What the fuck is wrong with people?

[Despanan]

Okay, so to make ends meet, I work in non-profit arts telemarketing, basically selling the season for off-broadway theatre's and raising money for low income-children's education.

I used to work as a caller, but have recently been promoted to management.

Today, one of my new callers was on the phone with a guy. Dude freaked out on him and told him he had been "called by us seven times" and "Each time he had asked to be taken off our fucking list" and no one had complied.

My caller passed the number on to me and I looked it up. He had been called a total of three times over the course of 2 weeks. The first two times the call had lasted for less than thirty seconds (which means he hadn't picked up the phone) the third time was when my caller reached him.

So I call the guy, and asked if he had another number that he was being called on. As we use a computer, I was worried about double leads and wanted to make sure he was lying before I told my guy not to worry about it.

A few moments into the conversation, it becomes obvious the guy lied, he's stumbling over himself, changing his story left and right, you know the drill.

Here's the rub: asshole tries to turn it around on me, trying to say that I'm the asshole for calling him after he's asked not to be called. I point out that I'm just trying to make sure all his number are off our lists and he responds thusly:

"I don't want to have this conversation! I do not want it i do not want it i do not want it I DO NOT WANT IT!"

Losing all goddamn control of himself like he's some kind of friggin' invalid.

It doesn't end there. The first DAY that we were calling, a woman complained about us calling her incessantly. Another woman who'd been called ONCE threatened to sue and write letters to everyone on our board of directors because we were "harassing her". One of my poor guys (who works for less than five-hundred dollars a week) got cussed out by a teacher because that teacher "makes forty thousand a year" and obviously can't donate even $20 to help with education.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

[Saya]

Oh shit dude, my sympathies. People are insane!

Last year I finally had a break down because of call center work, I've been doing it for years. And I didn't even call out to people! They called me looking for help! And I'm one of those people who care way too much and will bend over backwards to make a customer happy, but its never enough. One day I just couldn't take it anymore, I started sobbing and crying and couldn't stop, and every time I tried to work since I'd start bawling again. So I quit and lived happily ever after, the end!

But the guy throwing the tantrum and the teacher sound very familiar. I've had people scream into my ear, "I WANT MY CABLE AND I WANT IT NOOOOOOOOOW!" Because you know, having on demand porn is a life and death situation. And I DO have a magic wand that solves all problems, but I'm a bitch and won't use it unless you render me deaf. At least I didn't have any of the guys who'd call and hang up until they get a woman, and start masturbating as their talking to you *shudder* And you're not allowed to hang up.

There's a call center down the road from me that I always refused to apply to. Its the calling-out center for things like Red Cross, MADD, anyone who's willing to hire them. A friend of mine did it for two days and couldn't hack it. I've heard horror stories.

[Joker_in_the_Pack]

I work (along with every other friggen department) at the return desk of Target. The only condolence I can give you is that at least the people yelling at you don't have the ability to hurl projectiles at you. Nobody's done it to me personally (being over six feet tall and wearing visible combat boots with a long wallet chain helps, gives me the sociopath/thug/violent person look) but co-workers of mine, mostly short women, have had pens, movies, and even a snow globe thrown at them. Our security responds as fast as it can, but this is a huge 2 story Target. We had one guy start yelling at my friend and calling him a friend. Now, this friend is noticeably muscularly built and fights mixed martial arts fights at the amateur level. He's not a juggernaut, but definitely not first on the list of people to call a fag. Security had to restrain him (my friend) and escort the other person off the premises.

[TheFeatheredÆtheling]

I saw a bumper sticker once that read, "I believe in Hell; I work retail".

My two, current, part-time jobs may be an absolute joke, but thank heavens ~ at least I don't have to do any sort of customer service anymore. It's the most demeaning thing I've ever had to do, as Saya put it, to "bend over backwards" for some rude, frustrated, "entitled" jackass with a chip on his shoulder who's impossible to please. Perpetually unhappy, always the victim, the irate customer feeds on the attention drawn by his whiny drama and contention, unleashing his shameless tirade onto the low-wage, powerless peons who are forced to wait upon him.

Fact: Slavery was supposedly abolished in the West long ago; but make no mistake, "slavery" merely changed its name to "customer service".

Damn, if I still worked in customer service, I'd definitely be an alcoholic.

[the-nihilist]

I used to be a cage cashier (casino), and one of the few things that made my day was watching an adult start throwing a temper tantrum reminiscent of a 5 year old.

[Ben Lahnger]

I've worked retail or customer service almost my whole adult life, except for a few turns at factory work, including over 12 years of retail management.

I once spent six months as a telemarketer for AAA. That was bad from several points. The management expected turnover so they weren't really too sympathetic to what the drones calling people on the phone were experiencing - because they were probably going to quit soon anyway ... it was all about meeting the quotas so supervisors could get their bonuses. They weren't listening to me when I told them things like, "There's no point in calling people during the NBA finals; they're just going to hate that."

So there I was, cold calling people from a number list during the NBA Finals and getting all the abuse you could think of ... "What the fuck are you doing calling me during the NBA Finals?!?" Fortunately, most of those calls ended up in quick hang-ups. There was no insistence we call them back if they hung up on us, so that was a break. But it was a thick slog, we had to make so many calls a day and after a short while it became so tiring reading that tired old script and absorbing all that hatred and abuse ... so one day I quit with no notice.

To this day that seems such a highly ineffective way to advertise. It's also why the only phone I own is an unlisted cell phone. I don't show up on other people's call lists unless they're using random number dialing computers (which are supposedly illegal but you have to prove a company uses them) so I get calls very rarely. And when I do, I treat them differently than how I did before I worked in the telemarketing business. Because now I know what it's like for the guy on the other end of the line.

The same is true for restaurant workers. My first job ever was 9 months working at a Family Kitchen restaurant as dishwasher/busser/grill cook. I was thrilled to leave that job to go work at Penney's as a stock boy for $0.50 more an hour because of how stressful the restaurant business was, but ever since then I almost always tip a little higher and a little more often than my friends when I eat out ... because I've been there.

When I managed a payday loan office part of my job was to make collections calls. I would call people to try to get them to pay on their loans (if they were delinquent) before I had to deposit their check several times, letting it bounce, so I could take them to small claims court. If they stopped answering my calls, I would have to visit their houses in person. Mind you, these folks walked in my door, asked for the money, understood the terms and conditions (we explained it very nicely), and yet when it came time to collect the money they owed ... I'd get hateful responses up to and including death threats. First time I told a supervisor I had received a death threat, her response was just to not call the guy any more and proceed with the small claims suit.

I never understood the need for death threats. And I never understood why management didn't take them more seriously. That was a very good paying job, but it was too stressful to keep. (And, lord help me, I've been currently out of work for so long that I've been applying for those kind of jobs again.)

I've done five years of convenience store management, where the biggest concerns where trying to catch the license plate numbers of people who drove off without paying, trying to catch the shoplifters who were schlepping through my store trying to pocket some chips and some beef jerky, and trying to keep my eyes peeled for any suspicious people that might be thinking about robbing the place .... which really haunts your thoughts when you're working third shift and it's three in the morning.

I managed some video game resale stores for a while, similar to the current brand GameStop. I had people yell at me because I wouldn't buy their broken-down, beat-up shit. I had a really drunk guy, dragging his two less-than-teen-aged boys behind him (whom he'd obviously driven to the store), rage at me because I wouldn't buy a Nintendo NES system that he'd just thrown up on. "What! It still fucking works! You can clean that off!" And it was my job to tell this drunken bastard, "No, I'm not cleaning it. I'm not buying it if you clean it up. There is NO way I'm turning that around to my customers." And he finally got that I was serious, grabbed the bag with his puke soaked Nintendo and walked back out of the store.

I'll never forget the look of terror in his kids eyes. I thought really hard about calling the cops to try to catch him for drunk driving, but management wouldn't have liked that kind of publicity.

I've long held that everyone should have to work one restaurant job, and one retail job, for a little while before they go on to do whatever it is they want to do with their life. I think it would make them a little more empathic and sensitive ... at least most of them.

My last job was over three years of taking inbound tech support calls from cell phone owners. It was stunning to me the number of people who would call in asking for help getting their BlackBerry working and getting pissy resistance when I'd suggest things like, "Have you installed the BlackBerry software on your computer? Because we're going to have to back up your data to the computer, then re-install the operating system to your phone."

They didn't want to have to put any time or effort into it. They just wanted the phone to work. They wanted their data magically backed up. They wanted free replacement phones when there was nothing physically wrong with their phones. You can explain to people all day long that, "You don't throw out a PC because it's got an operating system error - you reinstall Windows. That's what we need to do with your phone." They just didn't want to hear it and didn't want to have to spend any time maintaining their own shit. And that was a good percentage of the callers.

So, Despanan, I've often asked myself what the fuck is wrong with people. I don't have a direct answer, but I do have a little bit of insight.

Because on that same tech support job, every now and then I would get a call from someone who would say, "This is really embarrassing. I usually am able to fix my BlackBerry myself. I've had it for over 5 years and this is the first time I've had to call you. Usually I can get on the BlackBerry website and find the instructions for what to do to restore my phone, but this time nothing they suggest and nothing I've found anywhere else online has worked. I'm sorry to be bothering you, but I've been working on this for days and I'm stuck."

I'm sorry to be bothering you. Wow!

I love that customer. That guy or gal has their shit together. I tell them there's no need to apologize, that's what we're here for, that's part of what they pay for and I'll be happy to help. And this time I mean it sincerely. Because this person goes through life trying to handle things themselves. They don't bother people with drama. They don't abuse people at the same time they're expecting those people to help them. They just quietly go about their business and solve their problems. They say "sorry" and "please" and "thank you" ... and mean it. And they don't hit your radar very often because they're quiet and self-sufficient and reasonable.

And most of the time, we remember the assholes, because they're the ones making the noise. But you've got to remember that this is not how all people are ... and you're not going to hear any noise from the vast amount of decent people.

So now I find myself applying for more retail management and service industry jobs. Because, at the end of the day, despite all the abuse, I still genuinely like helping people.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

[Anarasha]

My sympathies mate.
Some people are just fucked up like that.
Whenever I get a call I don't really want, I usually stay polite about it.
Now as for not donating to a just cause when your income is plenty, well I find that small and petty.

[ape descendant]

I guess working customer service is one of those jobs... it takes mad skills to be able to handle the general public on a daily basis.. especially the assholes who seem to think you owe them everything under the sun, because you picked up a phone or happen to be standing behind a counter.

[Saya]

I find retail to be a fantastic improvement, but I think thats because people can see me. I know I don't look intimidating AT ALL but I seem to give good "fuck off" vibes, no one bothers me. When bitchy customers do come around they always go for one of the other girls I work with, its strange. I could count on one hand all the really bitchy customers I've had in the year I've been working retail.

ETA: I should say I don't work the cash registers, I just get to help people pick out clothes and clean up. Easy peasy, and the cashiers get the bulk of bullshit it seems.

[Solumina]

I've heard people are the worst at the returns desk and on the phones. Thankfully I only deal with people from behind a desk or through a window (I do kind of love my little putt-putt shack) so people can't really get up in my face even if they wanted to. I seriously don't think I could deal with working in a call center even though the ones around here pay $2.50 an hour than what I get now, it just isn't worth my sanity.

[Saya]

Yeah most call centers here pay you handsomely, but its just not worth it. Its emotionally draining and they don't like part timers, so you have to work nine hour shifts all week. It takes forever to get seniority so you work late and can only do stuff on your days off where you're so tired you don't want to do much.

Well, there's one here in which you're off at five, but you need a reference letter from God to work there. And I'm done with it forever.

[honeythorn]

I've not had any real stress with customers in nearly six years of working in a restaurant and over a year working in a clothes shop in a big shopping centre.

With the restaurant ,it may have simply been the place I worked perhaps? . It wasn't upmarket as such but was percieved as ever so slightly "posh" because we had silver service and whatnot. No shouting, no throwing stuff or abuse, just the odd " can I have this steak done a bit more please? "

Perhaps I was lucky?


This may just be a horribly general sweeping statement here, but I don't know if it's just me or this stuff genuinely seems to happen more in the US? But going on my own experiences and then reading page after page on Notalwaysright.com..

http://notalwaysright.com/

Just going through the site, a vast amount of these experiences seem to come from the US and Canada O.o ( though it could simply be that less UK workers are aware of the site in order to post on it of course )

On the one hand it makes me want to fly over, and spend weeks simply lurking round shops and call centres ect like a fly on the wall to see this shit happen with my own eyes, and on the other makes me NEVER want to shop there , in case I see something of that idiotic nature and simply start beating the customers round the head with something heavy...

[Corpsey]

While I can sympathize with the thought that people are nuts, I can heart fully say that the worst experience I had with work was when the boss put me on call along with the other male workers and replaced us all the busty women.

Other than that, it was working at a "haunted maze" as an actor and getting drunk people trying to show off Karate moves when I jumped out at them from nowhere and claiming I was about to receive a dislocated shoulder.

I do think after reading these experiences that I can quell any urges to become a call center worker.

Originally Posted by Honey Thorne

I've not had any real stress with customers in nearly six years of working in a restaurant and over a year working in a clothes shop in a big shopping centre.

With the restaurant ,it may have simply been the place I worked perhaps? . It wasn't upmarket as such but was percieved as ever so slightly "posh" because we had silver service and whatnot. No shouting, no throwing stuff or abuse, just the odd " can I have this steak done a bit more please? "

Perhaps I was lucky?


This may just be a horribly general sweeping statement here, but I don't know if it's just me or this stuff genuinely seems to happen more in the US? But going on my own experiences and then reading page after page on Notalwaysright.com..

I also was thinking that my lack of bad workplace stories was because i didnt live in North America.

[ape descendant]

I think people tend to be a little shittier over the phones because they can't see you... so in their mind you're not really a person, just some strange, disembodied voice.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by ape descendant

I think people tend to be a little shittier over the phones because they can't see you... so in their mind you're not really a person, just some strange, disembodied voice.

I agree.

Sorry to hear you had a crap day. Tommorrow will be better.

I've done customer service three times in my life - and I'll never do it again. I admire anyone who works in retail - always have a happy smile and a hello for those folks.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by honeythorn

I've not had any real stress with customers in nearly six years of working in a restaurant and over a year working in a clothes shop in a big shopping centre.

With the restaurant ,it may have simply been the place I worked perhaps? . It wasn't upmarket as such but was percieved as ever so slightly "posh" because we had silver service and whatnot. No shouting, no throwing stuff or abuse, just the odd " can I have this steak done a bit more please? "

Perhaps I was lucky?


This may just be a horribly general sweeping statement here, but I don't know if it's just me or this stuff genuinely seems to happen more in the US? But going on my own experiences and then reading page after page on Notalwaysright.com..

http://notalwaysright.com/

Just going through the site, a vast amount of these experiences seem to come from the US and Canada O.o ( though it could simply be that less UK workers are aware of the site in order to post on it of course )

On the one hand it makes me want to fly over, and spend weeks simply lurking round shops and call centres ect like a fly on the wall to see this shit happen with my own eyes, and on the other makes me NEVER want to shop there , in case I see something of that idiotic nature and simply start beating the customers round the head with something heavy...

I don't think its a NA thing, when my roommate waitressed the customers she HATED the most were Europeans, more specifically French, for being rude and not understanding that a tip is expected. Actually a lot of people loathe French customers XD But maybe that it was upscale was probably the factor, Sears isn't exactly upscale but its tries, and I find it awesome, and its definitely a step up from lets say Wal Mart, where I hear people are savage.

[Underwater Ophelia]

Working with the public is the worst.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Saya

Yeah most call centers here pay you handsomely, but its just not worth it. Its emotionally draining and they don't like part timers, so you have to work nine hour shifts all week. It takes forever to get seniority so you work late and can only do stuff on your days off where you're so tired you don't want to do much.

Well, there's one here in which you're off at five, but you need a reference letter from God to work there. And I'm done with it forever.

Damn.

My company doesn't pay a living wage (or, more correctly, it would pay a living wage if we hired full-timers) but at least the hours are good, as is the work environment.

Honestly, compared to the other "artist" jobs, it beats the hell out of retail and waiting.

But man are people shitty to you.

[Saya]

Its stressful. I'm in the fundraising committee for the sexual assault crisis center and I still can't do phone work (calling business asking for donations), I'm too petrified they're going to freak at me for asking.

But in the right environment it wouldn't be so bad, actually a big reason why I couldn't take it was because I had no support and there was actually a guy going around who would stop, stand behind you and after the call tell you what you did wrong, rarely what you did right. I did well at my first call center because there was a good group of people I could let off steam around, even my supervisor was really awesome.

[ape descendant]

I've only done outbound once... and I shall do my best to keep it that way.... *shudders*

[honeythorn]

Originally Posted by Saya

I don't think its a NA thing, when my roommate waitressed the customers she HATED the most were Europeans, more specifically French, for being rude and not understanding that a tip is expected. Actually a lot of people loathe French customers XD But maybe that it was upscale was probably the factor, Sears isn't exactly upscale but its tries, and I find it awesome, and its definitely a step up from lets say Wal Mart, where I hear people are savage.

The French are reknowned for being rude, stereotyped really but it is sadly often true I've found.

A tip is expected? You mean regardless of service good or bad?

I wasn't aware of that. Perhaps the French aren't either? I never expected a tip, I was just putting plates on the table, putting the customers choice of veg on it and doing their desserts and so on O.o

How much of a tip? Just in case I do happen to someday end up in a US reataurant?

[ape descendant]

15% is what one usually leaves for gratuity. Leave more if they were really good and you really liked them. If they were absolutely terrible, cantankerous, rude or just pretty much ignored your table.. then its appropriate to withhold a tip.

Sometimes, servers make less than minimum wage and depend on their tips for their livelihoods.

[Ben Lahnger]

And sometimes, people a bitchy about perfectly good service and don't leave a tip.

[ape descendant]

Yep... that happens some times... people in general are jerks.

[Saya]

And most places here have the tip calculated for you on the bill, just not added. And they still don't tip! Ignorance isn't really an excuse. It got so bad that in a few places now when Europeans come in on tours they buy food cards that have 15% gratuity added on.