Working for Cingular customer service makes me feel like Jack Nicholson in
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."  I've been working there for six months.
I've asked several managers why our customer service is rated poorly by
every organization that rates such things, and ***not one of them*** could
give me an answer (and I suspect that the bigwigs at corporate hq don't know
either).  I figured it out my first day on the job.

A) Training is grossly inadequate.  They teach you 10% of what you need to
know and then throw you to the wolves.  The rest of your "training" consists
of asking those around you, but since they weren't trained well, you're just
as likely to get false information from them than accurate information.
2)  Because of reason A, most people who care about doing a good job stress
out and quit, leaving those who don't care (since I've been there,
ambulances have been called five times to get people for anxiety attacks
and/or heart attacks).
III)  It's a union shop, so seniority counts more than talent or ability.
D)  It's a politically correct company, so minorities and handicapped people
are given preference in promotions, regardless of ability.
5)  Job performance statistics, for the most part, don't measure how good
you are doing, they measure how much the company spends on customer service
(which I understand must be kept track of).  Those with the best stats
usually don't give good service (for example, one of the stats measures how
many people call in a second [or third or fourth] time in the same day.  As
a result, many CSR's, if they can't resolve the issue, tell the customer
that the solution may take hours, so call back TOMOROW if the problem
persists).
VI)  Quality control is almost non-existent.  In a meeting of about 30
people not long ago, a manager said that the corporate people were listening
to calls and heard a CSR deliberately hang up on a customer.  EVERY CSR in
the room got an "oh $#!+ I hope it wasn't one of my calls" look on his face.
I also hear a lot of rudeness from CSR's, and nobody seems to be disciplined
for it.

Those in upper management either don't know what good customer service is,
don't care, or don't know what it's like "in the trenches."  In either case,
they should all be fired... it's their job to know these things.

As for me, I'm looking for a different job.  I was just moved up to tech
support, and again, the training was useless (and most of the tech support
people have NO technical education outside of what Cingular gives them).  I
get so stressed out that I often throw up before work.  I've taken 4 sick
days in the last two weeks because I get too stressed out to go in.

So next time you call us, keep in mind that the person you're talking to is
probably doing their best in a situation where he/she is in way over his/her
head.

I'm done venting... y'all have a good day,

Cingular CSR