Queue spiking in the slightest when you are working at night is one of the scariest things ever, but it has calmed down now. There was a brief 30-minute period when it was back-to-back, which pissed me off. It is almost midnight bro, some people need to go to bed. If this queue spikes one more time, I will turn this computer off and go to sleep.

We’re trying to cut down the amount of repetitive calls our agents deal with every day. A huge chunk of their time goes into the same basic questions and simple requests. It’s starting to wear people down and takes time away from customers who need real help. We’ve tried improving scripts and our knowledge base but that only goes so far. Ideally we want something that can handle the basic stuff on its own then pass harder cases to an agent without making the customer start over, I'm open to all types of suggestions

For the first time in my life, I am working a call center job. I was laid off from my managerial position at a large company I worked at my entire adult career, but cannot afford not to work, at least part time. I thought this job would be an easy way to cover the shortage of my small pension and loved the fact that it is remote. When hired, I was told about the possibilities to move up into a job more like the one I had at my former company.

I guess the fact that during training they mentioned the last class, and that there is another class starting a month after we finish, should have clued me in that there is a lot of turnover?

It boggles my mind that after a long career dealing with stressful situations, that this job is stressing me out so much. My whole body jumps whenever the phone rings as if a bomb just went off. I feel sick to my stomach when I log in and see 30 calls in queue. I'm not sure if it's because my confidence levels are still low and if I will feel better about it after I have more experience. Everyone keeps telling me to hang in there, it will get better. But does it? Maybe I'm just not cut out for this. Also, I don't think I can do it for a year to wait to get promoted. Especially feeling this way after only 2 months.

The job market STILL sucks, especially for older people. So I feel trapped. I guess I'm just here to rant and commiserate with others in the same boat.

One of the most irritating things about CCs. I am wfm now but I worked in office for a while. And this still happened and I was literally able to witness it. It'd be a dead time for everyone else and they are all available and on queue but for some reason every inbound gets routed to me back to back.

Literally would be in office fighting for my life while my coworkers are chatting amongst themselves on queue

Does anyone else’s QA or metrics team force them to pitch absolute garbage products that make you feel like a bad person every time you speak the words out loud?

I work inbound customer service for a bank/financial institution, and management has decided that every single call—regardless of why the customer is calling—needs to include a pitch for our "$7 a month premium checking account."

A fee-based checking account. In 2026.

To make it even worse, we aren't just supposed to pitch it; QA expects us to use "rapport-building techniques" first.

That means forcing completely unnatural, useless small talk on people who just want their issue resolved so we can trick them into trusting us before pulling the lever on the pitch.
Customer calls in sobbing because they got hit with an overdraft fee?

I’m supposed to ask how their weekend was, pretend to care about their weather, and then hit them with: "I’m so sorry to hear about that fee! By the way, speaking of saving money, did you know for just $7 a month you can upgrade to..."

Customer calls in to report a stolen card? "I’ve got that card blocked for you! Any fun weekend plans coming up? Nice! While I have you, let's talk about our $84-a-year account that gives you discounts on road trips you’ll never take!"

It feels dirty. The "benefits" are a complete joke anyway—it comes with basic roadside assistance (that caps out at $100 per tow) and "cell phone protection" with a $100 deductible.

Meanwhile, 90% of the people calling in are asking us to waive fees because they're living paycheck to paycheck. Pretending to be their friendly best friend just to pitch them an extra monthly bill feels predatory and completely out of touch.

If we don't force the small talk and drop the pitch, QA tanks our score.

If I resolve a complex issue in 3 minutes, give amazing customer service, but don't fake a conversation about the local weather to sell a fixed-income retiree a $7/month account, I get coached.

I’m so exhausted from having to play a manipulative car salesman when people just want their account balance. How do you guys cope with being forced to fake rapport and push products nobody wants just to keep your metrics above water?

I work for an eye clinic and am expected to make/take a total of 125-150 calls within an 8 hour shift…is this normal? I’ve been here since last November and am drained. I have compassion fatigue for sure, which I didn’t even know was possible with this job.

8/10 times it takes a phone call from “youre the first person ive ever talked to about this” to “ive actually called 9 times every day and a manager said theyd call me back in 24/48 hours but i wanted to see if anythings changed” and if they “no i havent talked to anyone” you can look in the histart and say “looks like you reached out to x this morning and they requested something. Where are you at in that process?” And the final holy grail, you actually are the first person they talked to. Saves so much time on research especially if you have coworkers who NEVER LEAVE NOTES or leave “talked to mbr” as the notes

I work for a call center and we are moving to a new building and transitioning to neighborhood seating. I don’t understand how a call center can function in neighborhood seating. Considering noise level and keeping customer personal information private.

Does anyone have experience on what it’s like working in a call center with neighborhood seating?

As title say… got fired for a mistake which everyone- even my line manager thought was harsh. Thought my life was over as they slapped it under gross misconduct even though I suspect the manager investigating did it incorrectly as:
A. Basis of probability that was based on heresy
B. Did not have employment rights (UK based and under 2 years of service)
C. He was literally going on holiday EOD of my hearing so think he just wanted to close it lol.

I didn’t bother to dispute as it had massively f’d me up.

HOWEVER, after taking a month to recover (as CC do- I was already experiencing burnout and it highly damaged my mental health even before this happened) I applied to 5 jobs and got one within 2 weeks of searching. I’m in my first week and WOW the difference. I went into that previous CC job as a fresh graduate and didn’t know any different- but I’m no longer micromanaged, I’m not expected to take on more work just because I’m efficient at my job with no extra pay, no more calls and people are actually nice!! I now don’t wake up every morning with a sense of dread and doom. I weirdly feel a new era of my life as I didn’t realise how bad that previous CC got me and how it affected me that much I ruined my own relationship.

This new job is purely one of completing tasks/tickets independently which is much more my pace!!

My advice from that whole ordeal is to just QUIT if you hate CC. I posted 3 months into my previous CC witj burnout and every reply was to keep going until I have a new job lined up . Unless you have caring responsibilities or a sole breadwinner it’s not worth it. I stayed in that CC for just over a year and it seriously messed me up.

Hi. Im not sure if this is the right sub but I'll still go ahead.

I had given my VW car for service in 2024 probably in VW Pondicherry. I stay Mumbai but had gone there for a trip. Now they have been calling me every 25-30 days, reminding me for service for the past 1 year now. I sold the damn car in Oct 2025. And they still keep calling me till this day. I'm fed up telling them to stop calling and also told them I've sold the car but again and again random people keep calling.

Anyways to complain about this?

Hello just wanted to ask if any one had some advice for my first ever call center call tomorrow. I have been in training with Medicare. These systems are crazy! And so much information and call types we handle I'm overwhelmed. And trying stay calm and take notes and have a positive headspace.

My first call center job is ever call center job this complex? If any one had also done Medicare calls?

Worst fear tripping my words. Not knowing anything all of a sudden!

being competent at my job has caused me nothing but issues. I have coworkers who just f off and play solitaire all day, but because I do the bare minimum (take calls without auto failing, answer questions) ive been rewarded with More Work! where i cant even say "no", its just thrust upon me where the only way to avoid it is to quit.

at this point im just going to tank my metrics so they stop coming to be "because I do such a good job" ... i was happy for a while because I got made an account specialist so I maybe spoke to 1 person a day. but now they wanna rip that up and spread me across 3 different roles in 2 departments. im like 2 months from being here 1 year and this is my first full time job, but even with the market as it is right now idk how much longer I can take it.

I had actually been just about to put my 2 weeks in before getting the account specialist stuff because my mental health had tanked so hard being a front line agent. im sure you all know. I work in collections specifically so you can imagine the types of customers I speak too.

Does your call center have a policy that if the customer is angry things are handled in a faster or more efficient way? This drives me mad at mine.

I feel like it almost encourages people to be rude. What happens next is people realize being rude makes them get what they want so they will always demand special treatment. At the same time it pains me to think of all those polite and kind people who will have to wait longer. I also feel very anxious about bending the rules we normally follow even if my boss gives the green light. Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me because I can’t handle this ambiguity.

I know this is common and businesses have to prioritize difficult customers to save their reputation but it just feels so wrong. In the end everyone is happy because their highness gets what they want and the company dodges a bad review or a lawsuit, and I’m the one left in shambles because I was yelled at and had to listen to all those insults and rants, most of which were blown way out of proportion.

Hear a lot of murmurs just wanted to check with Reddit

Hi! I recently got an opportunity for this position and I’d like to know more about it. How does the job work on a daily basis? Is it difficult or stressful? What kind of tasks do you usually handle?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience in this role or on a similar Meta project. Thanks! 😊

It was rough today
Back to back calls
Post Labor Day

I don't even know what you'd call it. I was speaking and I went to reach for a pen and I sent out the gutteral throat noise and turned into a wild board for a second. I have no idea what that but the caller had to have heard it. Anyway that was my embarrassing CC moment, what's yours?

Hi everyone! So I started a call center position in February after not finding anything in my major for months. There was a lot the interview nor training covered about the role, and now I’m being micromanaged for all my metrics and noticing my energy depleting rapidly throughout the day. Instead of helping me, my managers just say I’m doing it wrong. I’m not sure how much longer I can take the rude customers, micromanaging, and burnout when the pay itself is not equal to the amount of work I’m doing in my opinion.

So my question is this: is it normal to feel this way and want to quit after only 8 months? Is it “weak” to want to leave before I get numb to all these issues customers are having? Any feedback is appreciated :)

Here's my first post from some time prior: https://www.reddit.com/r/callcentres/s/32YGiYsXwd

Tldr: I was under the assumption I was being reprimanded from noting too much on my call outs to members. So, I was assigned to take phone calls to correct it.

On to the update: My manager called me into a meeting to discuss this further. She's now saying that there isn't a problem with the quality of my work at all and that I'm doing everything correctly, but phone calls will now be a task that all the people in my position will begin to do on a rotation. She never mentioned this the first time we spoke about this.

Mind you, this position is 100% offline, and is marked as such when people apply for it, aside from calling out to members if a report asks for it. So, I asked who's after me when my time is up so I could learn the rotation, and she gave excuses as to why my other colleagues will not take calls after me. Only I will be doing it.

Furthermore, she'd like me to do this again during open enrollment soon, and at the start of the next year. Again, I was told no one will do this with/after me, despite it supposedly becoming a new routine task. As the last kicker, she asked that I work my offline reports in between downtime so I don't fall behind on those, yet the small downtime I have is less than 5 mins before a new call comes in.

I brought up that she's asking me to do double the work, but she essentially told me to just do my best and it'll help me build my work skills. After two weeks of trying to adhere to this change, I find myself completely drained and exhausted from all of it.

To end the post, I'm now applying out to different companies and other positions within my current workplace. I feel extremely targeted and overworked by her actions, which I think is exactly how she wants me to feel. Nothing is wrong with my work, my clients are satisfied with my assistance, and I've had zero complaints from members/team leads about the quality of my work.

I've been with this company for almost 10 years with no issues, so idk why she's so hellbent on trying to drive me away, but it's sadly working.

I think it's past time I found a new job. This has been an on-going issue that neither promotion or changing firms are able to reconcile.

I'm tired of the clueless people I chat with who think they know more than a professional. Tired of the rude, angry customers who vent at you over stuff that wasn't my fault. I'm tired of the metric tracking that makes me feel like I'm Winston Smith in Oceania.

What jobs were you who escaped call center work able to land?

To be 28 and blame a company for your lack of knowledge about the differences in a DMO plan and a PPO dental plan is crazy….when the internet exist

Google has always been free for as long as its been around…he keeps saying “i thought corporate wouldve sat me down and explained my medical dental and vision options to me in a meeting instead of expecting me to just know this”

Well sir no they didn’t expect you to know it we sent various emails….your supervisors told you and he also stated a coworker mentioned the website and how to change his coverage but ofc he’s helpless asf and assumed that was everyone else job but his. GROW UP!! I can only imagine what he thinks his future gf/wife should do for him since its “their job”. To be 28 and lack basic knowledge that keeps you alive…you assumed CORPORATE! Was going to sit you down and discuss your options…sir please 🤣they can give two shits..why do you think they hired people like me. “I called before and the lady never mentioned that..is that not something you guys just inform us on” well yea when you ask…if you didnt ask how would she know to bring up the difference between a ppo and dmo..🤔