http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r381778 en Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:44:08 EDT Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:44:08 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,381778 anon : I also worked a call center doing tech support. I have to tell you the hiring criteria done by the company I worked for was extremely low. Can you spell C A T if I spot you the C and T. The turnover is high, most of the employees don't give a damn who they work for and the Company itself only cares about giving their client "Good Numbers" so you can't really place the entire blame on Verizon. Internet services, especially broadband is a losing proposition right now, they aren't making any real money at an average of 7.45/mth for internet access, but they do wind up losing customers with the call centers uneducated staff and the air of apathy that surrounds the typical call center work environment]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,381778 Tue, 23 Jan 2001 12:50:52 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,371856 OCNBLUE : I think what you will see is Verizon opening up additional call centers that are outsourced. With the closing of the CLEC, there was an existing contract with an outsourcing company that has a few years remaining. I would imagine those people will now support DSL. This should also increase the headcount.

One issue that always arises with union employee's is when the company needs to make a fast change on anything. Union contracts need to be renegotiated due to the changes. This always takes forever. I think that is why Verizon outsourced the CLEC to begin with.

All this stuff about bathroom breaks etc. is standard for any company in customer service. Do not think it is Verizon only. Sprint, Operator Sevices divisions for all telecom companies, AT&T, USWest/Qwest all operate the same. When you hire someone for customer service (a job I wish on no one) they should have to sign a waiver that states their duties. They will probably re-think the job and that would force companies to raise the pay scale.

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,371856 Sat, 20 Jan 2001 15:57:19 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,371720 geek49203 : I worked a phone support center for a year. That's about average for phone support, and actually I wouldn't have lasted that long except that I was supporting a good product. As anyone who's done tech support will attest, if you're doing tech support for a bad product then it's worse than being a skin diver for a septic tank company. I suspect that doing customer support for some of our ILECs would be worse than the septic tank job.

Let me address the "concerns" listed:
>>* New procedures are introduced during peak volume without planned training, resulting in more harassment for not following procedures.

Well, again that's a part of the "way things are" for all tech support people. My observation for my job was that proceedures were changed so often that we simply documented chaos. While you won't be fired for not following procedures (well, unless the contractor gets REALLY pissed) you won't get your raise either. Like you thought you'd get a raise on this kind of work??

>>>* There is a button on the telephone to depress for a rest room visit, so that a manger knows your frequency. Abuse of authority is prevalent and meander’s in the realm of violating human rights.

Can't run any sort of assembly line w/o every worker in place! Like you'd expect more than 15 minutes offline? Again, this is normal stuff.

>>>*Hanging overhead in each aisle are streamers of $100 dollar bills and .

Again, this isn't a job where you're gonna last more than a year (on average) or get rich. Get used to the fact that this is a "stepping stone" job. It's great for a way to finance your college, or get training for a better job, but it's not a 20-year gig.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,371720 Sat, 20 Jan 2001 15:19:01 EDT