Jimbob Posted August 6, 2013 Posted August 6, 2013 Where do you work? For the government (HMRC). It's one of the worst call centres i've worked for. Get treated like crap, don't get a second to breath after a call. I've said it many times here.
Iun Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 Some fucker got into my PayPal account and tried to buy something for £81.50, thankfully PayPal customer support are fantastic and after a quick phone call they've stopped the payment and refunded it! Goddammit, I NEEDED that replica lightsaber!
Charlie Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 For the government (HMRC). It's one of the worst call centres i've worked for. Get treated like crap, don't get a second to breath after a call. I've said it many times here. I find it amazing how many work places don't realise that if you don't respect your employees and give them some breathing room then morale will go down, people will resent coming in and lead to poor performance and a high turnover of staff therefore costing them money. At both my "real" jobs I've found that managers don't care if someone comes in a little bit late, leaves a little bit early or takes a little too long at lunch as long as everything gets done. It's nice to have that wiggle room if something doesn't go right in your day and causes a delay.
Daft Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 When I called the HMRC the person who I spoke to was awesome.
Jimbob Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 I find it amazing how many work places don't realise that if you don't respect your employees and give them some breathing room then morale will go down, people will resent coming in and lead to poor performance and a high turnover of staff therefore costing them money. At both my "real" jobs I've found that managers don't care if someone comes in a little bit late, leaves a little bit early or takes a little too long at lunch as long as everything gets done. It's nice to have that wiggle room if something doesn't go right in your day and causes a delay. You don't get that here. I'm in the moodset of "i don't give a rats anymore". People manipulate the system to favour them, others get spited and shot down. If you are just 1 minute late, they want a detailed explanation as to why you are late. This included breaks, lunches and starting. Once a call is finished, you've got a manager breathing down your neck pressing the "Ready button" on your phone if you are just taking a quick breather. If you go on the sick, you've got them pestering you to come back in by calling you daily. A mate of mine is on long-term sick. Nothing wrong with him, he's fine. He just can't be bothered to come in due to being stressed out, overworked and plainly annoyed with management techniques. The union said for him to go on the sick for a break. When I called the HMRC the person who I spoke to was awesome. Without being sexist, was it a female on the phone?.
Daft Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 Without being sexist, was it a female on the phone?. It was a female of the species.
Jimbob Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 It was a female of the species. Thought as much. They treat females 10x better than the males, it's the opposite of what said above for them. Some of them should have been sacked, but havn't.
Beast Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 (edited) I know that now :p It's not about me being scared that I might get addicted or anything. It's just.. I always said to myself and everyone that I will never smoke even a single cigarette. But I did. I 'broke' this 'promise'. Yeah but dude, we all slip with our addictions, illnesses and shit and it's not a bad thing. It happens, we're human! Just don't let the addiction or whatever you want to call it get the better of you again because you're stronger than that and you've proved it. Think of it like a game or something, you've smoked a cigarette, now the counter is reset, see how long you can do it and beat the last time. But yeah, by the sounds of it, it's unlikely you'll touch a fag again after a long time. Which reminds me of a question I've wondered (to all you smokers), why do you want to have a smoke after having sex? I've never got the reason why you would... Before my week break, i had a meeting with my manager regarding any health issues that may be affecting my performance in work (it's only because i hate the place, nothing else but they don't know that as i lied and said nothing is affecting me). I don't tell them i hate the place and want to leave, they'll make it so easy and force me out as they've done with previous people who said they didn't like the job. I get home yesterday, and what do i find. A letter from work with an appointment made with the works doctor made for this Friday 9am. I'm not a happy bunny, and neither is the union who are contesting the reason as to why the apointment was made. The only way these are made is if the employee asks for one. Last time i saw the works doctor, they said there was nothing wrong. I saw my GP and he said i had mild depression. If you have them, look in your work's rulebook and contract and find where it says appointments are made only if the employee asks and show it to them. They can't FORCE you to go if you don't want to go. Stupid question but are you looking for another job? Because I would if I were you. It's sounds horribly familiar to my situation in my last job. For the government (HMRC). It's one of the worst call centres i've worked for. Get treated like crap, don't get a second to breath after a call. I've said it many times here. I know exactly how you feel, mate. I honestly do. I've been through this in my last job. In my last job, they string everybody along on temporary contracts, promising a permanent contract after 12 months of working with them. After the sixth month, we eventually cottoned on that when people were reaching their final contract, they got the boot but legally they had to keep a couple on. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them. They pressured and treated me so badly at that place that I got home and all I wanted to do was just curl up into a ball and die. Literally. They used me and played me a lot and I took it because it was so hard to get a job with no experience and I hated them so much (but now they've closed down because of the bosses, go figure!). One of the bosses hated me in particular and surprise surprise, she gave me the sack and she wore the biggest smile and gave me the most sarcastic tone when she did it, all because I couldn't convince people to sign up for their stupid credit cards. There was no sympathy or any sign of it when she did it, just pure 'snobbery', she thought she was better than everybody else. There's a LOT more that happened but it'd take too long but that's when I promised myself I'd never ever take any crap for anything or anyone ever again. Yeah, my mouth can get me into trouble but it's better than taking bullshit! As soon as you can, mate, find another job! If you have done and it seems that nobody will hire you, just keep on. Also, if you're like me and you don't trust that your recent employers will give out a good reference, get creative! I find it amazing how many work places don't realise that if you don't respect your employees and give them some breathing room then morale will go down, people will resent coming in and lead to poor performance and a high turnover of staff therefore costing them money. At both my "real" jobs I've found that managers don't care if someone comes in a little bit late, leaves a little bit early or takes a little too long at lunch as long as everything gets done. It's nice to have that wiggle room if something doesn't go right in your day and causes a delay. This is exactly what I like. Breathing room and no stress. Employers never realise how good these are and how much better people will perform. === In the job I'm in now, I recently had my mobile phone on the shop floor on silent because there was a full-time job that was going to ring me on that day for an interview and it was in my pocket, I didn't get it out and start fiddling around with the phone, ignoring customers or anything, it was just in there so that when it rang (or vibrated, rather), I'd go to the toilets and answer it. By the way, it might be a good idea to add that you're not allowed to have a phone on you (which is stupid in itself, really, and I get I broke a rule but I'll get to that) However, about three-quarters through my shift, one of the supervisors from another store who was covering in my one spotted it in my pocket. "You have a phone on you?" she asked. I was spotted and I don't lie and even if I did, I'm sure she'd ask to see it so fair cop. "Yeah" "You're not allowed to have a phone on the shop floor, take it upstairs and put it in your locker" So fair enough, I got caught, I took it upstairs. I couldn't put it in my locker because in the staff room, my manager was having a meeting with someone and I didn't want to disturb them and I don't trust anybody else with my phone so I took it down with me. I came back on the shop floor and she told me to do something and then said "You still have the phone in your pocket, I can see it" "Yeah, my manager's having a meeting up there, I'll put it back once she's done" So she actually went upstairs, told my other manager, he came down and said "Hand me your phone and don't deny you don't have it because she's told me you have it" This got me a bit mad, actually. I felt like he was accusing me of potential lying or something when I never did that. It was almost like she told him that I'd deny it and lie or something. "Woah! Hold up! Why would I deny it when I flat out TOLD her I have it and that I'd return it once my manager was finished in the room?" "Give the phone to me and I'll put it in the manager's office" (which is a room with no door) "Okay but I'm putting a pass-code on before I hand it over" "Nobody's going to look into your phone" "It doesn't matter, I'm still putting it on. Be honest, would you be okay handing your phone over to me with no code on it?" He never answered. "Exactly, you wouldn't be" I said. So I put a code on it and handed it over. About an hour later, when the supervisor left the floor, one of my friends who works there came over and asked what happened. I told her and told her to keep her wits about her when it came to her. So anyway, the supervisor was back down and she came up to me. "You understand why I did what I did?" I answered honestly. "No...I got nothing" "I would get into trouble if I let you keep your phone on you" "How could you possibly get into trouble? I told you I was going to put it back when the manager was done using the room. You didn't trust me and felt the need to go to the other manager and tell him! Do you think I'm some 12 year old lad or something? Tell me how you'd get into trouble by letting me keep my phone on the shop floor until she was done using the room..." "Because if I let you, the others would want to keep their phones on them" she said. "Nah, it don't happen like that because me and you were nowhere near anybody. One of the workers (who was the only one on the shop floor as well as me and the supervisor) knew I had my phone on me and she didn't care. Besides, this store isn't like that. The workers don't grass you up and they ain't petty like that, we seriously don't care. All we care about is that work gets done and the work is shared equally" I said and it's the truth. Sometimes, a manager has their phone on them but we don't care. Recently, it was found out that the managers could wear whatever they want. The other stores kicked up a fuss but we actually didn't give two shits about it. She was stuck for words. "It's in the rule book that you can't do that" she said. Proper jobsworth. "Nice tattoos, why are they showing? When you're on the shop floor, you're not allowed to have any of your tattoos showing. You're also not allowed to have nose piercings but hey ho, there you are with one! I know the rule book inside out and this is my first time that I had the phone on the floor but I was expecting a call." "How would you have answered it?" "In the toilets, it would have taken literally one minute, all I needed was the time for my next job interview and that would have been that" She didn't say a word. "Give me a good reason why this rule exists" I asked. "Because you'd ignore the customers and play games on your phone or something" I laughed. "I'm not being funny, love, but I'm 23 years of age and one of the highest earners in the store, I think the last thing I would do is start playing Angry Birds or some shit. I'm not some kid in school, most of us aren't." So she was like "It doesn't matter, it's still in the rules" And I said "Yeah it was and I got copped, I apologise for breaking a rule but I'm going to be honest, the way you went about things was ridiculous and I felt like I was being treated like a criminal and a liar and I thought you were out of order for going to my other boss." "I had to do something" she said. "But did you though? Did you really? The first time you spotted my phone, fair enough, but to then get my other manager even though I told you I was going to return it once my manager was finished with the room, I thought that was bad" "I thought you'd lie" "Okay but when have I lied today?" .... "Exactly, I haven't. Every question you have asked today, I have told the truth to. I owned up with my phone, I told you my manager was using the staff room, I told you I had my phone on me and that I'd return it, I was honest to you...when have I lied or tried to worm my way out?" .... "Yup, that's what I thought. I'm going to carry on putting these away now anyway but thank you for doing that to me, I really appreciate it." and that was the end of that. The thing that got me mad wasn't the fact that I was caught but the fact I was treated like a criminal. Yeah, I got caught with my phone and I shouldn't have had it on me, fair cop, but I hated the fact I told her that I'd return the phone once my boss was done with the room where my locker was and she felt the need to tell my other manager who then more or less told me he didn't trust me later on that day, which is ridiculous in itself. I told everybody and asked what they thought about it. They all agreed with me. They all more or less said I was treated like I was a liar and untrustworthy even I though I admitted I had my phone on me and that she was out of order. I'm 23, not 13. Ugh, it got me mad and then to make matters worse, I got home to play Final Fantasy 13 with all of my characters levelled up and I STILL CAN'T BEAT THAT BARTHOLEMUS (whatever his name is)!!! Edited August 7, 2013 by Animal
Jimbob Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 @Animal my first proper full-time job (which i didn't want to leave, but due to company activities that resulted in them buggering it all up which resulted in redundancies) had all the breathing room you wanted. You fancied the afternoon off, quick word with the boss and it was sorted. You were late in, not a problem. Regarding the medical, i asked to see the record of my meeting (which i'm allowed to do, as they give copies out if needed be). It was doctored (no pun intended) to say that i requested to see the works doctor. I made no such remark or request. But they are saying i did as per the record, so i may have to attend. Which i'm not, it's my day off out of all days and i don't intend to travel 45 minutes for a 15 minute appointment. And i am looking for work, got 6 on the burner at the moment which i'm hoping to hear back from. One i did hear back from, which i did call them to enquire how i could further my chances of gaining employment (i do that with some companies). They said based on the information they received from my current employment, i wasn't succesful.
Beast Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 Regarding the medical, i asked to see the record of my meeting (which i'm allowed to do, as they give copies out if needed be). It was doctored (no pun intended) to say that i requested to see the works doctor. I made no such remark or request. But they are saying i did as per the record, so i may have to attend. Which i'm not, it's my day off out of all days and i don't intend to travel 45 minutes for a 15 minute appointment. And i am looking for work, got 6 on the burner at the moment which i'm hoping to hear back from. One i did hear back from, which i did call them to enquire how i could further my chances of gaining employment (i do that with some companies). They said based on the information they received from my current employment, i wasn't succesful. That's illegal! How on Earth are they going to get away with it? I wouldn't go at all. I'd just say "I didn't ask for it, I'd know if I bloody well asked to see a doctor and I didn't!". Read into it and see if you have to. That's disgusting though, there must be something you can do...If I were you, I'd cover myself. The next time you go into an interview, take an iPod or something and get a recording app and record the conversation. Or take your phone, set it on silent and non-vibrate and record it. Back yourself up! Wow, that's good going! I've just had to turn an interview down because I'm working at the day I have an interview on but they're trying to fit me in in the weekend so hopefully, that will be good. The thing I noticed you say was based on the information they received from your current employer, you wasn't successful, that doesn't sound very good at all. Put a reference down on your CV and get someone to pretend they are your employer or part of the management team, this is what I've had to do and since, I've had 4 job interviews. Granted mine were supervisors from my current place but I knew I could trust them to say good things about me.
Charlie Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 Why are they contacting your current employer already? Put down a previous employer so your current one doesn't know and can't say anything bad about you. Heck, you can be employed by my company for a reference if you want.
Beast Posted August 7, 2013 Posted August 7, 2013 I'm pretty sure my current employer is doing something to keep me from leaving. They already know I'm looking for a job because I accidentally went into my boss's sister-in-law's shop asking for a job (I didn't know this at the time) and I also went into another shop that my other boss's girlfriend (who was an employee in my store) works in. I've not made it a secret even though they both were acting shocked. I was like "...you already knew this! I'm looking for another part-time job to make up more hours..." and then they're all "Oh yeah, okay". If full-time comes around, I'm gone! But I've changed the reference to two of the supervisors who worked in the store I'm in now and I've had about 3 or 4 interviews since. Could it be a coincidence? But as Charlie said, totally change it if you can. Even get a friend to fake a reference for you.
Murr Posted August 9, 2013 Posted August 9, 2013 So this just happened while playing football on my lunchbreak... fun times
nightwolf Posted August 9, 2013 Posted August 9, 2013 Ouch! @Murr Its such a trivial thing, but I'm going to Eurogamer and thought my friend had booked a ticket with me, turns out he forgot. So I'm going on my own. Its not too bad as I'm going to the Minecraft expo on my own too, I know a few of the panel guys to say hi and see faces, but nobody to hang with, which sucks. Its always so disappointing when you were looking forward to hanging out with someone.
Charlie Posted August 9, 2013 Posted August 9, 2013 He forgot? How can you forget to book tickets to go to a large festival/whatever?
nightwolf Posted August 9, 2013 Posted August 9, 2013 He forgot? How can you forget to book tickets to go to a large festival/whatever? My answer: 'Fuck knows' I really don't understand given I mentioned it to him months ago, but I suppose things have happened and we've both been a little preoccupied. I only brought it up today because I purchased a minecraft expo uk ticket.
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 I've had maybe 3 good night's worth of sleep this month and it is pissing me off. Last night, I spent over an hour and a half/2 hours trying to sleep and couldn't do it. In the end, I crashed out on the sofa watching Batman Begins. Twice. What the fuck is going on? I'm using up all of my energy because I just can't seem to flick that switch that sends me off.
Jon Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 I've had maybe 3 good night's worth of sleep this month and it is pissing me off. Last night, I spent over an hour and a half/2 hours trying to sleep and couldn't do it. In the end, I crashed out on the sofa watching Batman Begins. Twice. What the fuck is going on? I'm using up all of my energy because I just can't seem to flick that switch that sends me off. Perhaps you should be flicking something else. Har Har Har. Sorry. On a related note to sleep, I've been doing a lot of dreaming lately. This is quite odd for me as i've never been one for dreaming. Since I started working out later at night and going to bed not long after, I seem to be having dreams quite often. Not sure if it's related anyway or just a coincidence.
nightwolf Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 Talking of lack of sleep (is there something going on here?), I was woken up at 5am by my body going 'ALERT, ALERT'. Rushed to the bathroom where I had a full body fever going on for a good ten minutes (fever or flush? same thing), so I was constantly switching between hot and cold. Had to lie down on the damn bathroom floor. Only to go to the toilet and feel absolutely fine. I swear my body has been more ill since I've changed to a decent diet than it ever was when I ate junk food. Its driving me crackers.
martinist Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 So I went to the Alea casino in Glasgow last night for a poker tournament. I did alright, when I busted out of the tournament I started playing low-stakes blackjack. Made a small proffit of about £20 or so. Then I went upstairs and started playing high-stakes blackjack....I lost about £150.
Blade Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 Just been attacked by a ferocious Pigeon at Piccadilly Station in Manchester
Fierce_LiNk Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 Perhaps you should be flicking something else. Har Har Har. Sorry. I'm not ashamed to say that I laughed at this. Yes, I should have gone back to sleep. :p Just been attacked by a ferocious Pigeon at Piccadilly Station in Manchester You should have bicep curled that mother fucker before picking up a flare to draw more pigeons into the area and then molotoved the buggers.
bob Posted August 11, 2013 Posted August 11, 2013 I don't think pigeons are attracted by flares. You're thinking of the coastguard. Try bread.
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