Do we have any rights in customer service industry?

Question

Does anyone work in a call center or in customer service too?

Are we entitled to any rights at all?

I work in a call center answering general enquiries, and my manager wants us to "be professional" by allowing customer to scold us, yell at us, curse, threaten, they can basically say anything to us and we just have to accept it.

A customer used tons of profanities on me, i'm have to tolerate 'cos if i interrupt, try to explain or stop him then i'll be blamed by my manager for being "unprofessional" by disrupting the customer. Then the customer starting cursing at my parents!!! I kept my cool n firmly told her "please do not say that about my parents" n she YELL at the top of her voice "HOW DARE YOU BE SO RUDE TO ME, I'M A CUSTOMER, YOU STUPID!!! YOU ARE SO STUPID!!

One of my collegue was told "WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE YOU'RE COMPLETE USELESS "...!!! I mean.. we're people too, i do understand in customer service we deal with difficult people but isn't there a bottom line?

Answer 1

Rights are dependent on Company policy and union strength. Cannot consol you there. However:

Keep a positive mind by focusing on your goal in life for the next three years. Consider Purpose and Priority in keeping your job:

– Dealing with impossible customers is where working experience and knowledge is gained over sanitary classroom environments; polite customers are always easy to please barring hiccups.
– A stepping stone to other retail environments, other departments, or promotion within the same company or industry.
– Further up the progression ladder, different stresses are faced, with it, more empowerment and responsibility to deal with nasty customers.
– Character building that you know yourself to be not as humble or more proud than you thought of yourself, regardless the customer being right or wrong, that your tolerance for other’s inadequacies and oddities are increased.
– The customer is not paid. You are. Listen to their banter for which they are not likely to see a penny of it at the end of the day.

Stop gap measures to relieve tension:

– Short three minute breaks every twenty thirty minutes to a toilet or some quiet place to recompose your thoughts.
– Distract the mind by doodling on a paper. Let the customer commit verbal suicide whilst acknowledging them with well placed ‘Yes’ between pauses. This is to let them know you are listening and for them to be aware of your presence.
– With experience and at a personal level, have an understanding and application of good human relations, joke with the customer and agree that the service is utterly dreadful, then redirect their attention to the issue on hand that the customer wants tending to.
– Rationalize that the customer may have tried to call the company several times, received bad advice, received a lemon in the goods or services provided, fellow company colleague may have played your service department out by hanging up and so on.
– Be thankful that you are not in the customer’s position having paid for a defective or unwanted product, and recourse is possibly dubious or less probable.
– Take a long stretch of leave to positive environments with upbeat people from different professions to yours.

Personal assessments made of the company and/or industry may reveal more on the company and therefore shed light on the nature of customers the company serves:

– Approach to customer management.
– Implicit (unspoken) method of dealing with customers.
– Existence and adherence to a best practice manual.
– Competency at supervisory levels.
– Significance and market share of the company in the industry.
– Type and quality of product and services sold.
– Quantity and quality of new implementation of customer related policies.
– Distribution channels that are in competition with themselves.
– Actively monitored manpower requirements with peak hours.
– Empowerment to please a customer.
(Ritz Carlton used to reimburse their employees for proven good cause verified by a voluntary customer satisfied with the service through compliments.)

Should you be in the emploi of a shaky company known for retrenching people, offer to resign at the first verifiable sign so that you avoid blemish on your CV when you do eventually find the ideal job.

Most large corporations favour impeccable records; there is an implicit stigma and disdain associated with the word 'retrenchment', in certain management circles.

Answer 2

Reasonable people won't do that to you. As a "caller," I can understand the frustration the customers feel. When we have lost money and service, we feel ripped off and are upset about it. I try to be as polite as possible, but I do get upset when I am told that there is nothing that you can do about it. I believe that there is always something you can do about it. I I am told you can't do something, I take it as you are not willing to do something, and even though it might be policy, when hundreds of my dollars are on the line, I can't help but get emotional, but at most I get a little firm. The examples you give are from people that are not worth the stress. Just take it, and laugh about it afterword. I am a former server and bartender, and I have always had a good laugh at rude customers.

Answer 3

There needs to be a middle ground i have worked in customer service and retail and i have been cussed out many times but you should be able to stop and tell them to calm down it is not your fault and you did not make the policy. Explain what you can do for them and if they are not happy pass it off to your manager.
That is how it should work i am not sure what your manager is doing

Answer 4

You can say, "Let's see what we can do to fix the problem" at the first chance you get.

In extreme cases like these record the call if you can. I would also suggest turning the call over to your supervisor. In short, let him deal with the jerks until he gets the policy changed to help you.

You have the right to get promoted up the chain so you won't have to deal with these types of calls as much. You have the right to apply for workman's comp due to pyschological abuse suffered. You have the right to quit your job and find another one. Take your pick.

Answer 5

You pretty much have to deal with it if you don't want to get fired. Yeah, it sucks.
This may make you feel better:
http://www.violentacres.com/archives/59/two-phrases-that-destroyed-american-culture
It's a blog entry that talks about what you're dealing with =). It was very entertaining and I agree with every word of it.

Answer 6

so many rights any employee having in call center industries it is leading field for making future so it never ignore the rights of human being as they are having Govt. and Pvt. fields


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Answer 7

i would answer the phone with the message that this call is recorded to insure quality control and can i please have your name and phone number to insure your satisfaction. yes people are mean but when they know they are being recorded this sometimes helps. when they ask for a manager put him through to them saying the same thing about recording the conversation

Answer 8

offcourse becouse any industries provide the some rights to the employee
so same facility also provide there


http://www.market-iq-int.com

Answer 9

i know exactly where you are coming from, used to be in retail sales but, couldn't handle dumb arrogant customers, there wasn't many of them but man the hassle wasn't worth it