I work in a call centre, which is a slightly different form of bureaucracy but no less aggravating for a lot of people. All of the above apply, but a few additional tips:
If you think the person you’re dealing with is an idiot, they probably are. We’re paid minimum wage and have high turnover, so there’s invariably a high percentage of low-skilled newbies. If you’re calling about something complex, and you don’t think the person is up to doing the job properly, do not be afraid to call back a couple hours afterwards and confirm that they did it properly. It’s a lot less of a hassle than waiting a month to see that they screwed up your bill again, and we genuinely don’t mind a friendly call to double-check.
If you can’t navigate the phone tree, pick any option that gets you to a human. We can transfer you. (This may take some hold time). Speaking of hold time, speakerphone and doing something else is by far the best solution to a long hold. Just make sure you’re close enough to pick up within 15 seconds or so when you do get through, or you’ll have to hold again.
Phone lines aren’t always clear. If there’s any information you need transmitted at a character-perfect level—postal code is a common one for us—use a phonetic alphabet. Do not, under any circumstances, use “Larry”, “Mary”, and “Harry” as letters in the same sentence(I once had two people do this in the same day). If I am repeating something back to you and spelling it out, that means I need it to be correct—don’t just blindly agree, actually listen to what I’m saying. Our computers tend to care very much whether it’s an M or an N, and our phones tend to be very unhelpful at distinguishing them.
Calling up and asking for a discount will usually get you nowhere. Calling up and threatening to cancel will usually get you a discount.
I work in a call centre, which is a slightly different form of bureaucracy but no less aggravating for a lot of people. All of the above apply, but a few additional tips:
If you think the person you’re dealing with is an idiot, they probably are. We’re paid minimum wage and have high turnover, so there’s invariably a high percentage of low-skilled newbies. If you’re calling about something complex, and you don’t think the person is up to doing the job properly, do not be afraid to call back a couple hours afterwards and confirm that they did it properly. It’s a lot less of a hassle than waiting a month to see that they screwed up your bill again, and we genuinely don’t mind a friendly call to double-check.
If you can’t navigate the phone tree, pick any option that gets you to a human. We can transfer you. (This may take some hold time). Speaking of hold time, speakerphone and doing something else is by far the best solution to a long hold. Just make sure you’re close enough to pick up within 15 seconds or so when you do get through, or you’ll have to hold again.
Phone lines aren’t always clear. If there’s any information you need transmitted at a character-perfect level—postal code is a common one for us—use a phonetic alphabet. Do not, under any circumstances, use “Larry”, “Mary”, and “Harry” as letters in the same sentence(I once had two people do this in the same day). If I am repeating something back to you and spelling it out, that means I need it to be correct—don’t just blindly agree, actually listen to what I’m saying. Our computers tend to care very much whether it’s an M or an N, and our phones tend to be very unhelpful at distinguishing them.
Calling up and asking for a discount will usually get you nowhere. Calling up and threatening to cancel will usually get you a discount.