I used to be a call centre rep. I know it can be stressful. I know that dealing with irate customers and spoiled brats throughout the day takes a toll. I know that it’s hard to be chirpy, helpful and polite after 8 hours of the same. Especially at the beginning of the month.

HOWEVER.

THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU KEEP YOUR CUSTOMER WAITING FOR HER ACCOUNT DETAILS. IT SURE AS HELL DOESN’T MEAN YOU ASK ME IRRELEVANT QUESTIONS LIKE MY HOUSE PHONE NUMBER I’M CALLING FROM. GIVE ME A DAMN GOOD REASON WHY YOU NEED THAT?

I’ve been calling TM on and off for the past few months now. I’m familiar with the rigmarole: Give username and account holder’s name, and they will verify your mobile number. You generally do NOT need more information than that. Hence, I don’t see a need for you to ask me my phone number. But I give it to you anyway, because you seem sincere.

Here’s my question: With all the information I threw at you in the beginning, why are you taking so long to answer? After confirming my mobile number, you should NOT hesitate to say, “Hello Ms So-and-So, how can I assist you today?” DO NOT MAKE IT SOUND LIKE YOU’RE RELUCTANT TO ASSIST ME! If you are, what the hell are you doing there?

My biggest beef with the guy is the way he signed off. I told him I had a problem accessing Maybank2u.com, and he tells me that they’re having some server probs. Alright, I’ll give him that. Then I ask if there’s a problem with CIMB too, because that one’s been rather slow too. He repeats the spiel again about Maybank. -_-”

Oi, were you even listening to me?

To cap it all off, I asked him if there was anything wrong with the network, because my Speed test has been rather wonky lately. He tells me to do a Speedtest using TM’s own speedtest server, which is pretty horrible because I can more or less say that it PRIORITISES TM connections so you can’t say that they’re slow.

I said, “No thank you, it doesn’t do shit for me, I’ll check on my end thank you very much.”

Now, it’s VERY obvious that I, as a customer, am PISSED OFF LIKE HELL. You should ask the customer, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” and brace yourself for one helluva rant. You should not speed through the lines, “Ok, thanksverymuchforcallinghaveaniceday.”

…

If I’d done this at PacNet I’d be fired. My bro, who worked for another call centre, agreed that he would be fired too. But as we all know… TM doesn’t fire such incompetents.

ARGH!