I am speaking of people who answer the phone for a business and schedule appointments, take payments, and answer business questions. Often, if a minor issue comes up that may slightly "inconvenience" them (such as having to look something up or having to stop and think logically about an issue and respond back), they become rude, snarky, frustrated, insulting/abusive, and/or just unprofessional.

Most phone shop scenarios don't involve a "problem" situation. But, I find that often a person's nasty side comes out when they are required to take a little extra time or effort to do something perhaps they were not expecting. Or, it can emerge when there is a "dispute" about something that is legitimate and related to their business services.

Each time I've been given rude responses - all the way to a crazy woman I encountered, who flipped out into a psychotic rage and seemed to hang up on me (she said it was accidental, but the timing was shortly after she SAID she was going to hang up on me) - I wished I had been shopping them or recording them (my state has legal single party consent).

It'd be neat if ms companies designed programs that tested how employees reacted to slightly elevated "pressure" situations. Maybe shop them to see how they handle a complaint of service, for example. I think I made this point in a separate thread once, but since I came across a crazy woman recently in a customer service position, it triggered my thoughts on this again.

I think every two or three months, I'll encounter a very unprofessional person by phone. It's maybe not the norm, but I feel there is a significant percentage of such workers who are like this and am continually surprised they have not lost their jobs.

I find deescalating the situation often turns the other person into a cooperative and helpful aide.

I rarely encounter this with people who answer phones. Once, I was given ludicrous information. Later, I determined that it made sense in context of a miscommunication. So that was not so bad.

Are you speaking to locals or people at distant locations?

*eta* This thread triggered a happy memory of an extremely professional person who announced when and why she would hang up on screaming, swearing, overbearing, or otherwise intractable callers. She knew every trick in the book for dealing with people. If all her efforts failed and they did not modulate, she terminated their calls. She did not take or give abuse. She was assertive and had full support of tptb.

I want to be her when I grow up.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2020 02:08AM by Shop-et-al.

I know there is one MSC right now that is conducting banking phone shops to "complain" of a particular scenario.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Are you speaking to locals or people at distant locations?

The crazy woman was a local I had spoken to in person many times.

I knew she had issues, but never that bad until she went nuts and hung up on me. She would always be "slightly pushy" in person. If I asked a question or two out of curiosity while she was taking my payments (doctor's office), she'd get very defensive or have an aggressive tone. She spoke slightly like a female military commander to me all the time and to other guests. Maybe she's a control freak. I wasn't sure.

When I pointed out she made an error with something related to an insurance claim, she went into defensive attacking nutso mode. She later acknowledged she did it wrong. However, she played off hanging up on me and said it was accidental. EXCPEPT, she threatened to hang up on me a few minutes prior to that, so ...I dunno. Suspicious at least.

@guysmom wrote:

I know there is one MSC right now that is conducting banking phone shops to "complain" of a particular scenario

Interesting. I'll have to look for those.

@shoptastic wrote:

@guysmom wrote:

I know there is one MSC right now that is conducting banking phone shops to "complain" of a particular scenario

Interesting. I'll have to look for those.

Oh gosh. I would not. I have no idea how they get that many people to claim that false accounts were opened for them? Hard pass.

For the right pay, I'd do it.

Although, typically, I like Shopper's View style projects. You can complete several per hour and they have an abundance of them. For a one-off project, I'd want a lot for the fee, b/c it's so time-consuming to study the guidelines for a one-time shop.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@shoptastic wrote:

@guysmom wrote:

I know there is one MSC right now that is conducting banking phone shops to "complain" of a particular scenario

Interesting. I'll have to look for those.

Oh gosh. I would not. I have no idea how they get that many people to claim that false accounts were opened for them? Hard pass.

I agree, SCM. I would never do them, either. I just happened to see them out there. 10' pole for me!

@shoptastic wrote:

@guysmom wrote:

I know there is one MSC right now that is conducting banking phone shops to "complain" of a particular scenario

Interesting. I'll have to look for those.

You need an account with the particular bank. There is no way I would be comfortable lying like this to my bank when all they have to do is pull up the signed docs. ...um NO..I'd feel like a fool.

@MsJudi wrote:

You need an account with the particular bank. There is no way I would be comfortable lying like this to my bank when all they have to do is pull up the signed docs. ...um NO..I'd feel like a fool.

That's interesting. I wonder why the shop design would make it so easy to invalidate the claim?

If an employee cannot figure out how to verify your accounts or lack thereof.....

@shoptastic wrote:

@MsJudi wrote:

You need an account with the particular bank. There is no way I would be comfortable lying like this to my bank when all they have to do is pull up the signed docs. ...um NO..I'd feel like a fool.

That's interesting. I wonder why the shop design would make it so easy to invalidate the claim?

I finally got an email of the "bank complaint shop."

That bank has been great to me actually. I'm treated like royalty at my local branch. They know me from years of "memorable" transactions, so there's no way I'd be able to do that shop with a straight face.

I do like seeing "complaint" shops. I can certainly see the value in them. I think phone complaint shops would be great, as you can hear the voice/tone of the associate. Sometimes it's not what they say, but the tone that can be rude and disrespectful.