One horror story could be dealing with extremely angry callers all day. For example, a BuzzFeed call center agent might have to face a customer who is furious about a wrong article or misinformation. The caller could be shouting and using offensive language, making the work environment very stressful.
I'm not sure of the exact stories, but I can imagine a situation where a call center employee gets prank calls all day long. These prank callers might waste the agent's time by pretending to be interested in something and then making fun of the agent. It would be really annoying and demoralizing for the agent.
Well, a common 'call center agent horror story' is getting prank calls. Some pranksters waste the agent's time by pretending to be interested in the product or service but then start making jokes or just being silly. Agents also face horror when they are transferred a call from another agent who didn't handle the initial situation well. So, the new agent has to deal with an already frustrated customer. Moreover, there are times when the call quality is so bad that the agent can't understand the customer, and the customer gets angry because they think the agent isn't listening.
One horror story is dealing with extremely rude customers. I once had a customer who just screamed at me non - stop for a minor issue. They wouldn't let me speak and just kept hurling insults. Another is the long working hours. Sometimes we had to stay overtime without proper notice just to finish handling a large volume of calls. And also, the strict monitoring. Every call is recorded and analyzed, and if you make a small mistake in what you say, you could get in trouble.
Another could be misinformation given by call center agents. Say an investor calls to ask about the risks associated with a particular financial product. The agent, who is not well - trained, gives inaccurate information, leading the investor to make a wrong decision that results in financial losses.
Another experience could be dealing with extremely long and complex calls. Like when a customer has multiple issues related to different products or services all in one call. The call center agent has to juggle all this information, keep the customer on track, and find solutions for each problem, which can be mentally exhausting.
One success story is a call center that improved customer satisfaction by implementing a new training program for agents. The agents became more empathetic and efficient in solving problems.
A software - as - a - service (SaaS) startup had a great success with their API call center. By using the API, they were able to seamlessly connect with their clients' existing systems. This enabled them to provide personalized support. For example, they could access a client's usage data through the API and offer tailored solutions based on that data, which led to increased client retention.
One common Philippine call center ghost story is about the apparition of a former employee who died under mysterious circumstances. Workers claim to see her wandering the halls at night. Another story involves strange noises like whispers and footsteps when no one else is around. Some also say there are cold spots in certain areas of the call center that can't be explained.
Well, there was a story where a customer called in a panic because she thought her printer was possessed. She said it was making strange noises and printing out random symbols. The call center agent managed to calm her down and found out that her toddler had stuffed some toys into the printer. It was quite a sight when she finally retrieved the toys and the printer worked fine again. This was really a memorable and funny call center encounter.
There was a call center handling airline bookings. A customer called in a panic because she had made a mistake with her flight dates and was worried about missing an important event. The customer service agent managed to re - book her on a new flight with no extra charges and also provided her with a list of nearby hotels at her destination in case she needed to stay overnight. This kind of empathy and solution - finding made it a great customer service story.