PerfectCode wrote:
I would not be content with them losing their job since it is morally wrong for the supervisors to fire someone just for trying to help the customer. The fact that they wont even help me in this situation might make me cancel my business with them and then they wouldnt be taking my money which is what they want to do in the first place...
I do however think these people working at these support lines could get a better job than that though, do these things really pay well? My assumption would be no. Some of these people seem nice and intelligent, and I would much rather they put their talent to better use.
Firstly, let me say I don't defend PoL or Apple's "Customer Service Policy". Honestly, just about any company has similar policies. Another story for you, from this side of the phone.
My girlfriend accidentally stepped on my laptop and broke off the faceplate for teh DVD-ROM drive. Since I bought the laptop from Best Buy, Dell REFUSES to even talk to me. They won't send me a faceplate, they won't SELL me a faceplate, they won't even do ANYTHING other than tell me to talk to Best Buy. Best Buy says that they do not do ANY laptop repairs in store, they have to be sent out and it takes "about 2 weeks". I even complained to the manager who checked to see if they can order the part and said that Dell WILL NOT send the part to their local store.
I think corporate company policies often suck and very rarely are customer friendly. Apple is often rated #1 or at least very high for their technical support, yet I know all of their policies by heart even 2 years later and it astounds me how that is so.
Fact of the matter is, the grunts that answer the phone can do nothing to change the policy. I, as an employee of Apple, sent in several "Employee suggestions" to modify their support offerings here and there to be more customer friendly and was met with a more politely worded "No, now STFU. Thank you for your suggestion." from my superiors.
I started at about $9/hr and was making $12.50/hr a year and a half later when I left. It's not "omgwtfuber" money, but for a job with a dress code that included the words "no pajamas" and a pretty casual atmosphere when it came to what you did in your spare time (I played on a portable PS1 I brought in and kept at my cubicle to play stuff on between calls and even while on calls and wore bondage pants and a T-shirt to work and it was fine).
Most call centers I've seen are pretty lacsidaisical when it comes to internal company policy, so long as their employees maintain their quotas. As long as I kept an average call time of under 15 mins and kept detailed, accurate call notes, they really didn't care when we sat there WHILE ON THE PHONE and tossed beach balls around or played flash games on the web. If you totally ignore the fact that our customer support policies sucked ***, the job was otherwise pretty fun, and that's why I stayed, despite the low pay.
Most call center environments are pretty easy going when it comes to the way they treat their employees and they know that if you don't want to follow the insipid policies and procedures when it comes to customers, they can quite easily find someone to fill your seat and follow those rules. The reason I left was that I had been twice passed over for a team lead/supervisor position because of my indiscretions (refusal to follow policy) and because my call handle time and first call resolution rates were so low that they would rather have had me answer phones. (That is to say, I fix things quickly, efficiently, and the first time. Because I was so good at my job, they would not promote me.) The ones who are technically illiterate but follow the script and obey company policy like gospel are the ones who get promoted. I'm not just exaggerating this point either; more than once have I had those same supervisors who were constantly telling me to "Stay within your scope of support" come to me and ask me stupidly basic technical questions like how to change your logon password or how to boot to a CD.
But I digress...
These companies make policies that they, as a corporation, feel are easiest to establish and demand all employees enforce them. Aside from "the customers", the perks of being an overly casual job are typically sufficient enough to pacify most employees from raising a stir internally about how insipid these policies are, and if you complain too loudly, they'll have 3-5 people interviewing to fill your chair by the end of the week.
I'll never disagree that company policy sucks, but the people on the other end of the phone get sh*t on if they don't enforce it. If I **** off a customer by refusal to break scope, it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things because when they're off the phone, they aren't my problem any more, and as a grunt, if you take your iBook back and get a Dell instead, it doesn't affect my paycheck. If I do break down and help you even though I shouldn't, then you're happy and I'm happy, but once I get off the phone, I get written up and while you're still happy, I'm no longer happy. I'm in trouble and I have to listen to my boss ***** at me.
tl;dr: It sucks, but there's nothing the grunts can do about it. And even if the grunts did want to help you (and believe me, many of us DID want to help the customer beyong the level that we were allowed to), they are chastized for doing so. I won't disagree that the whole situation is crap, but it is a situation that will never change. You just have to accept it as an inevitability :/
Edited, Sep 9th 2008 9:54pm by Mikhalia Edited, Sep 9th 2008 10:01pm by Mikhalia
