Not proud of myself... but really?

I picked a fight with a complete stranger today.

Kind of.

I'm really REALLY pissed at my office's ISP... we were down for our 3rd day in two weeks. When I have no Internet I can't do my job. So my frustration level is going up and my fuse is getting shorter with each incident.

This morning I asked my assistant for their phone number just because I needed to yell at someone.... I was just itching to vent... (although I didn't actually yell).

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Have you ever worked in an inbound call center?

I have. It's not easy.... and it takes a lot of skill to "handle" angry callers.

I don't think it's something you can really teach or learn though.... you either CAN talk angry people through their issues, or you can't.

I think I was good at it. I always ended up taking the angriest callers... or escalated calls... or callers I'd dealt with before who asked for me. I actually had two different callers phone back of their own accord and leave a compliment with my superiors (virtually unheard of... if you ever get great service from someone and really want to make their day, try doing this! ) and I even had a guy from another city offer me a job... seriously tried to talk me out of my position to come work for him just based on how I handled his call. Talk about flattering. He wasn't even dissuaded when I told him where I was located - just switched the offer to a position in the local location instead. It was tempting.... and if I hadn't already given my two weeks notice to take on the role I have now, I would've gone I think (I actually kept his contact info on the fridge for several months "just in case" - like he suggested)....

So maybe I'm arrogant (at least I admit it!), but I know I don't have patience for BAD phone people.

Call Centers are a hellish place to work - I spent a year and half in one.... and looking back, I'm always surprised I lasted that long before I pulled out my last hairs.

I have a lot of respect (or is the better word sympathy?) for people stuck on the other end of the phone - but at the same time, I just can't help messing with them a bit.

Do you ever play with telemarketers that call you?

I do... they're just so damn predictable, hehe... especially if you're familiar with what they're hocking and can stump them with questions they're not equipped to answer.

It's my evil streak. What can I say. At least I'm not RUDE to them ;)

My Mom is worse.... she used to train people to work on the phones.... so she'll actually critique and coach telemarketers when they call her (as she's turning them down) - how's that for a slap? *chuckle*

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Any how, I was ANGRY this morning when I called my ISP.... I was frustrated and mad and calling to cancel my service.

I was angry.... but I was still manageable depending on the person at the other end of the line.

Only the person I got sucked. She made it way too easy to lose my cool.... not once did she apologize, offer to help or even ask what my issue was.... she was just difficult and condescending and rude.

If they hadn't already lost me before that chick picked up the phone, they definitely would have lost me after.

The really amazing guy in the tech department that she brushed me off to was *almost* good enough to make me change my mind.... but not really. I did lodge a complaint with him regarding the first chick I spoke with though - he was helpful enough to handle that for me.

He told me she was in the "sales" department.

I told him that she sucked at it.

Really.... I hope this girl isn't trying to support a family on the job because she does not have what it takes to make it in sales to save her life. They really shouldn't let her near a phone.

But still, I feel the teeniest bit of guilt at getting mad, calling into a call centre, trouncing the idiot who answered the phone, and then lodging a complaint about her.

Maybe I wasn't entirely fair.

But no, she really was awful.

Only she reminded me a bit of this one girl I sat a few stations down from on the floor in that old call centre a few times.... she always had trouble with clients.... never could handle irate callers and often ended up defensive or raising her voice - or handing off calls. I felt sorry for her because the job is just too stressful when complaints are rolling in.

She belonged in a different job too.

Hopefully the girl I complained about today finds something she better suited to as well :)