Well, at least that is what it felt like. An ongoing drama at work had me at breaking point, and that does not happen that often. OK, first off, yesterday, got a call in from an account manager wanting to track down an order she had emailed in on Monday, customer required date Wednesday (when the phone call was). Now, first thing to understand is that it does sometimes take a day or two for our email and fax work to be up to date, with the type of request it was we do have a two day standard timeframe to do the work (we do try to do it asap, but two days is the standard that we have to work to).
So maybe the account manager should have rung it in on Monday rather than email. No worries, I could take the work on, do it as soon as, but how would the customer want it done, for what the customer wanted there are two ways to do it. The account manager says I don't know, let's phone the customer and find out. Lucky I didn't do it the way it was in the email, because it was wrong LOL. So yes, do the work, send off confirmation info to the account manager and the customer, and everything is hunky dory.
Then a couple of hours later the account manager rings in to me again, and says that there needs to be a change to the work, which I put through. But apparently the change didn't stick, because this morning the account manager rings in to say the customer's not happy, the work needs to be changed again. I check, the change I put through yesterday hadn't gone on the order, I put it through again, but it gives me a new appointment for tomorrow (preferably asap, but as I said before, can be up to two days to go through). This account manager obviously thinks that I am the only one that can do the work, because, being in a call centre, there are dozens of consultants to take the call, but each time she asks for me specifically.
Early afternoon, the account manager rings in again. The customer is unhappy with the appointment for tomorrow, is there any way the work can be done quicker. Well, yes there is, but I can only promise close of business rather than any specific time. Because to sort it out, I need to do an out call, I need to get permission from my team leader - it is a bit of a madhouse staff wise at that particular minute, with people going to end of last team meetings and starting new team meetings (what with the reorganisation), I ask the boss for time to make out calls as required, but not until 3pm, when there will be more staff on to take the inbound calls.
At twenty to three, I get a call again. Another transfer from another consultant, meaning that I am on my internal line again rather than taking actual customer calls. The account manager who is really starting to bug me says she has the customer on line - I say to her (the account person, not the customer) that I am still on top of the issue, but that we are understaffed at this particular moment, the work will be done by close of business, but I cannot do anything until at least 3pm. She listens to this and then says 'can you talk to the customer?'
Like, I'm not sure how well any readers out there understand my job (hopefully not too many, what with the 'sacking because of blog cases' out there LOL), but the account manager is the one that is supposed to interact the most with the customer, I'm just a pleb doing orders in the background LOL. Sure, the customers can ring in direct to us, but if we explain the issue to an account manager, they should be able to pass that on to the customer direct.
But what can you really say when the customer is on hold? Of course I will speak to the customer - of course, I explained it differently to the customer. That the work would be done by close of business, that I would put the order together within the next half hour - the customer countered with this should have been done yesterday, my boss is flipping about this, and the next call we make will be to one of your competitors. While the customer goes away to get some info for me, the account manager who surprises me by still being on the line (thought she had gone soon after bringing the customer across) says, can I leave the customer with you? Grr, again one of those questions that only has one answer LOL.
I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown here (well, most stress I have had in the workplace kind of magnitude, but still not a minor thing), but let the account manager go. The customer abuses me a bit more, by this stage I'm not really listening, gets off the phone, and I babble some incoherent rambling to the boss.
Bit by bit I calm down and the story becomes more understandable, but really, it comes down to four things - we were given the wrong information in the first place yesterday, the account manager shouldn't be dumping customers on me, I shouldn't have gotten four transfers over the two days when any consultant could basically have taken on the task - and some fourth thing that dropped out of my head with the stress LOL.
Got the work done, and my boss gave the account manager a real burst, saying don't harrass my staff, and that was the nice part LOL. First time I've really ever heard her angry, but I guess I looked pathetic enough with all the stress or something :)
It was just the culmination to a very messy day, lots of orders needing extra work and such.
Bit of culture for the day - the biggest necropolis of predynastic Egypt has been found 600 kays south of Cairo. All the way from about 3600 BC - very much a wow moment. I think back and can hardly believe that I was there, Egypt I mean, and was inside one of the Giza Pyramids :)
As a quieter moment away from the awesomeness of Ancient Egypt (although there's not too much shabby about medieval Egypt either), had a haircut today. Yeah yeah I know big news, and I hated the shaggy dog feeling I was getting every morning lately LOL. Was kind of tempted to do a Full Metal Jacket army haircut, number one or two all over, but chickened out, and just had the bulk of hair taken off, but still semi styled.
The thing was, the barber blow dried my hair, and it took me back to when my mother used to do my haircuts, before I turned twelve, and how she used to blowdry our hair, Sunday nights, having a bath afterwards, and just how big the world seemed. Thinking along the lines that it was only a five minute drive to our grandparents place but it seemed forever. And how when we were first in Australia and Mum went home to see the family, we converted to Stefan haircuts, and how styley we felt LOL. Yeah, right I think nowadays LOL, Stefannnnn's :)
No doubt on what will be the movie of the week this weekend - Downfall. The Reich's last ten days. No competition whatsoever - I try not to go into movies with expectations (since I try to mini review them with an open mind), but The Movie Show on SBS this weekend got me excited about it. NOT because I am pro Nazi or whatever, but just that it seems an intelligent film about insane times. Admission though, I was fairly right wing at high school - I think it was my nervous breakdown in Grade 12 that was the start of my wimpy liberal ways LOL.
By the way, saw All Quiet On The Western Front DVD on sale in the cheapie racks last weekend. I kinda sorta kinda remember watching it in my mid teens, but can't remember too much of it apart from the hand in the barbed wire at the end (if I remember it right). But is one of those films that I feel I don't have to watch to make a decision to buy the DVD.
Was going to comment on latest episode of Amazing Race, but am running out of brain power here LOL. Kinda sorry to see Hayden and her guy go, but Kris and John are still in the hunt, and I don't like either of the other two couples. Kendra I don't like for her bigheaded Western world impression of Senegal and Ethiopia, and just something about Adam and Rebecca rubs me the wrong way. Hmm, let's think of rubbing and Kris LOL LOL. And the series is going back to back, and something about the winners of Survivor being on it? Getting close to Survivor's longevity as well :)
Okies, that is a bit of a marathon to read, but fingers crossed, SOME people will find it entertaining. All the Anzac Day talk on the TV channels, did I tell you that I was at Anzac Cove a few years ago? Is an amazing place, and also the battlegrounds of Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair - think I have mentioned Anzac Day in a previous post, so may shut up now and there may be more on the weekend :)
Pauly
So maybe the account manager should have rung it in on Monday rather than email. No worries, I could take the work on, do it as soon as, but how would the customer want it done, for what the customer wanted there are two ways to do it. The account manager says I don't know, let's phone the customer and find out. Lucky I didn't do it the way it was in the email, because it was wrong LOL. So yes, do the work, send off confirmation info to the account manager and the customer, and everything is hunky dory.
Then a couple of hours later the account manager rings in to me again, and says that there needs to be a change to the work, which I put through. But apparently the change didn't stick, because this morning the account manager rings in to say the customer's not happy, the work needs to be changed again. I check, the change I put through yesterday hadn't gone on the order, I put it through again, but it gives me a new appointment for tomorrow (preferably asap, but as I said before, can be up to two days to go through). This account manager obviously thinks that I am the only one that can do the work, because, being in a call centre, there are dozens of consultants to take the call, but each time she asks for me specifically.
Early afternoon, the account manager rings in again. The customer is unhappy with the appointment for tomorrow, is there any way the work can be done quicker. Well, yes there is, but I can only promise close of business rather than any specific time. Because to sort it out, I need to do an out call, I need to get permission from my team leader - it is a bit of a madhouse staff wise at that particular minute, with people going to end of last team meetings and starting new team meetings (what with the reorganisation), I ask the boss for time to make out calls as required, but not until 3pm, when there will be more staff on to take the inbound calls.
At twenty to three, I get a call again. Another transfer from another consultant, meaning that I am on my internal line again rather than taking actual customer calls. The account manager who is really starting to bug me says she has the customer on line - I say to her (the account person, not the customer) that I am still on top of the issue, but that we are understaffed at this particular moment, the work will be done by close of business, but I cannot do anything until at least 3pm. She listens to this and then says 'can you talk to the customer?'
Like, I'm not sure how well any readers out there understand my job (hopefully not too many, what with the 'sacking because of blog cases' out there LOL), but the account manager is the one that is supposed to interact the most with the customer, I'm just a pleb doing orders in the background LOL. Sure, the customers can ring in direct to us, but if we explain the issue to an account manager, they should be able to pass that on to the customer direct.
But what can you really say when the customer is on hold? Of course I will speak to the customer - of course, I explained it differently to the customer. That the work would be done by close of business, that I would put the order together within the next half hour - the customer countered with this should have been done yesterday, my boss is flipping about this, and the next call we make will be to one of your competitors. While the customer goes away to get some info for me, the account manager who surprises me by still being on the line (thought she had gone soon after bringing the customer across) says, can I leave the customer with you? Grr, again one of those questions that only has one answer LOL.
I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown here (well, most stress I have had in the workplace kind of magnitude, but still not a minor thing), but let the account manager go. The customer abuses me a bit more, by this stage I'm not really listening, gets off the phone, and I babble some incoherent rambling to the boss.
Bit by bit I calm down and the story becomes more understandable, but really, it comes down to four things - we were given the wrong information in the first place yesterday, the account manager shouldn't be dumping customers on me, I shouldn't have gotten four transfers over the two days when any consultant could basically have taken on the task - and some fourth thing that dropped out of my head with the stress LOL.
Got the work done, and my boss gave the account manager a real burst, saying don't harrass my staff, and that was the nice part LOL. First time I've really ever heard her angry, but I guess I looked pathetic enough with all the stress or something :)
It was just the culmination to a very messy day, lots of orders needing extra work and such.
Bit of culture for the day - the biggest necropolis of predynastic Egypt has been found 600 kays south of Cairo. All the way from about 3600 BC - very much a wow moment. I think back and can hardly believe that I was there, Egypt I mean, and was inside one of the Giza Pyramids :)
As a quieter moment away from the awesomeness of Ancient Egypt (although there's not too much shabby about medieval Egypt either), had a haircut today. Yeah yeah I know big news, and I hated the shaggy dog feeling I was getting every morning lately LOL. Was kind of tempted to do a Full Metal Jacket army haircut, number one or two all over, but chickened out, and just had the bulk of hair taken off, but still semi styled.
The thing was, the barber blow dried my hair, and it took me back to when my mother used to do my haircuts, before I turned twelve, and how she used to blowdry our hair, Sunday nights, having a bath afterwards, and just how big the world seemed. Thinking along the lines that it was only a five minute drive to our grandparents place but it seemed forever. And how when we were first in Australia and Mum went home to see the family, we converted to Stefan haircuts, and how styley we felt LOL. Yeah, right I think nowadays LOL, Stefannnnn's :)
No doubt on what will be the movie of the week this weekend - Downfall. The Reich's last ten days. No competition whatsoever - I try not to go into movies with expectations (since I try to mini review them with an open mind), but The Movie Show on SBS this weekend got me excited about it. NOT because I am pro Nazi or whatever, but just that it seems an intelligent film about insane times. Admission though, I was fairly right wing at high school - I think it was my nervous breakdown in Grade 12 that was the start of my wimpy liberal ways LOL.
By the way, saw All Quiet On The Western Front DVD on sale in the cheapie racks last weekend. I kinda sorta kinda remember watching it in my mid teens, but can't remember too much of it apart from the hand in the barbed wire at the end (if I remember it right). But is one of those films that I feel I don't have to watch to make a decision to buy the DVD.
Was going to comment on latest episode of Amazing Race, but am running out of brain power here LOL. Kinda sorry to see Hayden and her guy go, but Kris and John are still in the hunt, and I don't like either of the other two couples. Kendra I don't like for her bigheaded Western world impression of Senegal and Ethiopia, and just something about Adam and Rebecca rubs me the wrong way. Hmm, let's think of rubbing and Kris LOL LOL. And the series is going back to back, and something about the winners of Survivor being on it? Getting close to Survivor's longevity as well :)
Okies, that is a bit of a marathon to read, but fingers crossed, SOME people will find it entertaining. All the Anzac Day talk on the TV channels, did I tell you that I was at Anzac Cove a few years ago? Is an amazing place, and also the battlegrounds of Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair - think I have mentioned Anzac Day in a previous post, so may shut up now and there may be more on the weekend :)
Pauly
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