Current Events > Some interesting things I've learned working in a call center.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I do billing for an insurance company. It's pretty good work all things considered, however, people are weird.

1. Many people don't hang up their phones when they're finished with the call. On my part its actually better for me to let them hang up first, as it allows me to squeeze in a little extra after-call work. However, a lot of people just don't hang up AT ALL. The call would go on for several minutes if I didn't hang up after I finished up my work. Best part is, one of my coworkers had this same situation where she reinstated a policy after they attested to there being no accidents on their insured vehicle while the policy was in cancellation, then after not hanging up they discussed with their insurance agent how best to commit insurance fraud by filing a glass claim that occurred while their policy was in cancellation. Thank god for recorded calls. :D

2. People will request an interpretor for a call, then proceed to talk over the interpretor or yell at them. This shit boils my butter, because not only are we sticking our neck out paying good money for an interpretor for your benefit, but you're throwing negativity at someone who isn't even involved in your issue.

3. A substantial amount of people don't know that there is a ZIP code associated with their credit/debit card. I ask them, "What's the ZIP code for this card?" and they'll turn the card over and over and tell me "It doesn't have a ZIP code written on it". I would chalk this up to atypical ignorance but it has happened in some permutation several dozen times.

4. People frequently don't have access to their driver's license. For us Billing Reps, it's a useful secondary identification tool to find their policy (The license number, specifically). At first this didn't bug me much until I really thought to myself, "How often am I more than a room or two away from my driver's license?", and the answer is, basically never. I always have access to my driver's license, and I can't really fathom why someone wouldn't. People will also call to make a debit card payment but have no idea where their wallet is. That just makes me scratch my head.

5. If I ask someone if they'd like to put a phone number on file fior contact purposes, the most common response I get is, "I already have one on file". I'm just going to preface this by making it very clear, no one is going to ask for your phone number if we already have your phone number. There is a distinct implication in the statement that should immediately and uncontrovertably tell you, "We do not have a contact phone number for you on file". The real icing on the cake, however, is the self-assured smugness they have when they say it. It can be hard to avoid putting a little sardonic tone in my response to that sometimes.

There's probably more but that's all that comes to mind right now.
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Okay, so tell me, what's the most effective way to get guys like you to hang up and not call again without being offensive? It feels like whatever reason I give for not being interested, there's some sales-y response to try to convince me to comply anyway. Is there something I can tell a call center employee that'll make you say "okay, valid argument, have a nice day". Too many times I said I wasn't interested and the call center person would just keep on pushing.

get over yourself if you tell someone they don't have a phone number on file when they think they do then they are thinking you could be looking at the wrong customer's account there not just going to give you the phone number no questions asked

winged_weltall posted...

Okay, so tell me, what's the most effective way to get guys like you to hang up and not call again without being offensive? It feels like whatever reason I give for not being interested, there's some sales-y response to try to convince me to comply anyway. Is there something I can tell a call center employee that'll make you say "okay, valid argument, have a nice day". Too many times I said I wasn't interested and the call center person would just keep on pushing.

We don't do outbound calls unless we need to follow up on an issue we're resolving for the insured, so I can't tell you from any personal experience.
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winged_weltall posted...

Okay, so tell me, what's the most effective way to get guys like you to hang up and not call again without being offensive?

Pogo_Marimo posted...

I do billing for an insurance company.

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People are stupid
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winged_weltall posted...

Okay, so tell me, what's the most effective way to get guys like you to hang up and not call again without being offensive? It feels like whatever reason I give for not being interested, there's some sales-y response to try to convince me to comply anyway. Is there something I can tell a call center employee that'll make you say "okay, valid argument, have a nice day". Too many times I said I wasn't interested and the call center person would just keep on pushing.

"thanks but i'm not interested."
*hang up*
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CharlesBronson posted...

get over yourself if you tell someone they don't have a phone number on file when they think they do then they are thinking you could be looking at the wrong customer's account there not just going to give you the phone number no questions asked

They most likely aren't allowed to read said phone number unprompted technically. When I worked in a call center we weren't allowed to read phone numbers, addresses or email addresses to the customer, and we could only confirm them to be correct if -you- said it. It's backwards, but it's protecting spi and has nothing to do with getting over yourself
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CharlesBronson posted...

get over yourself if you tell someone they don't have a phone number on file when they think they do then they are thinking you could be looking at the wrong customer's account there not just going to give you the phone number no questions asked

We confirm the policy number and address for the policy prior to asking about call back information, and we're only politely asking if they would like to put one on file.

I have no problem if they even are incredulous that they don't already have one, what I find amusing is when they basically tell me I'm wrong to ask because they already have one. Because, you know, they don't. And I'm the one who would know that. And they think I'm mistaken.

It's just one of those amusing circumstances of how people react to cognitive dissonance. It's rarely flattering. What can I say?
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winged_weltall posted...

Okay, so tell me, what's the most effective way to get guys like you to hang up and not call again without being offensive? It feels like whatever reason I give for not being interested, there's some sales-y response to try to convince me to comply anyway. Is there something I can tell a call center employee that'll make you say "okay, valid argument, have a nice day". Too many times I said I wasn't interested and the call center person would just keep on pushing.

Ask them to put you on their do not call list and get a confirmation number and name of the agent helping you.
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Oh, SPI can be a hoot. We frequently receive calls from friends, family members, and spouses who demand information about someone elses policy which we cannot provide without permission from the policyholder. No matter how courteous you are people will get extremely upset because you can't give them their sons minimum due amount. I'm sorry if it makes you angry but I'm not violating Federal Privacy Laws just because your son is too irresponsible to call for himself. :/
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I work for the government and our office takes calls from the public frequently.

Part of the identification process is the person has to answer biographical questions and give us their address. It's ridiculous how many people do not know and cannot provide their address and then become indignant when I explain to them they will have to come in with photo ID because I cannot identify them.
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SixStringHero posted...

I work for the government and our office takes calls from the public frequently.

Part of the identification process is the person has to answer biographical questions and give us their address. It's ridiculous how many people do not know and cannot provide their address and then become indignant when I explain to them they will have to come in with photo ID because I cannot identify them.

It doesn't happen too often to me but if the caller cannot identify their name and address correctly I can't continue the call, obviously. One woman went ballistic because she refused to provide her name to me, and I tried very patiently to explain that I cannot assist without confirming her identity. Eventually she hung up. Oh well.

She was in full meltdown mode too. It was like listening to ROD irl.
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the sooner your job gets automated the better!

CharlesBronson posted...

the sooner your job gets automated the better!

You seem like a pleasant person.
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CharlesBronson posted...

the sooner your job gets automated the better!

Have you dealt with automated phone services before? Pain in the ass.

In any case that I can hit '0' to get in touch with a human being, I do.
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