I am berkeleying tired of some nameless corporation recording everything I say on the phone these days. I want to tell them to berkeley off and hang up but of course I am generally calling for something important so I have to suck it up. Can't say I have noticed any improvement in the quality of the berkeleying calls either.
I suppose this should have been in the rant thread.
I don't pay much attention to those messages, but the thing I've noticed recently is how many websites pop up a request to take a survey about how well they are doing, five seconds after I get there.
Hi, I'm Mike. As part of my job, I review recorded calls. I have to fail the call if they rep doesn't say "This call may be monitored or recorded". Why? It saves us a lot of lawsuits. Annoying? Yes. But due to the frivolous-lawsuit happy people, it is necessary. It can also get us (or at least our vendor) fined by various government entities. Moral of the story? Don't be mad at the rep, or the company. Be mad at the idiots who sue for not knowing the call might have been recorded. Be mad at the government for supporting said idiot. They've led us down this road.
Oddly enough, I have a call scheduled with a vendor tomorrow. Subject of the call? Their recording says "This call may be monitored for quality", but does not say anything about it being recorded, which it is.
Oh, FWIW--I don't care about the training aspects of it. I'm only there to make sure we don't get sued. This is only a small part of my job, but there are people that this makes up their entire job. They do grade the reps on empathy, kindness, etc. So training is there, whether you notice it or not.
I'm glad recording is allowed so customers can also record legally. Comcast may have learned a lesson (probably not) because of that.
And so geniuses like Gilbert Gnarley can make prank phone calls. His call to show appreciation for Kentucky Jelly may be the funniest thing ever. Sorry for the obscurity.
They used to not actually record anything, just kept the announcement just in case. With better processing power now it actually makes business sense to record the calls then process the crap out of the data until you start squeezing every bit of info out of your customers - oh, then sell the info about your customers. We used to be the customers. Now we're the product.
I find that some of the comcast and similar folks always ask me "if there is anything else they can for me" so before they can Ask ME I always ask them "is there any other information you need from me?" Or is "there anything else I can do for you?"
Usually they laugh.
The funny thing about those surveys, they always prompt me to "please take our survey" after the person on the other end is actually quick and helpful. I never get that when the call I've made makes me so angry I invent swear words.
Those are used for disciple when it is found that a cs agent is telling customers total bs. I've listened to the calls and make many managers in my org listen. Nothing like Hearig about a problem with your company but first hand from a customer. It should be required that all companies management listen to these calls on a regular basis. I am pro recording.
oldtin wrote: They used to not actually record anything, just kept the announcement just in case. With better processing power now it actually makes business sense to record the calls then process the crap out of the data until you start squeezing every bit of info out of your customers - oh, then sell the info about your customers. We used to be the customers. Now we're the product.
Any company worth it's salt already had more saleable info on you before the call that call info isn't really needed. I think selling g customer info is reprehensible, companies should use that info to make your life as a customer easier or offer you more targeted products.
Appleseed wrote: The funny thing about those surveys, they always prompt me to "please take our survey" after the person on the other end is actually quick and helpful. I never get that when the call I've made makes me so angry I invent swear words.
We send one every time and if you are dissatisfied a manger calls you back.
Ever call eBay customer support to deal with abusive, scamming buyers?
They record my end of the conversation but when I mentioned that I was also recording the call, they told me they could not continue the conversation if I was recording.
Nothing like accountability eh?
mtn wrote: Hi, I'm Mike. As part of my job, I review recorded calls. I have to fail the call if they rep doesn't say "This call may be monitored or recorded". Why? It saves us a lot of lawsuits. Annoying? Yes. But due to the frivolous-lawsuit happy people, it is necessary. It can also get us (or at least our vendor) fined by various government entities. Moral of the story? Don't be mad at the rep, or the company. Be mad at the idiots who sue for not knowing the call might have been recorded. Be mad at the government for supporting said idiot. They've led us down this road.
This. Until recently, part of my job was also reviewing recorded calls for one of our huge vendors. I also had to help write the script they were to use. As mtn said, a lot of it is due to frivolous suit people and the attorneys who look for any way to grab a buck. And at least in my experiences, they do use the recordings for training purposes. Several people have lost their jobs for bad results.
Keep in mind most of those places have "call centers". They don't pay their reps very much, so they don't always get the highest quality employees. When you're paying near minimum wage, you're going to get people who last flipped burgers at McDonalds. These call centers run on razor thin budgets.
Trans_Maro wrote: Ever call eBay customer support to deal with abusive, scamming buyers? They record my end of the conversation but when I mentioned that I was also recording the call, they told me they could not continue the conversation if I was recording. Nothing like accountability eh?
Not an issue of accountability, but just another measure to avoid dumb lawsuits. In 99% of cases like this, the only reason for the customer to record the call is to find a reason to sue. Does the company expect to do something wrong? No. But if someone is going to be combing through everything with a fine-tooth comb, chances are eventually something will be found. Safer to just do away with the call--look at what happened with Comcast. I bet they wish they had declined to speak with the person if they knew the call was being recorded (I have no idea if they did).
You can always refuse, telling them you do not agree to being recorded.
It seems a bit funny that it is illegal for a company to record your phone call without your knowledge, but somehow legal for the government to do it. Assume everything you say on a phone, everything you text message, everything you send in an email or post on the internet, where you travel, even what websites you visit is being recorded and collected. Remember, it's for the children.
T.J. wrote: It seems a bit funny that it is illegal for a company to record your phone call without your knowledge, but somehow legal for the government to do it. Assume everything you say on a phone, everything you text message, everything you send in an email or post on the internet, where you travel, even what websites you visit is being recorded and collected. Remember, it's for the children.
This one is a matter of state law. In many states, either you or the person you are calling can record the call without any notification, although what happens when one person is in a state that allows this and the other person is in a state that doesn't gets pretty murky.
All of my work lines are recorded, and the only way you as a caller would know is a beep every 30 seconds or so while we are talking. My management goes through the calls every month and makes sure we meet the standards for how we communicate with other companies.
What I gather from the responses is that there is actually a good reason at least part of the time for my conversations being recorded so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
T.J. wrote: It seems a bit funny that it is illegal for a company to record your phone call without your knowledge, but somehow legal for the government to do it. Assume everything you say on a phone, everything you text message, everything you send in an email or post on the internet, where you travel, even what websites you visit is being recorded and collected. Remember, it's for the children.
Technically it's only "legal" for the government to do that because authority was granted to a secret court says it's OK for secret reasons.
bearmtnmartin wrote: What I gather from the responses is that there is actually a good reason at least part of the time for my conversations being recorded ...
Yes, but it's not for your benefit, it's for theirs.
foxtrapper wrote: Yes, but it's not for your benefit, it's for theirs.
Yes and no. I need to find out the people not adhering to policy and telling consumers bad informaiton. I caught a guy outright lying the other day. Sure, legally we don't want to lie, but on the other side of things.. I don't want my customers lied to.
foxtrapper wrote:bearmtnmartin wrote: What I gather from the responses is that there is actually a good reason at least part of the time for my conversations being recorded ...Yes, but it's not for your benefit, it's for theirs.
Eh... Not exactly their benefit either, just to protect their asses. Not gaining anything, just making sure that they aren't losing.
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