How To Influence People

[TelephoneAngel]

Boyfriend's idiot friend tells me how he winds up call centre workers at my company when he speaks to them.

I just storm into the kitchen and ignore him.

[bainsidhe]

Karma, my friend. Just you wait.

[ShadowTiger]

I would have punched him in the face. I just don't trust Karma these days.

[Treasure]

ummm...... when you can do so with out getting stabby - Details! woman!

not that I don't want to play a Wii game with him standing behind lil ol' 4ft10in me, (where my elbow or fist is perfectly level with soft and squishy parts of his anatomy )

[EvilEmpryss]

Any chance you can quietly pass BF's IF's name around to your coworkers? If there's a chance you guys can get away with it (not recorded or monitored or whatever), it'd be funny to hear the next time he calls up and you guys are onto him from the beginning.

[Darkforge]

long story short, I ranted about one particular "mistreating a rep" story i had experienced, then my comp lost it and well, typing it out was theraputic enough.

anyway, that dude sucks almost as much as the guy who blew airhorns down the phone at us (ruptured a rep's eardrum). Call centre rep is sucky work (as I know first hand) but that doesn't mean that we aren't people too.

Hugs to you TA (and the other half is making chocolate fudge brownies which smell sooo good, so you can have some of them as well - if there are any left!)

[TheRabbi]

Boyfriend's idiot friend tells me how he winds up call centre workers at my company when he speaks to them.

I just storm into the kitchen and ignore him.

Were I you, I'd have chosen a nice time to sit down with my SO and tell them that their friend needs an attitude adjustment and a reality check. And then give them a deadline to do it by.

[EvilEmpryss]

Nice suggestion, Rabbi, and one that might actually work.

[Merriweather]

Were I you, I'd have chosen a nice time to sit down with my SO and tell them that their friend needs an attitude adjustment and a reality check. And then give them a deadline to do it by.

And if SO is not familiar with call centre work, sit down with him when he sits down with his friend, tell him you'll give him benefit of the doubt just once that he has no idea what he's doing (you know he does, but....). Mention things like people get fired for exceeding call times because of dealing with people like him. People get fired for not resolving problems because of dealing with people like him. How hard call centres work, for so little money, all with rent to pay, some with families to support, etc.

THEN tell him, ok, if he still finds it funny to make calls like that, how about you go to his boss and (think up a good thing that would get him fired at whatever it is he does), does he think that would be funny as well?

If all that doesn't work, I'd insist SO never bring him into your presence again, and maybe even consider why SO hangs out with such a full-fledged jerk.

I seriously doubt the friend is so naive or dumb that he doesn't realize the consequences of what he does, but having had them explained to him step by step, so he can no longer claim ingorance, eleminates any possible explanation except that he is one cruel, uncaring, vindictive individual.

[TheRabbi]

Merriweather:

Actually, I specifically meant for the SO to talk to his friend alone. While all the stuff you bring up is true and pertinent, I'd hope that TA's SO is motivated enough in this endeavour to not really need a whole lot of backup, and it probably would make it seem less like "Yeah, my SO is making us have this conversation" from the friend's perspective, so he might actually pay more heed.

[TelephoneAngel]

ummm...... when you can do so without getting stabby - Details! woman!
)

Sorry had to wait till I was "alone"

ok stuff like...........

when asked a perfectly normal question eg "What is your name?" ask "Is that first name last name or full name with all middle names"

when asked a question such as "When did you call about the problem?" reply "You tell me you've got all the details on your computer"

When asked to wait a moment while the agent looks something up keep sighing deeply to show you are irritated.

When asked if you understand the legal implications and audit of the documents you will need to sign, start an argument about how the financial laws are archaic and whether it undermines your human rights to be asked to sign anything.

See how far you can push the agent and award yourself points if they sound at all defensive or unhappy.



And yes when I had calmed down I gave a whole speech about call times how we are recorded on how calm we are with the customer etc etc.
Also why would anyone want to deliberatley make the agent unhappy?


He replied "it was only a joke"

As we all know dear readers SCs will push you to the edge then declare "it was only a joke" and therefore yet again it is YOUR fault for not having an apropraite sense of humour.

[TelephoneAngel]

Were I you, I'd have chosen a nice time to sit down with my SO and tell them that their friend needs an attitude adjustment and a reality check. And then give them a deadline to do it by.

Boyfriend has heard enough about how our targets and call times work at my company that he also didn't find it that amusing.

[chainedbarista]

i agree; while they may find it annoying (unless they called in and then their behavior warrants a disconnect, but unfortunately...) to answer the phone and questions, this is screwing with someone's ability to support themselves and is not only not funny, it's unacceptable. call centers should (although i know this is a pipe dream) factor this kind of 'customer' behavior in when calls are made/taken, rather than punishe the worker for things that are beyond their control.

he's an ass, period. anyone who screws with the livelihood of another person is somehow less than human and more of a troglodyte.

[Captain Trips]

.... why would anyone want to deliberatley make the agent unhappy?

He replied "it was only a joke"(

Anyone who uses that excuse is an antisocial jerk -- the only person who sees it as funny is the perpetrator. And even more so if he says he doesn't care after you explained to him that people get fired when someone like him plays his "joke" on them.

"It was only a joke" is the asshole's way of justifying to themselves that they acted in a manner unthinking of anyone elses' feelings but their own. If you SO is okay with that behavior, perhaps it's time to reconsider your SO?

[Rapscallion]

anyway, that dude sucks almost as much as the guy who blew airhorns down the phone at us (ruptured a rep's eardrum). Call centre rep is sucky work (as I know first hand) but that doesn't mean that we aren't people too.

Damn - that's bad. Isn't there any equipment that limits the maximum noise put out by headphones?

Rapscallion