My title is how life is going for me these last few months.....frustrating and redundant.
Lets review exactly where I've been for the last 2 years. Well having babies is one thing that has kept me from writing into the wee hours of the morning like I used to, but Malcolm is the ray of sunshine in this perpetual rainy day I'm having.
I was working for American Express as I look back on my latter posts going back to 2006. I ended up climbing the corporate ladder there and maneuvered myself into a supervisory position. As gas prices went thru the roof it I was basically losing $5/hr working there and driving over 3 hrs a day back and forth. I had to make a change and found an entry position with Telus mobility......I made a huge mistake.
The second I saw their quality model for their calls I should have packed my bags and went back to AmEx but I had to give the college try. My commute had basically been reduced to a leisurely 20 min drive in the early afternoon. It was a win win situation since I now got to be a part of my new son's life instead of the guy that saw him for 30 mins before leaving for work each day and I was saving money as a tank of gas was lasting 2 weeks instead of 2 days. The quality model is what I brought me to this point.
Now a quality model in a call centre capacity is what every company creates to try and have all their agents process their incoming calls the same way. 99% of these models are created by executive suits who sit on the top floor without a clue on how the front line works. Finely scripted horseshit is what they dream up and it is handed down for the peons to spew to the client that calls in. Empathy is the one constant in all the quality models I have had shoved down my throat over the last 10 years working in the industry. The script is always the same.
Have you ever called in somewhere and heard this, " I understand your frustration, I'd be more than happy to help you with your issue", well I know I have and it has always made me even more pissed off when I hear the rattled off in a monotone drone way.
Well ,Telus was clearly light years behind in the quality model field, I'd go into specifics but I'm also sure if I go into exact details they will sue my ass since I'm still obligated by their confidentiality agreement. Regardless...I left a decent well paying job only to be fired less than 30 days before Christmas. I'm now on the brink of having my utilities disconnected and I can barely feed my family.....life is great. After terminating me within 2 days of completing my probation Telus then continues to not complete the required paperwork for me to claim Employment Insurance (EI). I have no income however my bills do not stop. I have no leg to stand on, I'm at the mercy of due process.
It's funny how hindsight is always 20/20. I knew I never should have bothered with Telus. I could never be the mindless robot they wanted me to be. I had asked to see the quality model in the interview however those details were not released.
Now the reason I keep going on about the quality model is because they fired me for one call....one comment...one joke that they did not find funny. Let me paint the picture.
It's a busy Monday night, always the worst day to call any company, there were 100's of people in the que. Wait times were in excess of 10 mins, every person I spoke with that night bitched about it the second I had them routed to me. One gentleman in particular was an elderly man, a client since 97. His first words to me were, "Goddammit, I fucking hate voice response systems!" now I had to be empathetic but the catch was I could not say "I'm sorry" since those words gave the idea that the 'brand' (Telus) was at fault....see what I mean about horseshit....so me being the person I am decided to try and recover the service and make a joke. "Well sir, the IVR isn't exactly and Intelligent Voice Response system by any means, 9 times outta 10 it sends you to the wrong place, it's kind of a joke.", I quipped. He laughed and agreed and I handled the rest of the call from there.
Now, you also know how when you call a company they have a message indicating that 'your call could be recorded for quality and training purposes' , well this call was recorded. The mindless Telus robots deemed my comment as a derogatory statement against the 'brand' and unprofessional conduct. That coupled with a poor attendance (3 days) record due to my father being hospitalized after nearly going into a diabetic coma was the reason for the swift axe to cut off my financial support for my family.
A few days later the Bank of Canada declares the beginning of a recession and 71,000 other people in Canada lost their full time work as well. The future is so bright.
Yeah.....I'm bitter and I also have to get up in 3 1/2 hrs to take care of my son, as always.....
OK....I'll shuddup now.
Cheers
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