CSR Agent No More (...for that account that is.)

The toll of working for a particular account in my call center foray is getting to me. My conscience and morals are strongly tested to its limits.

A number of irate customers I get on the line just keep driving the point home that the account company I'm servicing is really have a poor track record with its products. What aggravates it for me is that my ability to help the customer is also hampered on account that the replacements to be issued would possible have a short duty life and also have to go about upselling accessories and new products to the customer in lieu with the replacement issue.

All these things plus the demands on maintaining the standard set is all way too much for me to handle. It also grants me unexpected license for me to bottle up or compartmentalize my feelings of outrage for a while but it collects and seethes until it vents out onto some haplessly convenient target. I don't want to explode violently on account of that.

The final straw that broke this CSR's spiritual back is when I advised a 70-yr old lady that her phone is in need of replacement after troubleshooting everything and I went about suggesting the upsell of a new phone unit at a discount for her purchase. The old woman's kindness faded and was replaced with outrage and grief directed at me. She says to me that: "Your company is making millions of dollars by selling us junk and you expect me to buy a new phone? I'm 70-years old and living off social security and you tell me to buy a new phone. You're not helping one bit and I'm very unhappy about that." The events after that lead to getting my supervisor to handle the remainder of the call and process an order for a battery to her to address her concerns though it may be a temporary remedy at best in my assessment.

That call really got to me that I feel that I wanted to cry in front of my mom for having such a thing happen and more so feeling guilty for being party to such a thing. All in the name of the account company I have to serve.

After some deliberation with my parents and some inquiries with a friend of mine at the other call center, my decision has been made. Already written up and signed my resignation letters and handed them over to my supervisor/team leader. Two weeks more of going through the routine drudgery before I'm free to go about applying in the other call center. The friends I made in the one I'm leaving would possibly follow too after I do some recon work for them as to the new digs I'm going to. I am looking forward to this change in things. Here's hoping for the best.