If you eat on the phone while talking to me, that makes you an asshole.
That is all.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
<3
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
As a corellary, if you work in a call center and eat on the phone while talking to me, you're an unprofessional jerk.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
What? You can’t understand me in between bites of my super sized thick burger? I thought my point was totally clear……..
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I really wish I had Primal's cellphone number right now.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I suspect some people wouldn't be eating if their lunch wasn't the only time that the call centers were open that they could call, and they weren't put on hold for half an hour at a time...
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Yeah, but you can stop eating when the person picks up. "Oh, excuse me, I just took a bite. . . there, I'm sorry, now I'm calling to. . ."
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Of course. Unless your lunch is over in 2 minutes, you've been waiting for 50, and you've finally given up and decided that you need to eat rather than not get lunch. In which case you probably should have eaten earlier, but you know how it goes. And if you're just taking bites while the other person is talking, it shouldn't be that much of a problem, right?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
As far as I'm concerned? In that situation, Primal's statement stands.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I'm with KQ.
Now if you are doing what Bill Clinton had Monica do while he was on the phone, then yeah. Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Phone etiquette appies whether or not you choose to make a call on your lunch break.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
You don't understand. We're not on crappy little phones. We're on multi-million dollar phone systems. Our employers drop that kind of cash so that whatever we say will be as clear as possible (unless the csr is stupid and has the mic in their mouth or behind their ear). So it works both ways. If you chew, I can hear every single smack and squishy little sound. It's worse because I have a binaurial headset that covers both ears, so I get it in stereo.
Now, if you think that it's somehow my fault that everyone waits until either the last minute or their lunch break to call and clog up the lines, then you need to seriously rethink your importance in the grand scheme of the universe. I don't work here just so you can take your petty revenge out on me by eating and slurping on the other end of the line.
It's not my fault that you should have realized that calling during peak times will probably necessitate a long hold so you should probably use that down time to get through your lunch so you're not crabby at me because you had to wait to eat.
Seriously, it's gross and it makes you a jerk.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
PC, I'm just saying that if more call centers were open during times people weren't at work, it might not happen as much. I'm not saying they're not stupid or jerks. But contact with the phone-eaters might be reduced by being open when people weren't at work. For instance, my husband is gone from about 7 to 7 every day. If places aren't open at 6 or until 8 or something, he has to call during lunch.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
May I have a sip of water?
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
And what people would work in these call centers? Do you realize what a small labour pool you'd be dealing with? What few people, with intelligence and education, would work late into the night in a call center? I know a few, but they're the exception.
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
erosomniac: Why are you mooning the poster? :?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Bit harsh though, people are hungry I reckon. But listening to chewing has got to be rather disgusting...
I am too shy to work at a call center, but would to avoid living with relatives and being miserable.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Moral: don't work in a call center.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
Typical liberal elitist.
--Enigmatic
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:And what people would work in these call centers?
Well, I know lots of students who have done it. I have a friend who does for a living, and has since he was 18. There are many of us who have internal "clocks" that would better accomodate an alternate than a traditional work schedule. My sister-in-law, while not in that exact line of work, does take customer calls and works an alternate shift with her husband so they can have their daughter in daycare for the smallest amount of time possible. And I think about 2/3 of the companies we end up needing to call now actually have hours that can accomodate people who work. The ones that don't, well, they are starting to look bad in comparison.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I hate taking customer calls, that's one reason why I'm pursuing a profession where I won't be on the phone all day. Oh, I know I'll have to talk to parents on the phone at times and such, but I won't be chained to a desk taking call after call.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
My call center tried staying open 'til 9:00 PM to accomadate customer's schedules, and we didn't get enough calls to make it worth it. We were paying people to sit there and do nothing, not to mention keeping the lights and HVAC on for the whole floor when there were half a dozen people there. We went back to 7 - 7. We are open Saturdays, though, so there's another option if it can wait 'til the weekend.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
Yeah, we have a couple of government plans that insisted on having saturday hours. The reps that work those hours pretty much surf the internet their entire shift and maybe get 2-3 calls all day. I'd totally volunteer (as I am a consumate work bum), but that's only in the Denver office.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: And what people would work in these call centers? Do you realize what a small labour pool you'd be dealing with? What few people, with intelligence and education, would work late into the night in a call center? I know a few, but they're the exception.
I work in a call center. We're open 24/7/365 without exception. We support a dozen languages. (Actually we support all languages, but often we have to call a translator for the lesser-spoken ones). Most of our CSRs are intelligent* and some of them are way more educated than the job requires but for various reasons are unemployed in their chosen field.
*Unfortunately it seems that the less intelligent ones get moved into management or "support" functions, notably our 1st tier internal tech support. Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by KarlEd:
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: And what people would work in these call centers?
I work in a call center.
So, I guess the really cool kids do it.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
If your calling on your cell phone for for an auto insurance quote, don't do while you are driving.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
to Tante.
To be precise, I work in the network support department of a large call center. I don't take call center calls anymore. However, I used to and have worked both the evening and night shifts. I knew a lot of highly intelligent night shift call center workers. Most of them did eventually move on to other careers, but night-shift call center work can be ideal for some students.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
I worked in a call center for 5 years before I had kids. We were open 8-8; but being on the East Coast, if the left-coasters wanted to talk to us outside work hours they had to get up REALLY early.
I still agree with PC, phone ettiquette applies. I've eaten while on hold before, but once you're talking to someone, stop eating (or at least hold the receiver away from your mouth!).
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
I'm sorry guys but with all the incredibly horrible experiences I've had with call centers (I'm looking at YOU SBC! But not JUST you!) I have problems feeling much sympathy.
There are actually 2 call centers I need to call sometime soon and I'm so dreading them I've been putting them off for a week.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I didn't know Primal lived in India... *runs away screaming*
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
quote:Originally posted by Stephan: If your calling on your cell phone for for an auto insurance quote, don't do while you are driving.
Do you automatically bump the rate up when somebody does that? Maybe you should.
--Enigmatic
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
The mute button has it's uses. I eat while on the phone all the time. I doubt anyone knows, because it's muted while I have food in my mouth.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I LOVE calling the call centers in India! The folk on the phone are so eager to please. And I get to ask them about what time it is over there, and what the weather is like, and have they ever been to New Jersey (Typical answer to that one, "No, but it is a dream of mine to be able to do so someday.") And it turns out that some of the people that I've called have friends or family who live in my town or the next town over. Which leads to a lot of "Do-you-knows". When I was on the phone with the Linksys people, I asked where they were, and they told me Bangalore. I told them that I work with a guy named Ramesh who was in Bangalore right now, and did he know him. I was informed that Ramesh is a very very common name in Bangalore. But when I told him Ramesh's last name and that he was a nurse in New Jersey, it turns out that the guy really did know him. I told him to send my regards and tell him that Esther said hello. When Ramesh got back from his trip, he told me that he got a message from me!
How cool is that?
Posted by Palliard (Member # 8109) on :
I'm fortunate to work in a place where I don't have to put up with that sort of thing. If you call me and smacking drooling gobs of food are tumbling out of your mouth because your parents were such ignorant slobs that they never taught you how to chew with your mouth closed, I tell you to call back when you're done eating, and I hang up.
You couldn't pay me enough to take a job where I couldn't do that. What the heck has gone so wrong my country that simple manners are an "above and beyond" expectation?
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: I LOVE calling the call centers in India! The folk on the phone are so eager to please. And I get to ask them about what time it is over there, and what the weather is like, and have they ever been to New Jersey (Typical answer to that one, "No, but it is a dream of mine to be able to do so someday.") And it turns out that some of the people that I've called have friends or family who live in my town or the next town over. Which leads to a lot of "Do-you-knows". When I was on the phone with the Linksys people, I asked where they were, and they told me Bangalore. I told them that I work with a guy named Ramesh who was in Bangalore right now, and did he know him. I was informed that Ramesh is a very very common name in Bangalore. But when I told him Ramesh's last name and that he was a nurse in New Jersey, it turns out that the guy really did know him. I told him to send my regards and tell him that Esther said hello. When Ramesh got back from his trip, he told me that he got a message from me!
How cool is that?
That's pretty phenomenally cool.
Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
quote:Originally posted by Palliard: You couldn't pay me enough to take a job where I couldn't do that. What the heck has gone so wrong my country that simple manners are an "above and beyond" expectation?
We developed a collective, overly-inflated sense of entitlement.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Primal Curve: We developed a collective, overly-inflated sense of entitlement.
And a well-deserved one, too. Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
I would much rather hear them eating than I would hearing the toliet flush, which has happened on occassion.
Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 9153) on :
If you accuse me of eating when I really just have a bad cold, that makes you a booger.
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