Why do call centres hire stupid people?

Question

Ok, before I start I want to say that I have worked in a call centre in the past and, most of the staff there were competent! But:

Why do call centres hire so many thick people that obviously are going to be useless at the job? Do they not have aptitude tests? Surely these people could go and work in places where they're not going to mess up parts of peoples lives?

It might be only me but, when I contact someone in a call centre I always assume that things are going to be done incorrectly. Usually i'm right!

Answer 1

I worked in and also managed call centers for many years. There are alot of dedicated people who really do their best but there even more who take the job because the think it's easy and you just sit on your butt all day talking on the phone. It's a demanding, thankless job. You get yelled at by angry customer's on the phone. When you try taking the time to resolve their issues, you get yelled at by your boss because you took too much time on a call and your statistics are down and there are too many calls on hold. It's a high stress environment and because the pay is pretty crappy, most people quit right away or the good ones get burned out. The turnaround time is incredible. Because of that there are managers who get so frustrated, they opt to fill the seat with any warm body, instead of taking the extra time (that they don't always have as an option) to hire quality employees. In the end, when they simple fill a spot with someone who appears to be at least breathing, they will end up chasing their tail and trying to fill that same spot 2 months later when the moron quits.

Here's a tip that most customers will not take the time to do, but I highly suggest it. If you are getting NOWHERE with the customer service rep you are speaking with, ask to speak with their manager. Most are trained to not do this and to continue handling the call, but if you pressure them, they will turn the call over to the manager. At that point, hopefully the manager can pull some strings for you and get you what you want or at least give you a logical reasonable answer. Also, if you get great, accurate, friendly service from a rep, also ask to speak to the manager and tell them how helpful the rep was. A little encouragement goes a LLLLOOONNNGGG way in that business.

Sorry for rambling..... =)

Answer 2

I have had mixed standards when contacting call centres. As you say some are so bad you just want to give up .
I Had a real issue with one of the major suppliers of energy , Having agreed fixed contract prices for both Gas and electric , my bills came in with unit costs ever rising !!! It too 6 phone calls , 2 letters and goodness know how many emails and 14 months to get it right !!
The other issue of course is once you select from the myriad of options , you can then be left listening to music for ages , I think 38 mins was my record ,
I only contact these centres as a very last resort .

Answer 3

They do not, you normally call the centres when you have a `gripe`, and as they are taught to speak to you in a calm manner you cannot handle it, and start to get upset or angry, then as they continue to stay calm you continue to get upset, then abusive, then, well, you then percieve them as being stupid as by now they will have hung-up on you for your rudeness as you will have overstepped the mark, then you will tell everyone that they are stupid, then go onto `Answers` hoping that others will agree.
The secret is, just have a polite conversation with everyone and you will think, "hey, maybe they are not so bad after all".

Answer 4

Smart people wouldn't work for the crappy money. Also call centre work is very stressful, you get constant abuse and rejection, unless you've done it like I have you have no idea how draining it can be after a few hours. Nobody with any sense stays in it for long.

Answer 5

I worked in a call center for a major magazine for 5 years and I have to agree with you.

I had to leave and find a new job because they were actually making me train the new hires!! I wanted to shoot somebody!

These reps gave out so much wrong information it wasn't even funny, and they never processed anything right.

Then, guess who got to try to calm down the screaming customer who's been trying to get his address changed for the last 5 months??? Me!!

Answer 6

First of all. No one in their right mind can hire anyone stupid and to assume call centres do that is basically incorrect.

We always assume things when call some of these call centres but someone once said that ASSUMPTION IS THE LOWEST FORM OF KNOWLEDGE, and I really agree with a statement like that.

Answer 7

Because you have MNCs who own these call centres or phonecard companies and they employ workers in countries like India so that they can pay them a really low wage for the long hours they put in without the unions getting on their backs.So you cant expect much quality really.

Answer 8

First of all is cheaper for the employer
Second- the employee doesn't have enough qualifications for a better job

Answer 9

Ha Ha Ha, thats the funniest Q ive read in ages, are you English?

Answer 10

I wish I knew, I think its for the same reason that Wetherspoons only employ people who go amazingly slow.....!