Ask a Call Center Representative anything

13 Questions

Last Answer on May 06, 2014

Are you ever allowed to hang up on a customer if they're being very rude?

Asked by dan79 about 11 years ago

Oh as much as I wanted to, I'm afraid not.. Only if they were being extremely rude and just insulting or cursing at you and were no longer asking you questions relevant to business. Even then you had to warn a threat to disconnect to try and allow them to calm down. Also if there was no response for over 1 minute, we are allowed to disconnect. Anything outside of those circumstances was a major no-no and possibly grounds for termination. They actually have a program to track whenever we press the "release" (hang up) button since we should always wait until the caller disconnects. If we press that button, then quality assurance will listen... Read More +

1104 Votes

What's something you'll do if you like the person on the other end of the line that you won't do for a jerk?

Asked by Erika about 11 years ago

Well working in a call center is supremely boring.. you can't really get up from your desk and you have to take call after call.. so when you actually get a pleasant, friendly person on the phone it's a welcome relief and a chance for us to take a breather. I work in health insurance so for example if someone rude called in and asked if aqua therapy is covered, I will simply say no and ask if there is anything else I can help you with hoping you will just disconnect so I can move on with the next call.

Now if you are friendly, upbeat or interesting, I would still have to say it's not covered.. but can offer you the names of some... Read More +

1082 Votes

I often ask for a CSR to call me back to follow-up or if we get disconnected, but almost always they say they can't dial out. Which I find to be BS; what kind of phone doesn't dial out? Are they just being lazy?

Asked by Marinersftw about 11 years ago

Ooh I'm glad you asked this one because it is BS and I'll explain why! OK so when you work in a call center it is all about stats.. There is something called an ASA (average speed of answer) and it measures how fast we pick up the phone once the call comes in. My job, our ASA had to average under 30 seconds..so if you were on hold for more then 30 seconds before you got a rep then our stats go down. If our stats are consistently too low, we got in trouble big time because it would effect the whole company image along with our HEDIS score (which is the gov't regulatory agency that holds health insurance companies to a high customer service... Read More +

1059 Votes

Did your company ever consider outsourcing their call center to Asia? Do you have a sense of how much companies would save on labor costs if they did that?

Asked by RAPS almost 11 years ago

No they never considered it, they don't want to frustrate customers even more.. I'd imagine it would probably save money though. I know my company prides itself on being local.

1059 Votes

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What is the meanest thing a caller has ever said to you? Does that kind of stuff get under your skin?

Asked by Jason almost 11 years ago

I had people tell me to die, that I'm an idiot, that I should get cancer.. Etc.. I can't remember them all. Stuff like that honestly didn't bug me because I knew they were just mad at the situation and had to take it out on the person that broke the news.

What really got on my nerves were the liars.. The "I never got that letter" people after we sent it 5 times.. The "I didn't know" people when it's clearly documented that the last rep already told them no, the "you told me it was covered" when we all know its not covered.. Stuff like that.

I especially thought it was funny when they try and pull that and I'm the last one they... Read More +

1058 Votes

You mentioned you work in health insurance. Politics aside, what was it like as a CCR during the Obamacare enrollment period? Seemed like most healthcare company's didn't foresee the avalanche.

Asked by Windswept82 about 11 years ago

Yeah, what a headache.. The government doesn't even have all the answers, everyone is confused and just learning as they go. I've seen it be both beneficial and detrimental, I guess it just depends on how sick you are. One of the main benefits are that most preventative and prenatal care is now covered in full.

1039 Votes

A pet peeve: how much of an effect do those automated surveys have on your review/pay? I really like commending CS reps when they go above and beyond, but i NEVER stay on the line to take the survey bc i don't think it really does much. Am I wrong?

Asked by JerBear about 11 years ago

Eh, that's fine that you don't stay on the line for the surveys.. Can't speak for all places but for us we may just get a commendation from the manager or use them to measure metrics, but it doesn't affect our pay. If you'd really like to praise your representative, a simple complement is really appreciated or you can ask to speak with a manager to say what a good job we did.. They usually mentioned compliment calls in dept meetings and during our reviews, so they go a long way!

1038 Votes

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Call Center Representative

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Are you ever allowed to hang up on a customer if they're being very rude?

What's something you'll do if you like the person on the other end of the line that you won't do for a jerk?

I often ask for a CSR to call me back to follow-up or if we get disconnected, but almost always they say they can't dial out. Which I find to be BS; what kind of phone doesn't dial out? Are they just being lazy?

Did your company ever consider outsourcing their call center to Asia? Do you have a sense of how much companies would save on labor costs if they did that?

Also on Jobstr...

What is the meanest thing a caller has ever said to you? Does that kind of stuff get under your skin?

You mentioned you work in health insurance. Politics aside, what was it like as a CCR during the Obamacare enrollment period? Seemed like most healthcare company's didn't foresee the avalanche.

A pet peeve: how much of an effect do those automated surveys have on your review/pay? I really like commending CS reps when they go above and beyond, but i NEVER stay on the line to take the survey bc i don't think it really does much. Am I wrong?

Call Center Representative

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Are you ever allowed to hang up on a customer if they're being very rude?

What's something you'll do if you like the person on the other end of the line that you won't do for a jerk?

I often ask for a CSR to call me back to follow-up or if we get disconnected, but almost always they say they can't dial out. Which I find to be BS; what kind of phone doesn't dial out? Are they just being lazy?

Did your company ever consider outsourcing their call center to Asia? Do you have a sense of how much companies would save on labor costs if they did that?

Also on Jobstr...

What is the meanest thing a caller has ever said to you? Does that kind of stuff get under your skin?

You mentioned you work in health insurance. Politics aside, what was it like as a CCR during the Obamacare enrollment period? Seemed like most healthcare company's didn't foresee the avalanche.

A pet peeve: how much of an effect do those automated surveys have on your review/pay? I really like commending CS reps when they go above and beyond, but i NEVER stay on the line to take the survey bc i don't think it really does much. Am I wrong?

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