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Comment by wpietri | Hacker News Reader

I too have stopped getting angry with agents; there's no payoff in being a jerk. But I have also stopped pretending like they are powerless victims. E.g., "That's a shame that they won't let you really help anybody. Have you thought about finding a job working for better people?"

Propping up a bad system means you are complicit. Especially when part of the way you prop up the system is by keeping people being harmed away from the people ordering the harm.

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"Have you thought about getting a job working for better people" is incredibly patronizing, akin to asking a fast food worker why they're not working at a real restaurant or someone at a huge, bulky conglomerate why they're not working for Google. The rep knows that their script isn't designed to help you, just like someone working at McDonald's knows that their burgers aren't the best in town, but they also have to pay rent at the end of the month so they're going to stick to it.

Being nice to customer service reps is the best thing you can do and is the easiest way to get them to go out of their way to help you. Chances are the caller before you was kind of a jerk, and the caller after you will probably be kind of a jerk, so if you approach the call in a nice manner and are polite and patient you'll stick out in a good way and the agent will be more inspired to assist you. It's possible or probable that they'll still be hamstrung by corporate regulations but like they say, you'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar (or however the saying goes).

Depends on how you say it. If you say it as a way to browbeat them, sure. But if you have arrived at a point in the conversation where it is obvious the job they have chosen is one that a) cannot help you, and b) makes sure the person who has chosen not to help you cannot hear about it, then it is pretty obvious they have a shitty job.

You can either acknowledge that or sweep it under the rug. I'd rather just acknowledge it. So I think it's possible to say with sympathy something like, "Man your bosses have put you in a terrible situation. You have to take the heat, but you can't help anybody. I'd bet you can find something better than that."

Sure, that's how they're paying this month's rent, and I don't begrudge them that. But them making a career out of that isn't good for anybody, them included.

You don't have to be a jerk, but you can certainly voice your issues in the calls - they're recorded for 'quality control purposes'.

It has been a long, long time since I worked the phones anywhere that says that. Maybe things have changed. But I understand that to generally mean, "If this rep's stats don't look good, we will listen to the call recordings and tell them how to get you off the line faster."

I believe it also sometimes means that they'll review a worker's calls just to give them managerial feedback. But I don't think they ever listen to those recordings to know what I think about their company.

I generally record those calls as well, mostly so I have times/dates/names of who I spoke with and what was said - rarely ever have to revisit anything. I wonder if I challenged a call center on "so and so said XYZ on date YYZ" would they review their call recordings to clarify?

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