whole street may have heard me.

I have spent more than nine hours over the last two weeks going through a similar scripted process several times with BT.......I feel your pain