the story of a call center agent

abs-cbn recently featured the story of a call center agent who was so harrassed by a caller that it led to an exchange of cursing between the agent and the caller.

(download it from here.)

the conversation, since it was recorded, is now sought after in all internet sites (at least in the philippines, since the agent was from a local call center and the whole thing was in tagalog), and i believe a lot has been said and written about this incident.

i used to think that after my almost 2-year stint at a call center i didn't want to go back to doing that job. sure, it's a hassle. it causes frayed nerves, especially when we dealt with irate callers. but never once in my life have i reacted to an irate caller in the same way that catherine rosana (the agent's name) reacted to her caller. if i felt the urge to react violently, i pressed the mute button while the caller was ranting, so that he/she could not hear me sighing deeply on my end. i took out the frustration during my breaks by shaking it off me and smiling at everyone i knew.

and we were taught that if the caller started using abusive language, which the caller in this particular case didn't do, we could warn him/her twice and on the third instance, we could drop the call.

raul (the caller) didn't exactly use abusive language at catherine. he was venting his frustration at the slowness of the repair of his DSL connection. i felt the same way because when our internet connection was down for 3 days, i had to call PLDT and ask when it would be up. being a call center agent myself, i refrained from bitching about my situation but i made sure that the agent who took my call got my point: i'm paying for service that i'm not getting, so please give me my DSL service.

but catherine rosana reacted in a wrong way. she probably thought that raul cursed at her so she cursed him. tsk, tsk. wrong reaction. she sounded too unsure of what she was saying that raul sounded like he was actually goading her. then it led to the exchange of abusive language and ending with catherine crying and telling raul that he did not have the right to curse her because she was only telling him what she was told about his service. and the bad part is, SHE FRIGGIN' HUNG UP ON HIM.

i'm not sure i want to side with either one, because i have been both an agent and a customer. what i've learned so far is that when a caller is irate, the agent should not react in an angry or excessively aggressive manner. not only is it the height of rudeness, it's also a great cause of stress to the agent.

and it's irritating that abs-cbn cashed in on that one phone call to an agent in a local call center. they made such a big deal out of it that they stated that working as a call center agent is a very very VERY stressful job. some months ago, they came up with a feature on call centers, where they emphasized that the job is so nakaka-bobo and that it's a dead end job.

i wonder what's their beef about call centers and agents. i know a lot of agents and call center people who are happy with their jobs because it brings food to the table, pays the bills, and makes them better citizens of the country because they pay taxes and make the money go around. certainly it's better than having to go abroad and work at the mercy of abusive employers, with the uncertainty of going home either hale and healthy or in a wooden box.

and it's certainly way better than rallying in the streets and making too much noise without contributing to the country's economy.

besides, not anyone can be a call center agent. it takes more than great speaking skills to be one; there are other things to consider, such as maturity, learning skills, a little technical know-how, patience, and people skills. and there's also the ability to sometimes bluff your way through a situation. take note, i said "sometimes", not all the time, because a call center agent should not be dishonest.

i think catherine rosana cannot be one because she doesn't know what she's doing, and she certainly shows it.

*****

gotta get some sleep. i'm rambling here.

My Music: friday magic madness
Am Reading: the exorcist
I Feel: sleepy

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