The inciting incident for this post is in fact the Juan Williams firing and the reaction thereto, but that's not actually what I want to talk about
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The kicker is that even if corporate is told about this kind of shit, they don't do anything about it.
Higher ups are too caught up in the bottom line and covering their ears and eyes in hopes that people will just leave them alone (and ultimately lower level employees don't have much of a choice).
This isn't something that's unique to customer service either. Retail is full of this sort of shit as well.
To be fair to NPR they apparently did everything they could to improve the situation for their employees (treats, higher ups joining them in the trenches, etc.) But I mean, the shit people said to me was when I was working a CS line for employee benefits that their bosses or high management could have listened to at any time! Calls were recorded! These people could be putting their jobs on the line, you'd think self-preservation would kick in.
I'm not even sure what the higher-ups in a CS firm CAN do about it. It's not like they can call up their customers and tell them to display some manners, because they have exactly no leverage.
I suppose they could produce PSAs about general manners and politeness. Maybe go in with the Mormons (remember those old commercials on after-school TV in the 80s?) about being decent human beings? Wouldn't accomplish a damned thing, but I suppose it's worth a try.
I suspect it's Mike Krahulik's Greater Interned Fuckwad Theory over a more primitive telecommunications network.
They can pretend to give a flying shit about their employees, instead of their reaction to an employee being driven to tears by rape threats being "well, straighten up and get back on the phones in the next 30 seconds, we have a queue."
And when I say "bosses or high management," I don't mean the CS ones. I mean the ones working for the company that contracted us.
I once had someone--making in excess of $1 mil/year--call and harangue me for being a stupid cunt who was going to ruin his life because I wouldn't "just make an exception" to IRS regs and let him empty his 401k at age 30 as a "hardship." I mean. Seriously.
It is astonishing that people somehow forget about manners and etiquette the moment they think they can treat customer service people as a doormat, what a lot of anger is being spat at them, as if not seeing a face and a phoneline between them makes it all ok.
The face thing isn't even part of it. I have witnessed exceptionally appalling behavior to wait staff, cashiers, CS counter at the department store, etc. It's like people think you're automatically stupid if you work cs.
I'm not familiar with the NPR situation but word to everything else. It is a thankless fucking job and I applaud the people who do it. :(
There are too many people in this world who take their anger out on those who do not in any way deserve it, simply because those people are the most accessable target.
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Higher ups are too caught up in the bottom line and covering their ears and eyes in hopes that people will just leave them alone (and ultimately lower level employees don't have much of a choice).
This isn't something that's unique to customer service either. Retail is full of this sort of shit as well.
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I suppose they could produce PSAs about general manners and politeness. Maybe go in with the Mormons (remember those old commercials on after-school TV in the 80s?) about being decent human beings? Wouldn't accomplish a damned thing, but I suppose it's worth a try.
I suspect it's Mike Krahulik's Greater Interned Fuckwad Theory over a more primitive telecommunications network.
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And when I say "bosses or high management," I don't mean the CS ones. I mean the ones working for the company that contracted us.
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(The comment has been removed)
I once had someone--making in excess of $1 mil/year--call and harangue me for being a stupid cunt who was going to ruin his life because I wouldn't "just make an exception" to IRS regs and let him empty his 401k at age 30 as a "hardship." I mean. Seriously.
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(The comment has been removed)
CS can be nice when you help someone who really needed it and they thank you earnestly. If it was all that part, i'd be more willing to do it.
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There are too many people in this world who take their anger out on those who do not in any way deserve it, simply because those people are the most accessable target.
Reply
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