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Call Center Notes (kind of long)
Putting this in here, because I have grumbles about both callers and "colleagues":
To the callers:
What is so
hard to understand about the idea that the person who answers the phone at the insurance company will probably need your subscriber ID number to a) validate your identity before releasing information and b) FIND the information in the first place????
I'm sure you're a very nice person, but I'm really not THAT fascinated by your life story, at least not when I just want to get your insurance question answered.
If you called near 5pm, it's now 5:30 (and you just barely got your call in before the automated system stops routing them to live *human* operators), you're on your 10th iteration of how crappy our Web site is, how every provider in network in your area is a quack, and how our professional review people "have quite a nerve" deciding that the procedure *your plan decided not to cover* is not covered, and the target of all this has done a recap/summary of what info actually got exchanged for the *fifth* time (or more), TAKE A HINT AND GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE!!!!! Your rant-and-rave 'tude party is at this point serving no useful purpose, and believe it or not, the voice at the other end of the phone does belong to an actual human being who actually has a home she would like to see again some time before her next shift begins.
To the "colleagues" (the offenders in this case were in my training class):
Yes, we are temps for some time yet. No, we do not get the really nice benefit package the permanent staff do - YET. Yes, the employer actually expects you to show up ON TIME and actually work your scheduled hours (most of you who whine the most about this do have call center experience, you KNOW this is standard for call centers). GET A CLUE!!!!
You KNEW about the temp-to-hire aspect going in, you knew how long it was going to take to be eligible for permanent, and you KNEW attendance (this includes being at work, and being on time) was a major criterion for your continued employment. This was all covered in BOTH interviews I had for the job (and I see no reason to think I got information you didn't, since this was not something I had to ask about. I was told up-front, before I could even begin to ask), and repeatedly in the first week of training (and reviewed occasionally thereafter). You earn nothing but contempt from me for whining about how mean and unfair the situation is and how you're being cheated, etc., ad nauseam.
This company WANTS us there long-term, and is giving us every bit of help they reasonably can to see to it that we make it to that point. You need to GROW UP and do your part, such as actually doing what you committed to do (namely, show up when scheduled, ON TIME, and actually give a decent job performance, not waltz in whenever you feel like it, leave early whenever you feel like it (come on, if the same kid is popping 104 fevers every week, there is something REALLY wrong with this picture), get snotty/sarcastic with callers, drop loud f-bombs and such on the call floor, etc.). There have been no surprises as to working conditions, terms of employment, etc., since the interview. If you've decided you can't hack it, so be it. Just take the whine-party elsewhere and let those of us who appreciate a good opportunity get on with making a career instead of trying to drag everyone else down with you. I really don't think the company has a WAAAAAHMBULANCE available to cater to you.
To the callers:
What is so
hard to understand about the idea that the person who answers the phone at the insurance company will probably need your subscriber ID number to a) validate your identity before releasing information and b) FIND the information in the first place????I'm sure you're a very nice person, but I'm really not THAT fascinated by your life story, at least not when I just want to get your insurance question answered.
If you called near 5pm, it's now 5:30 (and you just barely got your call in before the automated system stops routing them to live *human* operators), you're on your 10th iteration of how crappy our Web site is, how every provider in network in your area is a quack, and how our professional review people "have quite a nerve" deciding that the procedure *your plan decided not to cover* is not covered, and the target of all this has done a recap/summary of what info actually got exchanged for the *fifth* time (or more), TAKE A
HINT AND GET OFF THE DAMN PHONE!!!!! Your rant-and-rave 'tude party is at this point serving no useful purpose, and believe it or not, the voice at the other end of the phone does belong to an actual human being who actually has a home she would like to see again some time before her next shift begins.To the "colleagues" (the offenders in this case were in my training class):
Yes, we are temps for some time yet. No, we do not get the really nice benefit package the permanent staff do - YET. Yes, the employer actually expects you to show up ON TIME and actually work your scheduled hours (most of you who whine the most about this do have call center experience, you KNOW this is standard for call centers). GET A CLUE!!!!
You KNEW about the temp-to-hire aspect going in, you knew how long it was going to take to be eligible for permanent, and you KNEW attendance (this includes being at work, and being on time) was a major criterion for your continued employment. This was all covered in BOTH interviews I had for the job (and I see no reason to think I got information you didn't, since this was not something I had to ask about. I was told up-front, before I could even begin to ask), and repeatedly in the first week of training (and reviewed occasionally thereafter). You earn nothing but contempt from me for whining about how mean and unfair the situation is and how you're being cheated, etc., ad nauseam.
This company WANTS us there long-term, and is giving us every bit of help they reasonably can to see to it that we make it to that point. You need to GROW UP and do your part, such as actually doing what you committed to do (namely, show up when scheduled, ON TIME, and actually give a decent job performance, not waltz in whenever you feel like it, leave early whenever you feel like it (come on, if the same kid is popping 104 fevers every week, there is something REALLY wrong with this picture), get snotty/sarcastic with callers, drop loud f-bombs and such on the call floor, etc.). There have been no surprises as to working conditions, terms of employment, etc., since the interview. If you've decided you can't hack it, so be it. Just take the whine-party elsewhere and let those of us who appreciate a good opportunity get on with making a career instead of trying to drag everyone else down with you. I really don't think the company has a WAAAAAHMBULANCE available to cater to you.