A tipster wrote to describe a disturbing experience recently with a customer service attendant at one of the big companies.
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The customer had a complicated situation and wasn't finding the attendant receptive to his questions.
He eventually asked to speak to the supervisor, which required him to be put on hold.
The hold option did not come with any recordings or music.
It was just plain silence as he waited.
While on hold, the customer had a private conversation with someone in his home, privately expressing his frustration with the attendant.
When the company attendant finally returned she asked him questions about the private conversation he had in the room, asking why he had spoken about her in a disrespectful manner.
So in other words, the attendant, while pretending to be away from the call dealing with what had to be dealt with, was actually listening in and snooping in.
Having worked at such a job for a long time, I can attest to having seen crazy behaviour by such phone attendants.
The trick of listening in could probably done quite easily simply by manipulating the mute button.
The mute button is the hidden weapon for the passive-aggressive impulses of such attendants.
Phone workers press that mute button to secretly grumble about customers with great frequency. So behind the scenes when you call, (especially if you're an anglo) the attendant is quite possibly really saying "Good morning, how can I help you? (presses mute) ASSHOLE?
It's a bad habit that I've seen countless times. Alas, contract workers are far less likelier to do it, as they tend to be on their best behaviour knowing that they can be left off the schedule at any time.
While that sort of thing is entirely harmless, listening in to a home conversation while pretending to have that person on hold is another thing entirely and seems like a grievous offence.
So the moral of the story is: if you can't handle the emotional pressures of a customer service job, go get another job.
And the second moral is, if you think they can't hear you when you're on hold, you might be entirely incorrect.
He eventually asked to speak to the supervisor, which required him to be put on hold.
The hold option did not come with any recordings or music.
It was just plain silence as he waited.
While on hold, the customer had a private conversation with someone in his home, privately expressing his frustration with the attendant.
When the company attendant finally returned she asked him questions about the private conversation he had in the room, asking why he had spoken about her in a disrespectful manner.
So in other words, the attendant, while pretending to be away from the call dealing with what had to be dealt with, was actually listening in and snooping in.
Having worked at such a job for a long time, I can attest to having seen crazy behaviour by such phone attendants.
The trick of listening in could probably done quite easily simply by manipulating the mute button.
The mute button is the hidden weapon for the passive-aggressive impulses of such attendants.
Phone workers press that mute button to secretly grumble about customers with great frequency. So behind the scenes when you call, (especially if you're an anglo) the attendant is quite possibly really saying "Good morning, how can I help you? (presses mute) ASSHOLE?
It's a bad habit that I've seen countless times. Alas, contract workers are far less likelier to do it, as they tend to be on their best behaviour knowing that they can be left off the schedule at any time.
While that sort of thing is entirely harmless, listening in to a home conversation while pretending to have that person on hold is another thing entirely and seems like a grievous offence.
So the moral of the story is: if you can't handle the emotional pressures of a customer service job, go get another job.
And the second moral is, if you think they can't hear you when you're on hold, you might be entirely incorrect.