consumerist.com — It's easy to forget that despite infuriating scripts and adherence to dogmatic corporate policies, CSRs are real people. A former call center worker wrote in to describe the extraordinary pressure CSRs feel from management to keep customers from canceling their accounts...
Jul 29, 2007 View in Crawl 4
novagenesisJul 30, 2007
Their reactions are defined. At the call center I worked at, you had to deny this huge group of requests outright, even though the parent company had just lost a lawsuit about those requests... Why did you have to deny it? You were physically blocked from enacting it in the system. You would also get in trouble if you referred THEM to a manager (and the manager could tell by the tone the person took...they'd later get out the logs and get you in trouble).That is to say, the only way a customer could cancel would be to ASK you to cancel, be refused, and DEMAND to speak to a manager. There was no other path. You couldn't forward to a manager without a defined reason, and you couldn't cancel yourself.
gmorganJul 30, 2007
The point is if you put pressure on the idea then eventually practices are going to change. What is really needed is a list of companies that aren't idiots about people leaving. By supporting the companies that aren't going to waste your time you can force the others along.Tamely accepting it is not an option. It is an anathema to civilised society to have to jump through bloody hoops every time you want to cancel something. The only sane way is not to tolerate it (to kick up a fuss with management indirectly if needed, black list scummy companies, whatever) and as a result force a change.
maynardjkJul 30, 2007
The bare minimum is to cancel my account get off the phone. If that is what I get when being disrespectful, then I am going to start calling all CSRs ****s****rs as soon as they say hello.
diggbot7Jul 30, 2007
As usual... some lame-ass with vaguely conservative pretentions feels the irrational need to troll.
mistermoxyJul 30, 2007
I used to work at a call center and companies outsourced their tech support to us. So my boss was [giant evil corporation] not the customer. We were supposed to get people off of the phone fast. Most CSRs aren't there to service you, they're there to service [giant evil corporation]. Also, they f**k with people trying to cancel their account because they've already lost them as a customer, so anything that they can screw out of them from there is 100% gravy. Sure the practice is evil, but that's why you're canceling in the first place.
dclowd9901Jul 30, 2007
Thank you, BasharTeg. You know, upon reading this story, I can't help but think: If the work conditions are so s**tty, why not get another f**king job, 'tard? 'Cause you're too lazy? Then sit down, shut up, and whore yourself out to the company as long as they please.Would you complain about a bitchy girlfriend? No, you'd dump her ass. So why take it from a company who cares even less.
llurkerJul 30, 2007
1. Don't call customer service unless you are an idiot.2. Write certified letter to corporate stating your intention to cancel (30 day notice) and that as of x date they are no longer authorized to bill your credit card/bank account.3. Done.4. If you talk to anyone on the phone about your account, you are an idiot.
haggieJul 30, 2007
use credit card, claim the charge was unauthorized, chargeback to vendor, account cancelled.what the hell are you morons whining about?
noisufAug 1, 2007
I agree with stronglikedan.You know, I worked almost 2 years as a CSR at a mobile phone company (lol probably the worst just over a cable company).. We did have strict retention guidlines, but honestly if its that big of a deal to you as a CSR, you should honestly find a new job. CSR = customer service representitive. There really isn't much customer service in making the customer/ex customer jump through hoops to do anything. From what I've seen personally, a lot of people cancel their accounts due to frustration with things that are controllable by them (their minute usage, game downloads, etc) adding up. After they shop around they find that it wouldn't be any different anywhere else. If you maintain the good customer service, even when cancelling and not make it a hassle, there is a good chance they would come back. (A lot do surprisingly).