So Tired of Dealing with Phone Agents...

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Love this - all true. Really - how would YOU like to work at a call center? A fairly unattractive job, with low pay.... always remember who you are talking to..... that Agent just got 50 phone calls from very ANGRY people.... and they have to FIGHT to be in a good mood.

And this is where you come in. Just recognize that the "Phone Agent" is miserable. Now? Work them.

Be happy, be pleasant, COMPLIMENT them, flatter them.... WORK THEM. Work them the way your Boss works you . Kindness, understanding, asking about the Family..... get nasty? You lose. Don't lose.... manipulate the human .

(Oh, I'm gonna catch Hell for this )

That's very true. I worked in a call center environment for 4 1/2 years albeit for a large insurance company. Really most people last a year or so. It's very taxing answering a phone for 8 hrs a day. It's also taxing to be timed for all facets of your day-break, lunch, going to the bathroom..yup you read that right..take too much time named "personal time" during a day and you were given a talkin' to. Majority of the time they expect "personal time" to be bathroom breaks because you didn't have any time built in for that..there was no other code to use on your phone to prevent another phone call for bathroom breaks other than "personal time". The expected daily "personal time" was 14mins and under..your personal time started as soon as you input that code into the phone you still had to walk to the bathroom or the drinking fountain, etc.

To me though I really don't like the "need to hang up to get an educated person" though I get it. Ideally it would be great if companies gave employees the time to research and find the right answer for the person. The average phone call at my past company was supposed to be under 8 mins. Try explaining complex things AND fixing it all under 8 mins from the moment that phone is answered.

Sometimes though what would happen is knowledge gaps. You would have people who knew how to do some trick to get something to work but others around them wouldn't know. What I don't particularly appreciate is when call agents don't attempt to locate the correct answer. It's ok not to know..it's impossible to know everything so asking for assistance is ok. The problem becomes when the company doesn't foster that "ask assistance when needed even though we know it will take more time" type philosophy or frankly when the employee is not a motivated person. If the employee is a motivated person they may be less inclined to take extra time to get the correct answer if their company puts number of calls answered over full completion of the issue at hand.

I do believe in being kind but when needed firm too. Being nasty to someone doesn't usually get a resolution fast. That being said I don't think the OP got to that nasty point at all.

 

[JamesDean]

I don't mind them reconfirming information as that is for my security. However I had reason to call this week to make a new "room only" resort reservation using the discount code that was emailed to a lot of folks two weeks ago. I knew exactly what I wanted (two standard room at Pop) and would have done it on line except that I needed two rooms and DME for only one way for one of the rooms, which I wasn't sure I could do on line. The agent just couldn't stop asking me questions about Disney (my last visit, what parks I wanted to go to, my favorite quick service dining place, etc) and was constantly trying to talk me into reserving more than what I called for-Tickets, meal plans, restaurant reservations, etc.

What could have been a five to ten minute call turned out to be at least twice as long! I tried politely to keep getting the call back to her taking my reservation and but it became annoying after awhile!

Please remember that it is the job of the CM to ensure that you as the guest will have the most unique Disney vacation experience with as much magic as possible. In order to do that they need to ask you questions to assist them with discovering what your unique interests are so that you have an incredible and customized vacation. Many guests may not be aware of what amenities are available to them, what attractions have been added since their last visit or what the different dining plans offer. Would you really want your Disney vacation planning experience to be like ordering from a drive through fast food Joint?

Please be patient with the CM, answer their questions and interact with them. By doing so, you will reap the benefits of having an incredible magical vacation. Remember their top priority is your and your families happiness and they want to ensure that you have memories that will remain magical for a lifetime and that are unique to you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Please remember that it is the job of the CM to ensure that you as the guest will have the most unique Disney vacation experience with as much magic as possible. In order to do that they need to ask you questions to assist them with discovering what your unique interests are so that you have an incredible and customized vacation. Many guests may not be aware of what amenities are available to them, what attractions have been added since their last visit or what the different dining plans offer. Would you really want your Disney vacation planning experience to be like ordering from a drive through fast food Joint?

Please be patient with the CM, answer their questions and interact with them. By doing so, you will reap the benefits of having an incredible magical vacation. Remember their top priority is your and your families happiness and they want to ensure that you have memories that will remain magical for a lifetime and that are unique to you.

I do agree with you to a point but they also ask a lot of questions to gain information for potential upsells and other things.

I got a Disney gift card for Christmas. The person who gave it to me had it sent directly from Disney and it came inside a card exactly like a greeting card but it was a Disney gretting card. She then told me that she got a confirmation call from a Disney rep ensuring that she got the card. She explained it was a gift to someone but that CM started in on all the questions regarding last visit, which parks were her favorite, etc. She kept having to say "look I just got the gift card for someone else I'M not planning on going to Disney anytime soon THEY are however" but the CM just kept on going with more questions. She then found out (and bless her heart for not knowing it) that she could have just gotten the gift card from the store. She said she should have done it because it was frustrating having to repeat herself that she wasn't interested in a trip but the recipient of the card was.

So yes it's great information and can be of immense great usage but coming from previous phone business (as you can see by my earlier post) you also have to know your audience and know when to stop or shorten the spiel.

 

[bumbershoot]

Please remember that it is the job of the CM to ensure that you as the guest will have the most unique Disney vacation experience with as much magic as possible. In order to do that they need to ask you questions to assist them with discovering what your unique interests are so that you have an incredible and customized vacation. Many guests may not be aware of what amenities are available to them, what attractions have been added since their last visit or what the different dining plans offer. Would you really want your Disney vacation planning experience to be like ordering from a drive through fast food Joint?

Please be patient with the CM, answer their questions and interact with them. By doing so, you will reap the benefits of having an incredible magical vacation. Remember their top priority is your and your families happiness and they want to ensure that you have memories that will remain magical for a lifetime and that are unique to you.

OH gosh, no Disney vacation is unique. It's all the same offered experiences. They are trying to sell stuff.

Thankfully I've never had to deal with an agent who is trying to sell me anything like that. I'd lose my mind.


If an agent needs to verify my identity then WHY have the automated system? It makes no sense.

 

[Uncranky Donald]

The automated system suckssssss ISO and has no point but to make it seem like you are not on hold as long as you are. That said I got a total kick *** cm today, I got her extension for future use and about 30mins after her taking care of everything for me (which two other cm couldn't seem to figure out) I got an email follow up.
If anyone wants her number lmk, her name is Libby

I've had Libby!!! I mean I THINK I have, how many amazing Libbys can there be?!?! I'm also a severe night owl so I'm always calling well after 9pm EST so I rarely wait. However, it's taken me 4 departments sometimes until I find a CM that knows the correct info and it usually ends of being someone in regular ticketing, and at that late at night they always hook me up even if I'm dealing w/reservations. Cuz at that point I've gotten SO much wrong info they can't bare transferring me to yet one more person. Lol one CM last month told me I actually had to go to Florida early to activate my AP, then fly home to CT just so I could make FP selections b4 my vacation in June...uhhhh...seriously

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am always polite and respectful to people on the phone as I assume they are just doing their job, but I agree with those above who say that the purpose of the CM's excessive off topic questioning and small talk is to sell, sell, sell!

 

[GreatLakes]

In regards to the automated system it could be a couple of things.

• The computer to phone integration could be down. We have a similar system and it happens. The PBX records the information but it isn't passed correctly.
  
• It could also be a gatekeeper as opposed to information. That means it asks for a reservation number and confirms you have one only to pass you through. It isn't meant to be passed along to the representative. Personally I think this is "customer hostile" as we would say but every company has a different threshold when it comes to this kind of thing.
• It could be for security. They may have the information up but still ask for it as verification. That should be communicated more clearly but it could juts be a bad representative.
• If they are running a fail over to a second site or queue they might not pass along the reservation information. This is a setup I've encountered before. The main call queue is passed the PBX inputs because the agents in that queue have the necessary software for the integration. If there is a secondary queue that gets overflow they may not have get that information so they have to ask.

Or you just got an imbecile.