So as much as it angers and creates a horrible atmosphere for all involved, screaming and cursing at a customer rep does indeed work. The faster you escalate, the quicker you will get what you want.
My niece worked for the mortgage arrears dept. of a major bank one time and, apparently, it was common for people to make death threats and such because she would have to ask they brought their payments up to date.
All this achieves is a high rate of staff turnover and a lot of bad feeling on both sides of the fence.
Oh, I completely agree. It makes me feel terrible, and I'm sure it creates an even more terrible work environment for the CSRs. I know. I've been an IT helpdesk employee. And we only got a sliver of nasty complaints.
The distinction from the article, is that the big companies whom can afford this tech, are doing analytics and reporting to the CSR when to not offer solutions, and when to offer. And unfortunately when doing voice analytics, the louder you are and the more 'power words' you use, the better you're treated by the company.
I in no way said this was good or ethical. It's abhorrent, and I'd rather steer clear with companies that use this. But in the bigger scheme of things, if I deal with a handful of mega-conglomerates that have phone lines, I must use this tactic in order to be made whole.
And then, I help create the horrible work environment... Sigh.
