CS No More...

[lordlundar]

This sounds eerily similar to my old job. The new store manager there is only seeing the dollar signs there and thinks that anyone who is not making a certain minimum is a waste of space where they're at. I got turfed, people who requested transfers aren't getting them and people are getting transferred to other departments for no reason other than they aren't pushing enough product.

His actions are turning around and biting him in the ass though. A few years back this store was the cesspool store for the city, where all the bad staff were sent to to either shape up or get lost. The manager prior to when I was transferred there though had turned it into a major sales location and the staff were happy to go there. The manager that was there when I transferred, who was only there a week before me, upped this even further and it was an awesome place to be. Everyone cared about what they were doing and worked together. The dollars came in on their own. He got promoted and we got the reject from the accounting hell.

Guess what happened.

The store is in bad shape, the staff don't care anymore because the ones who did care got transferred, turfed, or quit, while the ones who lie, cheat and steal get praised. The stores single focus is money instead of the customers (a concept the company was trying to get away from, guess not) and customers just don't like what they're seeing, so they won't buy as much anymore, if they do buy in the first place. In short, the store went from cesspool, to concept store, back to cesspool. and it went to cesspool within 3 weeks from the new SM being there.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Kara, as a fellow CSR for one of T-Mobile competitors I feel your pain. There's a lot of BS that floats around a call center aside from that which comes from the customers.

It seems to me that they were looking for some reason to let you go and seized on that dropped call for an excuse. I've lost a number of a calls like that and never once gotten discplined in any way for my actions. Not deliberate hangups, just calls that randomly drop. I have even disconnected customers but only because a wire came loose on my box or some other accidental occurrence caused me to lose the call.

4 years is a long, LONG time to last in a job like that. It's high pressure customer service and to survive and thrive there will look great on a resume. Working at a call center has given me a ton of useful experience about how to treat customers and how handle just about any work situation imaginable. No doubt the same applies to you. You'll find a better job I'm sure of it.

I'll miss your stories (which I am reminded of every day when I get the same douchebags on my lines) and I would never think to try to fill your shoes, but I'll keep my stories coming so CSers can get their fill of cell phone ashattery.

Thanks for all the entertainment and good luck in the future.

[LifeCarnie]

It really sucks how vague the whole thing was. "Gee, it's funny this call dropped while I was on lunch and there was no Memo. Forget that it happens to everyone, but we're singling you out. We know you'd never, ever do that. We can't prove you did it, but you can't prove you didn't, and since we're in charge your ass is gone."

You my friend, have been used as a scapegoat.

The shareholders saw a drop in customer service's performance from previous years and they weren't looking for explanations, they wanted the situation rectified.

The knee-jerk management response is to let "heads roll". So they fire a few people to make a good show of it. And, they're certainly not going to fire a manager, so blame rolls down hill.

Whether your overall performance was to blame or not, they were operating in mode of looking to blame someone and because your dropped call opened up a window for them, you became a target.

The thing that sucks about customer service sometimes is that your only as good as your last phone call, or that's how we're judged at least.

Honestly, you don't want to sweat you on dropped calls anyway, since as you stated, dropped calls happen. I wouldn't worry about finding another call center job, since that reason for being fired is a little rediculous and I think there are alot of companies that realize dropped calls are going to happen.

People hang up on me and than claim I dropped the call.

I accidently hang up on someone at least once a month, I immediately notify a supervisor, in case the customer calls back, and I've never been reprimanded for it once.

My one peace advice is to remember that those customer notes can sometimes cover your ass, take the time to enter them.

Some people in my company are very political and like to show everyone else up, when I deal with these people I keep meticulous notes. More than once I've made someone who was trying to throw me under the bus look like an ass, because I had made notes.

Ahhhh, sweet retribution!!

================

Non-compete contracts suck. A long time ago, I was advised never to sign one and I never have and never will.


A couple of years ago, the company for which I currently work started requiring new hires and departing employees to sign them. One of my friends was FIRED and they actually had the balls to try and force her to sign the non-compete contract after the fact, since they were required when we were hired. She told them where to stick it.
============


I can relate to how you feel, I was once laid off from a job I loved and where I was loved by my superiors, leaving that job was like leaving family. But, because the company was downsizing and I was basically serving in the role of an apprenticeship, I was deemed expendable.

[Talon]

Good grief. Oh wait, was I actually expecting these suit-weasels to address the actual issues and NOT pass the blame-buck? Silly me!

I'm just so sick to death of good people getting grief while bad people get gold.
Any chance of a wrongful termination suit?

[CaroPhoenix]

Kara, I've come into this discussion a little late.

I wish you luck in your job search. Hopefully, you'll be snatched up quickly at whatever job you apply for.

[blas]

I call bullshit. I can't believe they did this to you, Kara.

[Saydrah]

Yeah, there was a non-compete agreement when I was hired. If I work for another wireless phone company for 12 months, they can sue me. There aren't any competitor call centers around here though, just retail stores.

Depending upon what state you are in, that may be unenforcable. In my state it is. Colorado's Supreme Court has stated that it is unfair for employers to prevent employees from using their skills to earn a living after leaving that employer, so if the only jobs in the same industry using the same skills happen to be competitors, you can hire on with them anyway. And it would serve them right if you did. However, you said that's not an option for you, so it probably doesn't matter- just pointing out that oftentimes non-competition contracts are worth the paper they're written on, if that, and no more.

It's really horrible that they used you like that- I agree that they were trying to cut costs by looking for excuses to fire long term employees who are making more than newbies.

[Calud]

Ahh, that sucks. It would be much easier for them and you if they just told you: Well, gotta let someone go, sorry.

[Tuxian]

Ahh, that sucks. It would be much easier for them and you if they just told you: Well, gotta let someone go, sorry.

You actually expect honesty and compassion from people who make their living by having their faces sugrically attached to their higher-up's rectums? Never gonna happen. The almighty dollar is king, and anyone who causes them to lose a single penny will be ironed out like a stubbon crease.

Sometimes, I hate the mindset of corporate America.

Kara, I'm sad to hear about you being let go, I really enjoyed reading your stories. But look at it this way: They just insured that you will probably never be a customer of theirs, and neither will your family and friends (who don't already have their service). They lost more than a good employee, they lost a lot of potential, and possibly even present, customers, because of this action. Because they were so focused on no losing money because of some mysterious 'dropped call' (and aren't your calls recorded? Or were only some of them?) they'll instead be losing even more money they could have made when people who _might_ have once been customers decide to choose another carrier instead.

[Shangri-laschild]

State Job

That really sucks about what happened.

As for the state job, yeah, so long as you can handle the stress of the jail state jobs are awesome between pay rates and health insurance and retirement. Go for it. Good luck. Also maybe try the police departments (dispatcher) or if there are any colleges close by maybe try them too? They are usually even better because of less stress.

[CancelMyService]

If I can be Armchair Lawyer, and assuming I read your post right, wouldn't there be a case for wrongful termination since they apparently flat out told you they couldn't prove you deliberately ended the call and that's what they are using as the reason for letting you go? It seems that it was an incredibly petty thing to warrant a dismissal over, as I've probably accidentally hung up on people lots of times and its never even an issue with my company. Maybe you could work for a cable company call center? We have all sorts of fun people to play with

I am troubled to learn than T-Mobile is having such problems that they have to start firing good employees for bullshit reasons. I've been with them for almost 5 years, and while I've always had excellent customer service experiences I can't help but agree the way the company advertises is atrocious. It's as if they blew their wad on the Catherine Zeta-Jones ads and now don't have the budget to actually promote their services now. I can't believe how obnoxious those "Jimmy" ads are for the Hotspot@Home service. Why would a company want to link a really cool product with such an irritating douche? I have to say if I was buying my first cell phone today I probably wouldn't even look at T-Mobile. I started with them when I did only because at the time the only other provider was Sprint and their service sucked in my neighborhood. Now I'm seriously going to consider my options when my contract with them ends next year. I'm big on staying loyal to companies I do business with, but not to the extent where I'm willing to go down with the ship either.

[Rapscallion]

Oh crap - I really wish this hadn't happened.

If you need a name change, feel free to PM me.

Rapscallion

[k386trl]

That sucks, I'm sorry you lost your job. I hope you find something better. I was actually just considering Tmobile for service but I'll stick with Verizon if thats what they do to employees.

[morgana]

Good luck, Kara; I've been in that situation and trust me, things WILL get better.

And karma will bite those

[wagegoth]

I'm so sorry, Kara. That really bites.

I have a friend who had Sprint cellphone service, then went to T-Mobile. Now, she's leaving T-Mobile for several reasons, but mostly because service is down and charges are up. I'm sorry that the employees are paying for the stupidity of the suits.

And I always thought T-Mobile had some cool phones.

I think you've guaranteed that the hundreds of people who read your post will not be getting T-Mobile service in the future.