Did your mother not teach you to say "Hello"??

[iradney]

One of the bummers of working in a call centre is dealing with people who have no clue on what telephone etiquette is.

Example

ME : "Good day, thank you for calling Blah, you're speaking to iradney, how may I help you?"

C: "I want...."
C: "Gimme..."
C: "Uh..."
C: "...."

I am not a robot. Please greet me. I am not a recording, so staying silent after I give you my name and greeting is not a good way to get on my good side.

Putting people on mute

We're encouraged to put people on mute rather than on hold as it makes our stats look better. The routine for that generally goes as follows:

ME: "Ok, now it's going to take me a few moments/minutes to organise that for you. Could you please hold for me?"

C"okeedoke"

ME: "Great stuff, i'll be right back. Please hold"

ME: *puts them on mute*

After literally a few seconds, the some of the Cs will do one of the following:

Go "Hello?" a few times like a parrot proudly reciting it's new word
Whistle in my ear (I've literally jumped out of my chair because of that)
Let their baby grab the phone and SCREAM into it
Hang up

Even better are the customers calling while their friends are having a screaming match in the backgroudn, while they're hanging out of the window of a car travelling at high speed (or so it sounds) or holding the phone at arm's length so that you cannot hear them AT ALL.

Is it really that hard to say "Hello" at the beginning of a conversation? Is it also that hard to maybe step 2 or 3 feet away from the screaming circus so that the nice operator can hear you? Could you please not SHOUT into the phone? As it is I'm getting progressively deafer in my left ear (I'm right handed but like my head set on my left ear).

I wonder if my work would pay for hearing aids if I go deaf....

[AirHostess]

I hate being not saying hello back to me! Rude!

[friendofjimmyk]

Yes, everything you mentioned is very annoying. Working in roadside assistance you get a lot of folks who are on cell phones outside their vehicle and it sound GOD AWFUL!!! As if they are holding the phone up to a tornado. I can forgive that at times because of the circumstances...however, it is hard to hear them and when I ask them to repeat something, you get the ones that get all pissy with you about having to repeat what they just said...LOOK BUDDY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE TORNADO!!!!

Then there are the folks that hang up when you are not finished with taking the information. You can't get them to stay on long enough to take it because they are SOOOO bothered by the fact that you need to know where they are located so you can get the truck to them.

When I worked in restaurants, my peeve there was going up to a table, saying hello, introducing myself and asking something along the lines of how they were doing and their response...

"Iced tea" or "water" or "Coke"

No hi, no how ya doin', just get me my drink you pissant little server you! I lost lots of faith in humanity in that industry.

[Cedophile]

We're encouraged to put people on mute rather than on hold as it makes our stats look better.

I dunno, as someone who has never taken a business call that has needed a hold/mute, it scares me when I'm put on hold and there's no audible clue that will tell me whether I'm really on hold or disconnected.

Might not be a bad practice to let the customer know that they won't actually hear anything.

[iradney]

true, but seeing as how i mention at least twice (and normally 3 times) that i'm putting them on hold, that should be a good indication that i'm putting them on hold. I know it's disconcerting, that's why I tell them that i'll be right back, i'm putting them on hold, they'll need to hold for a few moments and i'll be right with them after putting them on hold.

[trunks2k]

What I find funny is that if I call a place, or some place (that I want to talk to) calls me, and they say something along the lines of "how are you today?" I almost always say "I'm fine, and you?" Then there's this awkward silence, like they are shocked I actually replied back like that, followed by a confused "uhh... I'm fine too. Thanks..."

[Gravekeeper]

My favourite is testing to see if they're really listening or not.

SC: "How's it going?"
Me: "(remains silent)"
SC: "Good to hear, anyway I want-"

I swear 99.9% of the time they continue on like you responded. In fact I have *never* had one of them wait for a response. They always either just keep talking, or even worse, respond like you DID say something and keep talking.

(shakes head)

[powerboy]

I hate it when I get put on hold, and then get disconnected. Also, I hate when, they say that they will send someone out, and then call the next day to see if I still want them to come in. Like today, having a guy come out for the water heater. The guy calls and mentions that he will not be able to come at 9am like he said. I already took the day off, so that someone will be home when he is. But nooo, I just call into work and tell them I am going to be coming in after all. Sorry about the

[Azalea]

You forgot the single worst thing about working at a call center: the sound we all dread hearing...

Plop...plop...flush

GROSS!

If you have to go the bathroom during the call, freaking excuse youself or call back later!

[1756GR2]

We're encouraged to put people on mute rather than on hold as it makes our stats look better.

Oh, daaang! I just crawled under my chair, thinking of the times I was singing to myself while on hold. My singing voice is just slightly more melodious than the sound my cat makes when I step on his tail in the dark. Good heavens, what if that poor rep just had me on mute and had to hear THAT? Then again, maybe that's why I've never been on hold for long.

[iradney]

Oh, daaang! I just crawled under my chair, thinking of the times I was singing to myself while on hold. My singing voice is just slightly more melodious than the sound my cat makes when I step on his tail in the dark. Good heavens, what if that poor rep just had me on mute and had to hear THAT? Then again, maybe that's why I've never been on hold for long.

HAHAHAH
don't worry about it GR2, stuff like that is actually very entertaining.
ALtho the weirdest thing I ever heard was something that sounded suspiciously like the guy was getting a...um...."oil change"

[Jester]

When I worked in restaurants, my peeve there was going up to a table, saying hello, introducing myself and asking something along the lines of how they were doing and their response...

"Iced tea" or "water" or "Coke"

No hi, no how ya doin', just get me my drink you pissant little server you! I lost lots of faith in humanity in that industry.

JESTER: "Hi there! How y'all doing today?"
SC: "Coke!"
JESTER: "Okay....."

On the other hand.....

JESTER: "Hi there! How y'all doing today?"
SC: "Beer!"
JESTER: "Buddy, I understand completely."

[iradney]

Oh, and I forgot to add my personal pet peeve.
Here's what I think goes through a C's thought processes:

Hmm, lesseee....my PC won't pick up my phone. That's strange...maybe I should call Technical Support

*Promptly forgets to, goes to bed, gets up and goes to work*

Oh s***! I forgot to phone Technical support about my phone and PC connectivity problem! And I don't have the phone or the PC with me right now! Oh well, I'll call them anyway, they have ESP


GRRRRRRRRRR
for the luvva chocolate, if you're having a problem connecting something to something else, and you call tech support, make damn sure you HAVE the components with you!

[Rapscallion]

JESTER: "Hi there! How y'all doing today?"
SC: "Coke!"
JESTER: "Okay....."

On the other hand.....

JESTER: "Hi there! How y'all doing today?"
SC: "Beer!"
JESTER: "Buddy, I understand completely."

Vaguely reminds me of an internal conversation I had with a member of the sales team yesterday. I was working in the fridge when the phone went.

"Battersea Dog's Home. You hound 'em, we impound 'em."

There was a flurry of giggles.

"Sausages!" she managed to say.

"Best greeting I've had all day," I told her.

I'm a bastard at times. I love being me.

Rapscallion